The Knicks left town yesterday afternoon, and I felt more than a little sad to see them go. They're a strikingly friendly group of guys, from the coaches and staff right down to the players. I've got some interviews and stories to share (the final videos will go up tomorrow), but for the moment let's review some major themes from practice.

- Forget most of what Mike D'Antoni said earlier this summer about changing up his style. While I'm sure he'll adapt to his new roster, Coach D is undoubtedly running and/or gunning whenever possible. I don't know if you could fully grasp it from the grainy practice videos I posted, but the five-on-five drills were mostly run with an 8-second shot clock after a missed shot was rebounded by the opposing team.

- I wasn't pleased with the Chris Duhon signing because, well, we was pretty much completely uninteresting in Chicago, but I've gotta say I'm on board now. Du looked like the smartest guy on the floor for all of training camp. He knew the plays and drills better than anyone, and kept his cool when things got chaotic (as they did quite a bit in practice). Our friends at Blog-a-Bull might be chortling in their little saddles at that notion (For some reason, I always picture Bulls fans riding actual bulls. I'm also incapable of bathing myself.), but I'm feeling good about Duhon as D'Antoni's leader and on-court representative.

- Patrick Ewing Jr. is one of the nicer guys on the team, but I'm worried about his future. Pat made it clear that he's as athletically capable as anyone on the team, but looked a little tense throughout camp. He was dropping passes, committing fouls, and generally lacking in confidence throughout. I'm sure if he sharpens his game and commits to defense that he can make a career for himself, but I wonder if he's got Walsha nd D'Antoni convinced.

- Two fun trends: 1. Danilo Gallinari calls for ice and tape by yelling "chico!" at the nearest trainer. Now all the guys do it. UPDATE: "Chico" is Anthony Goenaga's nickname, and it wasn't coined by Gallinari. Oh well. Thanks to Alan Hahn for the tip. 2.  When anybody shoots from the outside, someone else (usually Jerome James) yells "BANG BANG (name)!". Example: "BANG BANG MARDY COLLINS!".

- Speaking of which, Collins looks improved, and carried himself confidently in practice. He's getting to the basket with great success, and while his jump shot isn't any prettier, it does appear to be falling more.

- David Lee's shot wasn't falling all that consistently (Which isn't unusual. Nobody's shots were falling.), but he's certainly more willing to face the basket and operate from 18+ feet out. That also means putting the ball on the floor and making some guard-like moves to the rim. He also looks more focused and poised on defense, and was probably the most vocal of anybody on that end. This could be a year in which D-Lee proves that he's got all the tools to succeed in the D'Antoni system.

- Nate Robinson looks as talented as ever, but he's really going to have to impress D'Antoni to take minutes away from Duhon and Marbury, the latter of whom looks healthy and focused.

- Training camp towel boys fear Quentin Richardson. He's as emotional in practice as most people are in playoff games.

- Zach Randolph loves to shoot from outside, and Coach doesn't seem to have an issue with that.

- Mike D'Antoni is unbelievably nice and also smells fantastic.

And that's all she wrote. I've got one more tape of videos to come tomorrow morning (probably), then we'll wrap up training camp coverage and get ready for the preseason. Stay sweet.

After practice this evening I got a chance to catch up with the Knicks on topics such as politics, rookie initiation, and the Sonics' move to OKC. Oh, and I finally asked Mike D'Antoni if he'd shave his 'stache. Check it out.

I'll be back at practice tomorrow, so rack your brain for any more questions you might want me to ask the guys. Seriously.

Update: Forgot to mention, Mike D'Antoni smells very nice. Just saying.

I spent tonight at the evening session of Day 4 of Knicks training camp. The footage is longer and a little rawer this time, but I got a lot more solid footage. Hopefully the quality isn't too sacrificed in the YouTube upload, but look for these things:

- David Lee playing a little tight D and popping some jumpers.

- Quentin Richardson constantly flipping out.

- Malik Rose losing his cool. Luckily they don't call techs in training camp.

