Notes from Day Two of Knicks Training Camp

Hey! Practice is over and the Knicks are done with day two of camp. Media were let into practice a few minutes earlier today, and then there was a bit of media availability afterward. The scrum was way too big and aggressive today for me to even hear/record what guys were saying, but you'll see plenty of good Rasheed Wallace and Mike Woodson quotes from reporters this afternoon. From me, a few notes:

- So yeah, Rasheed Wallace showed up. He has officially signed but did not practice today. Instead, he was wandering around and rebounding for people. His number 36 jersey was on backwards and his calf-length capri sweatpants were in full effect. The Knicks haven't released the details of his contract (and I've yet to see them), but based on the way Woodson was talking about Wallace, I'd guess that it's non-guaranteed. Basically, it sounds like Sheed has been speaking to Woodson about coming to camp since the beginning of the summer (and that relationship was key to this happening), and now they're giving him camp and preseason to prove his worth and/or entertainment value.

- Practice, though: When we entered, the team had already divided into four halfcourt stations. In the near corner, the big men were at work, including a stunning congregation of mid-'90s talent. Larry Johnson and Herb Williams led a series of shooting contests between Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, Amar'e Stoudemire, Henry Sims, and Chris Copeland. Hard to tell who won what, but they all have lovely mid-range jumpers (Well, they get 'em in. "Lovely" doesn't aptly describe Camby's scorpion strike.)

- I don't know about "veteran leadership", but it's interesting to see someone like Amar'e look relatively meek when surrounded by loud, back-slapping guys like Kurt and Sheed.

- In the far left corner, Dave Hopla (who I didn't see here yesterday) was working on perimeter jumpers with Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, and Chris Smith. After practice, he spent a while feeding mid-range shots for Sims.

- The rest of 'em spent the open part of practice shooting, except for Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith, both of whom were gone by the time media got in. They apparently practiced in full but left early for massages and stuff. As of right now, there are no new injuries to report.

- Speaking of injuries, Ronnie Brewer sat and watched like a sad puppy. Iman Shumpert was elsewhere getting his wizzies yanked.

- After practice, Steve Novak and John Shurna had a little white shooting competition of their own. I didn't keep count, but Novak pretty clearly spanked him in the shooting part. They were tied at being white.

- It sounds like it was another conditioning-heavy practice, and it seems like it'll be that way for the rest of the week. I note this only because Mike D'Antoni used to do bits of conditioning, playcalling, and scrimmaging each day, where it seems like Woodson is going to concentrate on conditioning and drills all this week, then move toward plays and scrimmages this weekend and beyond.

- I saw Woodson drill maybe seven or eight out of ten behind-the-back attempts from right under the basket. I also saw him airball a corner three badly.

Cool. I'm headed home. Perhaps I'll throw together some links and stuff later today. <3