Knicks · Howard Beck: Baron Davis practicing today. (page 2)

Baron: "How you feeling Melo?"

Carmelo: “Things will still be great, I’m not down, I’m not regretting anything. I’m not regretting the trade. I’m here. You want to boo me for missing shots, boo me.”

Amare: "Yo, I tried to reason with him"

Baron: "I got this"

Carmelo: "What?"

Baron: "I got this"

Amare: (laughing) "You heard the man"

By sheer coincidence, Landry Fields walks in to restaurant

Fields: "What's so funny?"

Baron: "I was thinking how much I miss Adonal Foyle"

bonn already knew this, but for everyone else:

HowardBeckNYT Howard Beck
Baron is playing full-court, w/starting unit. Fields at SG.
38 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply

@jonahballow Jonah Ballow
Seeing some flashes of brilliance from @Baron_Davis at #Knicks practice. Will have to be patient but excited at the potential

That's a polite, Knicks ownership decreed, way of saying "rusty as hell"!

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Another observation of Barons first practice: he's been extremely vocal and intense.
40 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply »

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Baron Effect already evident in scrimmage. Offense has a leader. Some passes are great but some met with surprise. Will take time. #Knicks
5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

crzymdups wrote:

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Another observation of Barons first practice: he's been extremely vocal and intense.
40 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply »

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Baron Effect already evident in scrimmage. Offense has a leader. Some passes are great but some met with surprise. Will take time. #Knicks
5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Met with surprise - I bet those were to Jeffries

crzymdups wrote:

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Another observation of Barons first practice: he's been extremely vocal and intense.
40 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply »

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Baron Effect already evident in scrimmage. Offense has a leader. Some passes are great but some met with surprise. Will take time. #Knicks
5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

The leadership thing is key- even if he is rusty and takes a while to get going, we need a leader at PG with the stature to be able to get in Melo and Amar'e s faces and hold them to account- that's the key thing we need from BD.

ramtour420 wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Another observation of Barons first practice: he's been extremely vocal and intense.
40 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply »

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Baron Effect already evident in scrimmage. Offense has a leader. Some passes are great but some met with surprise. Will take time. #Knicks
5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Met with surprise - I bet those were to Jeffries

whoever it was, it's a good sign. if a pass hits you upside the head, it's a little reminder to always be paying attention and staying involved.

i think that's one thing i notice when teams have a good PG - they are more involved in the game because they know if they get open they will get a pass.

there's also that little extra bit of confidence that's like, "oh, my point guard gave me the ball here - that means he knows i can make this shot. i should make this shot." and just little things like getting the ball in rhythm and ready to shot. planned passes, instead of passes that come when amar'e or melo panic and realize they can't get a shot off or draw a foul.

baron will mean a lot of good things here.

smackeddog wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Another observation of Barons first practice: he's been extremely vocal and intense.
40 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply »

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Baron Effect already evident in scrimmage. Offense has a leader. Some passes are great but some met with surprise. Will take time. #Knicks
5 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

The leadership thing is key- even if he is rusty and takes a while to get going, we need a leader at PG with the stature to be able to get in Melo and Amar'e s faces and hold them to account- that's the key thing we need from BD.

well, we need a lot from him, but i agree this is key. i think amar'e will be responsive if he feels more involved on the offense.

this could be a big moment for the team. melo was just kind of embarassed by losing to denver and had that long talk to the media at the end of the game where he admitted maybe it's on him and maybe he needs to shoot less.

couldn't be better timing to turn the reigns of the team over to baron and have melo get back to doing what he does best and let someone else take the pressure of deciding who gets the ball when.

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Fatigue will be the obvious issue early on for Baron along with developing a chemistry with teammates. But game is definitely still there.
4 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

crzymdups wrote:

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Fatigue will be the obvious issue early on for Baron along with developing a chemistry with teammates. But game is definitely still there.
4 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

He only started running at full speed on Saturday, so it's going to take him at least a month to get back to a good fitness level. Will Knick fans give him that time? Nope!

Video of today's practice:

http://www.twitvid.com/5IALO

Not the most exciting one ever...

HowardBeckNYT Howard Beck
Won't surprise me if Baron plays by the end of the week (Miami or Houston), but also won't surprise if they wait a bit.
7 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply » HowardBeckNYT Howard Beck
Knicks doing everything to downplay possibility of an imminent Baron return. That includes Baron, who says timing and stamina aren't there.
8 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply » NYPost_Berman Marc Berman
Davis said it's up to coach on debut. Houston on Saturday seems latest. Wouldn't be surprised if sooner if looks better tomorrow in 3-on-3.
8 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply » alanhahn Alan Hahn
As for D12-Amare/Tyson talk, haven't heard anything about that outside of what @stephenasmith said.
9 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply » NYPost_Berman Marc Berman
Baron Davis & D'Antoni said he was very "rusty'' in first practice but coach said he's willing to play him small minutes at first.

smackeddog wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

alanhahn Alan Hahn
Fatigue will be the obvious issue early on for Baron along with developing a chemistry with teammates. But game is definitely still there.
4 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

He only started running at full speed on Saturday, so it's going to take him at least a month to get back to a good fitness level. Will Knick fans give him that time? Nope!

