Don Chaney has made the mistake once already ? mistaking Brendan Malone for Mike Malone on the telephone. Same New York/Irish accent.

And more importantly, Chaney sees so much of Brendan in Mike when the 32-year-old is on the court, such as when he ran the pre-draft workouts last week. "I think Don respects him a lot," Brendan Malone said. "He listens to him and trusts his judgment. I'm even learning from him."

Brendan Malone's third stint with the Knicks ? as Chaney's top assistant ? began two weeks ago. And it will be different for one reason ? he'll be working for the first time with his son, Mike, who was recently promoted to assistant/advance scout. Mike Malone and assistant Herb Williams will split time as the Knicks' summer league coaches, replacing the fired Tom Thibodeau.

The Knicks now have three father-son tandems ? including GM Scott Layden and his father Frank, a consultant, and the venerable longtime scout Dick McGuire and his son Scott McGuire, also a college scout. And they were all together the past few days as the Knicks began their pre-draft workout at their Westchester practice facility.