Knicks decry lack of communication on 'D'

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Communication.

From coach to player, the Knicks one after another reiterated the key that is glaringly absent on their defensive front.

"We didn't communicate real well last night," Mike D'Antoni said of Friday night's 119-115 loss at the Garden to the Cleveland Cavaliers - who are 12-49 overall and 3-0 against the Knicks.

"I think it's just communicating better, knowing our schemes," Amar'e Stoudemire said.

"I think the most important thing is just communication," Carmelo Anthony added.

With eight new guys on the roster, this part of the season feels like training camp, they explained. Unfortunately for the 31-29 Knicks, it's March, and they're in a tough playoff hunt that continues with Sunday night's game in Atlanta.

Point guard Chauncey Billups is questionable and is expected to miss his third straight game with a bruised left thigh. Ronny Turiaf, who sat out the loss to the Cavs with a sore left knee, and Bill Walker also are questionable for the game.

The Knicks defeated the Hawks, 102-90, in their previous meeting - six days before Anthony and Billups were obtained and the lack of defensive cohesion became a big issue.

"Guys have been playing pretty hard on the defensive end. Just not playing that smart," Billups said.

The 34-year-old participated only in walk-throughs Saturday and did dribbling and shooting drills on his own with a limp. It was the first time he's picked up a basketball, he said, since colliding Tuesday with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

"I'm feeling better, I'm feeling better - not quite where I'd like to be, of course," he said. "If the game was today, I'm sure I probably wouldn't be able to play. But I've got another 24 hours."

The Knicks, currently in sixth place in the East and just a half-game ahead of the 76ers, said they're not concerned with seedings. Their only objective is to earn a playoff spot.

"We've only been here 10 or 12 days, if that," Anthony said. "Defensively takes more time than offensively because you've got to get strategy down, you've got to figure out different teams, what they do best. Then every day, we might have a different lineup. We've got a different guy at the 4 position every day."

D'Antoni said he's noticed his players are "reverting back" to their old, individual tendencies on defense.

"It's just trying to get everybody [knowing] the same vocabulary, the same kind of mind-set on every play," he said. "[Friday] night it showed up a little bit. We didn't. Down the stretch we weren't very good.

" . . . I know everybody's anxious. I'm anxious, the players are anxious. But there's just no way you can throw six new guys or four new guys into a rotation and they're all on the same page and they play great every night. It does not happen."

Notes & quotes:Former Georgetown coach John Thompson watched practice alongside team president Donnie Walsh.