The Word from Camp Knicks

Training camp doesn't start until Friday, but some of the Knicks are showing up in Greenburgh for zero period. Per Alan Hahn, Carmelo Anthony, Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert, Josh Harrellson, Andy Rautins, and Landry Fields were all in attendance for a voluntary, closed-to-the-media workout today. Afterward, Fields and Shump spoke to reporters.

Take the jump for a few links and quotatos.

- Landry Fields, to the Daily News on why he "shrunk" at the end of last season:

"I think it was a number of things," Fields said. "Just trying to get used to the way we were playing and also 82 (games)… add on preseason, all the practices. It could have been a rookie wall. I definitely felt some fatigue toward the end. But I'm not here to make excuses I know this year is going to be a lot better."

- Fields again, to ESPN's Jared Zwerling, on how he's looking to overcome last season's struggles:

"A lot of people look at post-trade and all that stuff and the mentality I had," he said. "I really wanted to work on that -- a lot of drives and finishes, and consistency with the shot. With us in our offense, I worked on a lot of corner shots, a lot of wing mostly towards the sidelines. That was kind of the focus. It's also just having a short-term memory. You may miss a shot, but in your mind you think you made it. It's just not getting caught up in the past. It's like a next-play mentality."

(Also from that post, Landry's trainer is Miles Simon, which is awesome. I knew they were acquaintances, but not that they worked together.)

- Iman Shumpert, to Tim Bontemps of the Post:

“I’m just more excited to be here and be at the facility, and be able to put my shoes in a locker and leave them there, instead of carrying a bag of sweaty clothes around,” Shumpert said Monday afternoon after working out at the Knicks’ practice facility.

Read on to see Shump's backhanded compliments for Jarrett Jack. While we're at it, check out the details of Shump's high school jersey retirement the other day.

- More Shump, twat by Hahn:

Shumpert joked about intensity of #knicks fans on Twitter. Said he tweeted he's with mom and people said, "Why aren't you in the gym?"

- A housecat:

Meow, meow. Meow.

And there you have it. Amar'e Stoudemire, if you're wondering, is still training in Florida and won't show up until later in the week. The onus is on the rest of the guys to come up with all sorts of inside jokes and cool secret handshakes so Amar'e regrets not showing up earlier.