Look out New York, hello NBA, meet Lavor Postell, the Knicks "All Star on the rise."

Chris Broussard writes how Lavor Postell feels that he is the equal of Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston.

"I look at it like this," Postell said after scoring 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting in Monday's loss to Denver. "Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell don't do anything that I can't do. The only difference is that they get an opportunity."

Postell, who is shooting 26 percent from the field this season, believes the only reason he has been stuck on the Knicks' bench for two seasons is because the Knicks' former coach, Jeff Van Gundy, a Pat Riley disciple, had an aversion to playing young players. He thinks Chaney inherited that view from Van Gundy.

"It's like the whole Pat Riley thing: I'm going with the older guys and everything," Postell said. "That's their theory."

Chaney said that Postell's low ranking has more to do with poor defense than business. When told that Postell said he holds his own against Sprewell and Houston in practice, Chaney chuckled and responded, "They beg for him to guard them."

"Right now, Lavor wants to be a scorer," Chaney said. "What gets his energy going and makes him happy is scoring, and what he has to learn is that there are two parts of the game. But to his credit, he has made a commitment to improving."

Postell has a different take. "I love to play D now," he said. "If we play L.A. and Coach says, `Lavor, you've got Kobe Bryant.' I'd be like, `I would love to have Kobe, Coach. Thank you.' Great people got to guard great people."