Knicks: Rose Gets Jump on Winning Fans
Lexis Nexis- David Waldstein, NJ.Com
Monday, February 28, 2005
NEW YORK -- Despite the negative response to the two trades Isiah Thomas made at Thursday's deadline, the players he acquired weren't booed when they walked onto the Madison Square Garden floor last night. There was no abuse, no cat calls, and nothing was thrown at them.
But had something been thrown, Malik Rose would have grabbed it.
Rose and Maurice Taylor made their (limited) Knick debuts last night, and were given fairly warm receptions from the 19,763 in attendance. Nothing special, no standing ovations, but friendly, respectful applause.
But the cheers would get louder for each of the eight rebounds Rose grabbed in only nine minutes of action as the fans began to see what Thomas saw when he traded for the undersized 6-6 but determined power forward.
"I love Malik," Thomas said. "I've always loved him, for the reasons you just saw."
Rose made his entrance with 8:45 left in the first half and was grunting, sweating, pushing and grabbing for all of the nine minutes. Exhibiting the hustle and work ethic he is known for across the NBA, Rose gave the Knicks a spark of energy they rode to a 90-79 victory over the Pacers.
Maurice Taylor, too, received a smattering of friendly applause during his brief appearance in the second half. He played only five minutes and scored on his first shot, which gave the Knicks a 73-60 lead early in the fourth quarter.
All of Rose's productive nine minutes came in the first half, but he helped the Knicks outrebound the Pacers 43-32, despite not having a true center in the wake of the trade that sent Nazr Mohammed to San Antonio for Rose and two draft picks.
"I needed that," Rose said. "I was a little nervous out there. I didn't want to make too many mistakes in front of the New York crowd."
When Thomas traded for Rose, everyone spoke of his hard-nosed style, his willingness to do all the dirty work, setting picks, playing tough defense, and great rebounding, despite his size.
But Rose also brings something else the Knicks don't have.
"He brings that championship attitude to our team," Stephon Marbury said. "For a guy like that to come here, it's great for us to bring that championship edge and attitude."
Asked why he didn't play Rose more, coach Herb Williams said he will take his time working the new players into the rotation.
"I just wanted to take a look at Mo Taylor," the coach said. "I'm just trying to feel my way."
The Knicks have now won four of their past six games, all at home, while the Pacers lost for the first time in their last six games. The Knicks also won back-to-back games for the first time since December 27-29.
Rose never wanted to leave San Antonio, but he put the best face possible on the difficult circumstances surrounding his trade to the Knicks Thursday.
But by the time Rose had put on the uniform and played in his first game with the Knicks, he said he had put the past behind him. Having played on two championship teams in San Antonio with another one pending this season, Rose still wanted to look forward to the rosiest, most optimistic future he could envision in New York.
"I don't look in the rearview mirror too much," he said. "What happened, happened in the past. The championships were great, but I anticipate a championship in New York. That would probably be the best thing."
Rose acknowledged it was "tough" to leave San Antonio, but he didn't want to come across as morose about the trade.
But before he left San Antonio, Rose expressed feelings of grief, comparing the pain of being dealt away to a family tragedy 17 years ago.
"The worst I've ever felt was when I lost my brother," he told the San Antonio Express-News. "But this is the worst I've felt since then. It just hurts."
The pain may have been eased a bit last night.
