Edition: U.S. / Global

PRO BASKETBALL; The Knicks Show Some Fight, But It's Among Themselves

Published: November 26, 2002

Knicks forward Othella Harrington was getting whipped for the second straight day, but not by a superstar like Minnesota's Kevin Garnett. Mark Pope and Frank Williams and Lee Nailon were doing the honors.

Fed up, Harrington booted the ball during a break in practice. The ball flew about 30 yards and smashed into a wall, five feet from Scott Layden, the Knicks' president and general manager.

Moments later, Harrington grabbed Nailon by the jersey, and Nailon responded with a hard shove that could have led to blows if the two had not been separated. Elsewhere, Shandon Anderson's shirt was covered with the blood of Allan Houston, whose finger was cut.

It was a brutal day at practice, and Coach Don Chaney, who had patiently waited for a fire to ignite under his struggling team, thought it was wonderful.

''I think it's a great thing,'' Chaney said. ''I think that's one of our problems as well. We don't foul guys in the paint when a guy's making a layup. I think it's a very healthy thing, as long as you keep everything in the correct perspective. You've got to play hard and play aggressive, as long as the aggressiveness doesn't turn into fights.''

That is one way to look at it. Another is that the Knicks' frustration with a 2-10 record, the club's worst start in 37 years, may be boiling over. Chaney and several players said the scrimmage was the most heated and the most vocal of the season, and Latrell Sprewell said there might be more where that came from if the Knicks did not start winning. ''The only way you're going to guard against that is by snapping out of it and getting wins,'' Sprewell said.

In an attempt to cure the Knicks' poor play late in games, Chaney decided to do more scrimmaging to simulate game conditions. The approach began today with the Knicks playing four eight-minute quarters instead of two six-minute quarters. What happened next rivaled the beating the Timberwolves gave the Knicks Sunday night.

The white team -- Anderson, Nailon, Pope, Williams and Michael Doleac -- crushed the blue team, which featured the starting five and Harrington and Lavor Postell. At one point, the white team led, 53-33. That is when Harrington became indignant. Finally, in the last quarter, the blue team showed some pride, pulling to 6 points before losing, 63-55.

''The blue team had no legs,'' Chaney said. ''That's why they got dusted. But I was trying to make a point with them that when you're tired, you've got to be able to overcome that fatigue with good execution and poise. At times, early on especially, they allowed the physical fatigue to affect them mentally, so their execution stopped. Then when they finally regrouped, they found that they were creeping back in the game. I hope they learned their lesson that although you're tired, you still have to execute and do the right things.''

Sprewell said the white team usually beats the blue, dating to 1999 when he came off the bench. Nailon, who has gone from a budding star to a bit player since Sprewell returned four games ago, said the white team's dominance would not be broken during his time with the Knicks.

''Every time I'm on the white team, we're going to win, every time,'' Nailon said. ''They're the starters, and we come off the bench and we think we should be starting as well as them. It's always going to be a pride thing with the white team. We always want to beat the blue team because they're always on the floor the majority of the time.''

Nailon admitted that his tussle with Harrington was fiery, but he said it was forgotten by the end of practice.

''He kind of grabbed me so I couldn't get that rebound, and I was upset because I could've had it, but he grabbed my jersey,'' Nailon said. ''It was a hard fight, but once we come off the court we're right back to family, so that's the main thing.''

Back when he played, Chaney said coaches used to let players fight during practice. Though he liked the newfound spunk, Chaney said he would not have let it go that far. ''I would probably be worried if Kurt was involved, but not those two guys,'' Chaney joked. ''In the old days, if you weren't a fighter, you didn't throw your dukes up.''

Asked about the most gruesome fight he ever saw in practice, Chaney said: ''Sam Jones and Larry Siegfried. Sam had Larry's thumb in his mouth and Larry was biting Sam's ear. I saw another fight between Don Nelson and somebody -- I forget who it was -- but they fought for about three minutes and neither of them came within three feet of the other.''

Chaney hopes the bite the Knicks showed in practice does not become a bark during games.


Toronto's VINCE CARTER, who has missed the last 10 games with a strained left quadriceps tendon, was cleared to play in Wednesday's game against the Knicks. CHARLIE WARD, out with a bruised lower right leg, remains doubtful.