- Mardy Collins canning some J's.

- Jerome James canning some J's

Again, hope the quality wasn't too stanky, and check back for some interviews coming shortly. I'll hopefully be back at practice tomorrow morning and evening, so expect more of this over the weekend. Peace.

After much labor and bloodshed, here's the first video from Day 1 of New York Knicks training camp here at Skidmore College. The camera work is weak and the quality was sacrificed pretty much completely sacrificed in the YouTube upload, so take it for what it is. A couple things to look out for:

- An inexplicable focus on Jerome James

- Mike D'Antoni's supple calves

- A possible William Wesley sighting

- Jared Jeffries being surprised at every pass that comes to him.

Anyway, here's the damn thing.

Again, apologies for the poor quality. A second, superior video is coming soon.

Hey guys. I've got video of some training camp footage and conversations from this morning coming as soon as I can get it on to a computer. In the meantime, I headed back to the gym this evening to catch some more practice. D'Antoni's drills reflect his coaching style like you wouldn't believe. They ran 3-on-3 fast break drills and 5-on-5 drills where the offensive team had to score with 8 on the shot clock. A few player key-ins from the day's second meeting.

Allan Houston- I must say, Allan's touch looks as sweet as ever, and he was holding his own defending quicker guys like Marbury and Crawford. He didn't participate at all in some of the faster 5-on-5 drills, but H20 looks surprisingly fresh overall.

Nate Robinson- Nate was his usual self on offense. He knows his guys well and his point guard instincts appear to be improving as they have each year. Nate did appear to be either lapsing in attention or dogging it in a few of the drills, though, and was the last guy back on D a couple times.

Jared Jeffries- It was the very first day of D'Antoni's system, but even so, Jeffries had a bit too much trouble keeping up in drills. He was loafing and missing directions three and four repetitions into a drill and throwing things off for the whole team. Jared did, however, block Dan Grunfeld's shot so forcefully it startled me.

Anthony Roberson- Anthony Roberson can shoot the damn lights out. He's got a lot of confidence in his shot and simply cannot be left open on the perimeter. Said Steph to Donnie Walsh, "he's like a mini Allan Houston!".

Quentin Richardson- Q's intensity is almost frightening. He's clearly feeling the heat of Wilson Chandler reaching for his starting 3 spot. Richardson was animated all night, screaming, spiking balls, and throwing towels after any miscues in the scrimmages. You can tell he sets the tone for the younger guys by taking practice so seriously.

Wilson Chandler- Wil's looking as physical and active as ever, and the jumper is falling more than it was last year. Still needs some work, though.

Chris Duhon- I wasn't too happy when the Knicks signed Chris Duhon, but it's obvious that the guy's an intelligent basketball player. He got D'Antoni's complex drills down quickly and was often the one directing traffic and correcting the mistakes of guys like Jeffries. Du's shot wasn't falling all that consistently, but I like his overall game and the way he carries himself on the court.

Stephon Marbury- Steph's running well, shooting well, and looking healthy. He appears upbeat and focused at all times. For all his offcourt hijinks, the man is all business between the baselines.

Patrick Ewing, Jr.-...is probably going to break a backboard this year. His dunks always looked ferocious on TV, but up close it becomes even more apparent that he absolutely thrashes the rim. Didn't get to see him shoot much, but his form isn't all that bad.

Danilo Gallinari- Spent most of the evening doing PT-type stuff, but he did get some outside shots up and did a few passing drills. No running or jumping for Gallo, though.

Zach Randolph- Zach may have dropped some weight, and he's running the court surprisingly well.

Eddy Curry: Still a no-show. Didn't get word on whether or not he's still yakking in the hotel room.

Jerome James- ...can get rim. Just saying.

That's it for the moment. I probably won't be able to make it to practice tomorrow, but I plan on being back Thursday and Friday. I hope to have the video I got from today up by tomorrow night. In the meantime, I beg you guys to submit some creative but well-intentioned questions for players and coaches via comment or email over the next few days.

