General Manager Donnie Walsh and head coach Mike D'Antoni are excited to get their first season with the Knicks underway.
"The thing that excites me is that there is a nucleus of good stuff that we have," D'Antoni said on Friday. "There's enough stuff there where we can win some basketball games. We don't have to go get somebody. It's up to me to figure out how to do it... I would not be excited if I thought there was no way that we can do this. I really think that the talent (here) surprised me. There's a lot of young guys that are very good, and we can do well with what we have. I don't know all who's included, but I do know that I am excited about certain elements of our team and we'll build on that."
Walsh agrees with D'Antoni, and believes that he's the right man to coach New York back into contention.
"We need to show the city that this franchise is for real," said Walsh. "I'm out there, and I've got people talking to me all the time. I'm not sure they were convinced we were (for real). This city has had a great history of basketball, and I grew up in it... This history of the Knicks, when people look at the city, they want the team to play for real. And we've got to do that. The best way to do that is to win the games. I think that they'll embrace a team that does that if they see there's a future, a direction and hope down the line."