The Knicks' problems adjusting to Larry Brown's emphasis on team basketball over individual skill are the same problems the 2004 U.S. Olympic team had on its way to a disappointing bronze medal.

Miami guard Dwyane Wade was quoted in yesterday's Miami Herald saying, "I don't think any of us got the opportunity to play to our strengths, which makes us good players and would have made us a good team."

With Brown and the Knicks in town to play the Heat last night at American Airlines Arena, Wade sounded a conciliatory note, saying he had an "unbelievable" experience and expressing his gratitude for the time Brown spent working with him. But even though he said he was "kind of misquoted," Wade essentially repeated his observation that most of the NBA stars felt restricted by Brown.

"What I was saying was that when we were in the Olympics, there were a lot of guys that were good one-on-one players, and we weren't able to play to our strengths because [Brown] wanted the ball to move around a certain amount of times," Wade said.

"You've got guys like Iverson and Stephon who can come down and break their guy down off the dribble. And I'm a good driver. And LeBron. We weren't able to do that. We were trying to get comfortable with each other, and we didn't have enough time."