Just a couple of things to touch upon today. Let's take a look.

- First of all, I can't figure out how to embed this video of Stephon Marbury's interview with Bruce Beck. Steph, dressed a bit like Manny from Scarface, is pretty straightforward and reasonable, but there are some highlights. One is when a bee crosses his path and it sets Steph off on a tangent of nostalgia for his Mike'd Up interview. Another is when he insists that he fights "principalities", not people. My favorite, though, is when Bruce asks him to speak to the fans at home, and he stares into the camera and explains himself to all of us. It feels a little bit like something Ali G might conduct. You know what? We should keep this guy around. Steph alone compromises like a third of my blogging material. I'd miss the excitement. (Tip of the hat to Uncle Henry).

- An interview with Mike D'Antoni. Some highlights:

NYKnicks.com: Do you think it's going to be a big adjustment for you coming over to the Eastern Conference from the West?

D'Antoni: Not really. You know, the style of basketball we are going to try to do the same. Obviously, I think we can do what we did in Phoenix -- that same style but with different players. The teams in the NBA, you play everybody so you know what you are in for. The East is a little bit better this year than in other years, and it will continue to get better. But I'm looking forward to the challenge.

...

NYKnicks.com: Obviously, you want to make the playoffs, but this season is still Year One for you. Are there other things in particular you want to accomplish?

D'Antoni: I want us to be exciting, entertaining and a winning basketball team. We've got to get towards that goal of what winning means. At this point, I don't know how many wins that translates into, but we should be a team that people like to watch.

- J.E. Skeets has a transcript of  the meeting between Donnie Walsh and Jerome James regarding Big Snacks' future. Let's just say it doesn't look good for him.

- Was Ben Gordon a legitimate possibility?

That's all for the moment. Check out that video first thing if you haven't yet. It's a long one, but Steph's always worth it. Peace.

Voting is closed and the numbers have been crunched (by Brendan, my number-crunching wolverine). Behold your Official Posting and Toasting Scrubdown, a collection of our most beloved benchwarmers of recent memory.

...picture's not working....

...shit...

...wait for it...

Bam! There you go. At the one spot, we've got Big Snacks, Mr. Jerome James. Batting second is a bit of a surprise, the affable Rick Brunson. At third is the ever-enigmatic Qyntel Woods, at fourth the ever-uncoordinated Chris Dudley. Rounding it out is none other than Matt Barnes, who forcefully robbed Shandon Anderson to get my fourth-place vote and sneak into the top 5. As you can see, I did make it a top 5 instead of a top 8. The voting, unfortunately, was pretty light this year, and I was worried that we wouldn't have enough people to volunteer to write posts. If there's someone that you really think you could do a good job with, then let me know. This is more about the memorial posts than it is about the countdown. We all know who's doing Matt Barnes (and, in my opinion, should do Qyntel Woods). I'd like to do Jerome James, but would be happy to let someone else give it a try. Other than that, we've got Brunson and Dudley that need memorializing. Volunteer in the comments.

By the way, the runners-up, if you'd like to post on someone not in the top 5, were Randolph Morris, Scott Brooks, Travis Knight, and Mardy Collins.

I'm going to be out of town and at the computer only intermittently this weekend, so I figured I'd take this opportunity to start compiling names for our Favorite Scrubs project of '08 (which seemed to be the favorite in our discussion). So, without any ranking or reasoning necessary, this thread is for dropping the names of those end-of-the-bench guys you found most intriguing or entertaining. We're keeping the time frame pretty recent; the last 20 years, let's say. Remember that the best guys to choose are the ones whose Knick legacies are worthy of a couple hundred words, maybe some funny anecdotes and pictures, and even a video or two. So, let's get a nice pool of names, and in a day or two the next step will be to make some top 10 rankings and get a blog-wide list of favorites. Then we'll start assigning posts.

Some names to start: Jerome James, Chris Dudley, Frank Williams, Rick Brunson