Dikembe Mutombo makes his Knick debut

As Dikembe Mutombo stepped onto the Garden floor for the first time as a Knick with 3:38 remaining in the second quarter, he was greeted with an enthusiastic ovation. On the flip side, Keith Van Horn was greeted to a chorus of boos as he fumbled and stumbled with the ball in the third quarter.

In the span of a quarter, a pecking order has been established and the boobirds have found a new favorite target.

Though he would proceed to air-ball his first shot attempt, Mutombo put up a promising performance with 4 points on 2-3 shooting in 13 minutes of play. Already, the Knicks are looking more formidable on defense with Mutombo in the lineup.

The Knicks built an early 9-point lead in the first quarter behind offense from Clarence Weatherspoon and Keith Van Horn. Though New York still looked disorganized on offense, they were much more collective and cohesive on the defensive end, limiting the Spurs to just 14 points in the first quarter.

Frank Williams started the game in lieu of the injured Howard Eisley. Williams appeared much more confident directing traffic than he did during his sparse appearances last season. He demonstrated good fundamentals and even showed some flashiness by giving a behind-the-back pass in traffic to Michael Sweetney in the second quarter for a three-point play.

Sweetney had a very solid game. It’s inexplicable why he wasn’t featured on offense more often. Mike was extremely efficient on offense, finishing with 10 points on 3-4 shooting and 4-5 from the free-throw line.

Maciej Lampe, on the other hand, did not impress. Lampe looked completely lost on both ends of the floor and was half a step slower than the other players on the court. He seemed extremely unsure of himself and his passes often did not find its target. The shots he did manage to shoot up were terribly contested from around the three-point line. He would finish with no points, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 1 assist and 1 rebound.

Travis Knight and Michael Doleac both proved once again to be uninteresting wastes of perfectly good floor spaces. How many more perimeter-playing centers does New York really need? Knight shot 3-10 while Doleac was just 0-2.

One player that did capture my attention was Matt Carroll, who displayed a blazing quickness and unshakable confidence rarely seen in players competing for a roster space. Carroll not only possessed a good shot, he also had excellent court vision throughout the game, and often directed traffic on offense like a point guard. Carroll finished with 12 points on 5-9 shooting. I would rather see him on the Knicks’ roster than any of our current plodding stiffs at center.

Despite its early advantage, New York could not hold on to the lead under a flurry of Van Horn misses and turnovers in the third quarter. Van Horn would go on to collect a horrendous 8 turnovers on the night. Spurs took the lead in the third with Tim Duncan winning several one-on-one duels with Mutombo, and the Knicks never could recover after that.

Knicks fall to 0-4 in preseason and look to earn their first win against Utah on Tuesday. Allan Houston once again did not dress, and is questionable for the game against Utah.

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