“They’re fat,” coach Jeff Van Gundy bluntly said of the physical state the Knicks are in as they reported to SUNY Purchase yesterday for training camp.
With all the obstacles sitting before the Knicks this season, weight loss is not something Van Gundy had high on his itinerary. But after taking a peek at his portly troops after team physicals and a light running drill, the coach was steamed – not fried – at their condition.
“We have a team that’s woefully out of shape,” Van Gundy fumed.
Before last night’s first official practice session, Van Gundy, who is known for ripping his team’s conditioning at the beginning of training camp, was as down as he has ever been over how poorly his players took care of themselves this summer.
“Most of our guys are not in what I would like to call ‘Knick Shape,’ ” Van Gundy said.
“You couldn’t have a team not ahead of us [physically],” Van Gundy added. “I can’t see a team using their summer any less productively than us.”
The Diet Coke-swilling coach said the Knicks appeared to him in worse shape than the 1998 lockout summer, when players were not allowed to use team training facilities.
“I think we were locked out this summer from what I saw,” Van Gundy said, saying that it seems like for a lot of this Knicks, the last time they shot a basketball was against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Final last spring.
While he did not name names, Van Gundy said that he was not peeved at his entire roster, but he was “embarrassed” at the way some players showed up for this season.
Van Gundy said that he thinks the reason behind his team’s being so out of shape stems from the many trade rumors that surrounded the team all summer long.
“There’s been 71 trade rumors from June 1 to now,” Van Gundy said.