TORONTO – Well, if it isn’t the old Knick point-guard problem rearing its ugly head again.
Toronto coach Butch Carter has decided to start pint-sized speed demon Muggsy Bogues in place of 6-foot-6 Doug Christie for Game 2 against the Knicks tonight in part because the Knicks “don’t have a post-up point guard.”
Carter was quick to defuse any hint of criticism of the Knicks’ tandem of Charlie Ward and Chris Childs. “They won 50 games, it’s not a weakness,” he stressed. “There are teams with post-up point guards who have done much worse.”
But Carter went on to say this is certainly “not a big strength” of the Knicks, either, so he’ll throw his 5-foot-3, 12-year veteran into the mix.
“We want to try to have more momentum,” Carter explained. “We have to maximize the start of the game. That was the key to the first game. Historically, when we have used Muggsy, we’ve had a great start to games.
“Muggsy is hard to press, he’s hard to take the ball from and he’s fast with the ball,” Carter added. “He also makes great decisions.”
Tracy McGrady seemed pleased with the move. “Muggsy gets you the ball, he’s not a selfish guy,” raved McGrady. “He’s so fast. He can cause problems. He’s an advantage.”
Vince Carter, however, sounded ambivalent, saying simply, “It’s a new look.” His lone observation was a fairly obvious one – Bogues is more of a “true point guard” than Christie. On Sunday, Bogues played 22 minutes, assisted once and scored six points on 2-of-5 shooting. Christie played 26 minutes, went 1-for-5, had two assists and five points.
Christie admitted Monday that he was a little beat up physically, but brushed it aside as a concern.
Butch Carter said former Knick Charles Oakley has been invaluable in helping him figure out a game plan.
“He’s pointed out that with [the Knicks’] experience we need to tighten up in a lot of situations,” Carter said. “They have some weaknesses that have been there for a while. It’s just a matter of can you consistently get to it and exploit it.”
Said Oakley: “We know their game – it’s Knicks basketball. Pick and rolls. Picks for Allan [Houston]. Picks for [Latrell] Sprewell. Post up with Patrick [Ewing]. We know what they are going to do. It’s a matter of defending it.”
Oak’s most sage advice? He’ll keep it simple: “We got to get going in the first quarter. We have to stop Allan and Spree.”
Butch Carter admits most of the last two days has been spent working on defensive schemes to try to stop Houston and Sprewell, who will be guarded once again by Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, respectively.
“Allan got off to a great start,” Carter said of Game 1. “We have to do better on him. But that’s a big task for Tracy. He’s 20 years old. He’s a young kid guarding an All-Star.”
Carter is particularly leery of Sprewell. “We need some defensive stops on Spree,” Carter said. “He got the building going.”
