KNICK NOTES
AUBURN HILLS – Don Chaney was so concerned by the lopsided free-throw discrepancy in Wednesday night’s 104-83 loss to the Lakers he called the NBA offices for a chat. The Lakers had 47 free throws attempts to the Knicks’ six.
It was the biggest free-throw discrepancy in a Knicks’ game since Feb. 7, 1985 and believed one of the biggest in league history.
“I just wanted to know what we had to do to get to the line,” said Chaney, who spoke with supervisor of officiating Ronnie Nunn.
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Larry Brown sees a new Keith Van Horn this season. “We never ran a play for Keith [in Philly],” said Brown before his Pistons beat Knicks 94-85 last night here. “I’ve watched him a lot. He has the ball in his hands a lot more, is much more aggressive. It’s not fair. He’s maxed out (contract-wise) so he’s supposed to score 30.”
Piston rookie center Darko Milicic, second overall pick in the draft, has remained close with fellow Serbian Slavko Vranes, the Knicks’ 7-5 second-round pick.
Milicic, Vranes and Zoran Planicic, now with the Nets, shared an apartment for the six weeks leading up to the draft on the upper East Side. Vranes, whose been inactive all season, didn’t make the trip, as he recently sprained an ankle.
“I spoke to him,” Milicic said. “We stay in touch. Every week we talk. He’s a little bit upset. I told him to be patient. He wants to play.”
Milicic is also out of the rotation, having played just 12 minutes. “It’s not easy to sit on the bench,” said Milicic, who’s 18 and bought his first car yesterday, actually two, an Audi and BMW. “But [Brown] is one of the best coaches in the game.”
With Van Horn out, the Knicks are devastatingly shorthanded at small forward/shooting guard, and Chaney allowed the team could sign a free agent, though they’d have to cut somebody.
Lavor Postell, a Layden second-rounder, is available, playing in the NBDL. Walt Williams is also free.