That is why they need to go get another PG or play Bibby. At least Bibby as some semblance of bball IQ. TD is atrocious and if they plan on signing JR Smith (not a fan) then TD and Walker should be put on the block for someone like Sessions.

HowardBeckNYT Howard Beck
Baron still missing stamina, timing: "I couldn’t play dead right now in a movie, if I was asked to." Temper expectations accordingly.

CrushAlot wrote:HowardBeckNYT Howard Beck
Baron still missing stamina, timing: "I couldn’t play dead right now in a movie, if I was asked to." Temper expectations accordingly.

Sounds promising!

Good sign for Knicks, Baron Davis at practice:

http://www.thewindyapple.com/2012/01/23/...

mack23quick wrote:

Good sign for Knicks, Baron Davis at practice:

http://www.thewindyapple.com/2012/01/23/...

Great picture! Looks like Step Brothers 2, the sequel LOL. In all seriousness, if Baron can even play 15-20 minutes to start off with, that'd be a step in the right direction.

I still don't know why Bibby is on the roster.

Would have made more sense to put Nate out there. At least he can get to the basket.

MS wrote:I still don't know why Bibby is on the roster.

Would have made more sense to put Nate out there. At least he can get to the basket.

That's a good point.

At least Baron looks lean.

MS wrote:I still don't know why Bibby is on the roster.

Would have made more sense to put Nate out there. At least he can get to the basket.

well since it tends to be the wrong basket, I would rather not.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/...

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- New York Knicks point guard Baron Davis made his practice debut with the team Monday morning at their training facility.

It was the first time Davis participated in a 5-on-5 scrimmage since signing with the Knicks on Dec. 20. Previously, he had been mostly working one-on-one with the team's training staff on his shooting, improving his strength and regaining his stamina after suffering a herniated disc in his back. It was an injury that at one point severely limited his movement, but on Monday he had a very spirited attitude on the court and while talking to reporters.

"It felt wonderful," Davis said, "considering like three months ago every time I came to the gym, I could barely walk or even pass the ball when I was working out with my kids. It just felt good to be out there with my teammates. I had a smile on my face. I just wanted to bring some spirit and some joy. It's been a long time coming."

After practice, Davis said he was rusty, as expected, and that "everything" is missing right now, referring to his timing, strength and conditioning. One thing he was pleased with was his basketball instincts, being able to feel out the offense and make some smart reads. Still though, Davis said it's going to take some time for him to adjust to coach Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo and free-flowing style.

"With the sophistication of our offense, and what Coach is demanding of us, everything is happening so fast," he said. "It just takes time and timing and pace in order to really get that rhythm. Once our offense catches up with our defense, we're going to be unstoppable, so I'm not really worried about our record."

Davis is viewed as a major solution for the team's offensive woes, as they're only averaging 94.3 points per game and power forward Amare Stoudemire is struggling from the field, shooting 41.3 percent. Davis, whose career averages are 16.5 points and 7.3 assists per game, knows he can definitely help, but as far as when, that's not yet been determined.

D'Antoni said there is no timetable for Davis' return. D'Antoni plans to ease him into the rotation, and he'll monitor his progress in the next couple of days with the team's training staff.

"The good is he's back on the floor and then we start getting better," the head coach said. "But it's going to take a little while for him to get his mojo back or whatever it is. But it was good, it was positive."

Davis, in fact, mulled retirement last summer while struggling with his injury, but he was excited about the opportunity to sign with the Knicks for a chance to compete for a championship.

Stoudemire is very happy to finally have Davis back.

"Baron came out and did a phenomenal job today," he said. "He's worked so hard this year. I saw him train all season, so it looks phenomenal. His creativity alone is something special, the way he handles the ball, the way he passes, the way he sees the game."
Davis is aware of the high expectations placed upon himself. In fact, they've been on every Knicks point guard -- Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert and Mike Bibby -- since Chauncey Billups was released via the amnesty clause on Dec. 10.

On paper, Davis is the best out of the current Knicks bunch. Is he up for the challenge? He said he is.

"I'm very, very confident that this season will definitely turn around," he said, "and we're going to hit our stride and we're going to have the fans behind us, even though they boo. They're just passionate about winning. All we ask is for their patience and to keep supporting us, because the booing is not going to really help us think through things."

Jared Zwerling is a regular contributor to ESPNNewYork.com.