Although Keith Van Horn once blended with former teammate Stephon Marbury as nicely as oil and water, Van Horn gave a thumbs-up to the Knicks’ blockbuster trade yesterday.
However, it was team captain Allan Houston who seemed personally stung by the deal that sent good friend Charlie Ward packing. Houston expressed caution about the ramifications for the 14-21 Knicks.
“It’s a strange day,” Houston said, equating Ward to a family member. “To be around guys like that, it made it fun to come to work.
“When family moves away, it’s tough right after that moment. That’s what you deal with in this job.”
Van Horn, who was Marbury’s teammate with the Nets from 1999-2001, took the high road despite once being frozen out of the Nets’ offense by Marbury.
“Personnel-wise, I think it’s going to make us a better team,” Van Horn said. “Personally, we never had any problems on the court.
“We didn’t win. That was the biggest problem Stephon and I had. Not individually, but just as a team it was frustrating not winning.”
Marbury took a verbal shot at Van Horn before this season, saying of his old teammate, “You’ve got to be way tougher than Keith is to play in New York.”
“When he gets here, I’m sure we’re going to sit down and talk,” Van Horn said. “Because I want to be on the same page as him.”
Kurt Thomas thinks the addition of Marbury will open up the offense.
“I think it’s going to make us more of an up-tempo team,” Thomas said. “It’s definitely a new look for us. It’s going to be exciting. I can’t wait for the guys to get in here so we can start playing together.”
Dikembe Mutombo thought the deal was a no-brainer.
“I think we got the best deal,” Mutombo said. “[Marbury’s] among the best point guards in the league.”
SCOUTING REPORT ON THE NEW KNICKS
STEPHON MARBURY: Significant leap last season into a legit star point guard can be traced to ankles feeling better and Penny Hardaway taking a backseat. He’ll push tempo up just like Don Chaney likes and, in a perfect world, will be less shot-happy.
PENNY HARDAWAY: Isiah Thomas likes his players long but the 6-7 Hardaway no longer is close to the athlete he once was and has started just 10 games this season. The Knicks will leave him unprotected in June’s expansion draft.
CEZARY TRYBANSKI: Probably better than Slavko Vranes but not much, according to one European scout. At 7-2, the 24-year-old Polish project moves well up and down the floor but has no lateral movement.
– MARC BERMAN
