By Michael Ventura and Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — After team executives spent two years gut-renovating a team loaded with underachievers and bloated contracts, the Knicks tip off Wednesday evening with a bonafide star, Amar'e Stoudamire, and talented young players who are finally giving Knicks fans, who have endured nine years of losing seasons, reason for hope.
"We have enough talent to be a playoff team," coach Mike D'Antoni said earlier on Tuesday, the Daily News reported. "We have to come together, get a little lucky and stay injury-free."
But Knicks fans outside Madison Square Garden Wednesday afternoon weren't so sure.
"What are the Knicks? Do they even play basketball?" asked Al Lowell from Long Island.
"I'd say we need a big trade to bring them back," said Alex Morrero, a 25-year-old elevator mechanic from New Jersey. "We're like in a recession with the Knicks, just dragging along. It's a really big recession, too. We need better trades to get out of it."
Mel Knox, 24, a dog walker from Crown heights, Brooklyn, loves the Knicks, but isn't sure about their direction.
"I think they're the best team with the worst strategy," Knox said. "They've got a lot of talented players. Hopefully they'll step it up a notch with Stoudamire."
"I’ve been waiting for this for a long time," Stoudemire, who signed a $100 million deal, told the New York Post, referring to the season opener. "The time is finally here. I can’t wait."
Rounding out the starting lineup was Raymond Felton, a point guard signed from the Charlotte Bobcats, sharpshooting swingman Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, a rookie center acquired from Russia, and, as a bit of a surprise, the starting shooting guard will be Landry Fields.
When the Knicks drafted Fields in the second round this spring, fans and commentators were left scratching their heads. But D'Antoni said the rookie from Stanford worked his way into the lineup.
"He doesn’t make mistakes, he plays with a high energy and gives a lot of the intangibles that we look for," D’Antoni told the New York Times. "He’s also a guy that will allow the ball to go to Amar’e a lot to start with."
The Knicks open up at home on Saturday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
