ORLANDO – One of the lone bright spots to Team Titanic’s season has fallen overboard.
Prized rookie Channing Frye is out for the season with a sprained ligament in his left knee, suffered in Tuesday’s loss to Toronto. He will miss the final 16 games and 31/2weeks. He will not need surgery, but the Knicks did not guarantee he’d be back for summer league in July.
“He did great for a rookie,” coach Larry Brown said before the Knicks got blown out 111-87 by the Magic last night.
“He’s so conscientious. He’s going to get better and better.”
The only good news is Frye’s posterior ligament was not torn, which would have threatened his availability for training camp and potentially damaged his career. The Knicks announced Frye will be on crutches for three weeks before beginning rehab.
In a carefully worded statement, the Knicks announced, “If all goes well, we anticipate him being available for summer league in July.”
It’s a rare basketball injury, normally associated with getting hit by a car. In the second half Tuesday, Andre Barrett, after being pushed by Nate Robinson, crashed headfirst into Frye’s knee.
It was horrible timing, as Brown admitted he was on the verge of starting Frye, 22, the remainder of the season. Frye made his first start in a month on Tuesday.
“It would’ve been a good time for him the last 16 games,” Brown said. “Malik [Rose] getting hurt, changing what our plans were the rest of the year, he would’ve gotten more and more of an opportunity.”
After a terrific first two months, Frye slumped in January but still was a virtual untouchable at the trading deadline.
Frye blazed from the perimeter but his defense was suspect. The Knicks need him to become a better rebounder, shot-blocker and interior presence to make him more effective alongside center Eddy Curry, who is none of those things.
As it is, the Knicks will look to sign, trade or draft a rugged rebounding power forward such as free agent Reggie Evans. Ironically, in his season farewell, Frye blocked four shots and had nine rebounds in one of his best all-around outings.
“He’s long,” Brown said. “We talked about [Tuesday]. He went after balls last night. I’ve been on him and Eddy. You can’t be willing just to take charges. You have to be willing to go after shots and not worry about your man when someone else gets beat. It takes trust. I think he’s long enough and athletic enough. He has the potential to be a good shot-blocker. That’s an area he has to improve.”
After a disastrous, foul-plagued summer league, Frye, selected No. 8 out of Arizona, exceeded all expectations.
“Let’s say it this way, people thought he was soft, and now they found out he’s not soft and he could shoot and really play,” Frye’s father, Tom Frye, told The Post from his Arizona home. “Wouldn’t you be happy as a father?”
Tom Frye said Channing never suffered any injuries in high school or at Arizona U.
“He never went down, Tom Frye said. “His spirits are high. You never catch Channing in bad spirits.”
Frye finished averaging 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds but struggled the past two months as teams took away his lethal jumper.
“I hope he has a chance to start [next year],” Brown said. “He’s got to get better with the ball and learn to put the ball on the floor. People realize he’s such a great perimeter shooter. They’re going to make him put it down.”
