Knicks have high expectations

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- At their practice facility in Waltham, Mass., a gym ringed with 17 banners that catalog a championship legacy unmatched in the NBA, the Boston Celtics have a blank one that hangs in the corner.

That banner, of course, is there to represent the anticipation -- make that expectation -- of No. 18.

There are banners at the Knicks' facility, too, but they hang at one end of the gym, almost the width of the court apart, and appear very, very lonely. There is no need for a blank banner. The dates on the two that hang -- 1969-70 and 1972-73 -- provide enough of a reminder.

"Yeah,'' Amar'e Stoudemire said as he looked toward that end of the court, "it's been a long time.

"I see those banners every day in practice,'' he added. "I'm here early, working out when no one's on the court, and I take a look at those banners and also the jerseys retired. It's always great to leave a positive legacy, especially here in New York. The goal is to win a championship; that's the goal from the start, and it still is.''

The first legitimate shot at No. 3 in more than a decade begins Sunday nightin Boston in Game 1 of this first-round series. And although the Celtics may be feeling the urgency of time -- with their core players (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen) in their mid-30s, this could be their last shot at a title in the Big Three era -- the Knicks are only just beginning.

In fact, the goal this season was supposed to be only about making the playoffs and ending a seven-year drought that matched the longest in franchise history. The late-season addition of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, which added star power and experience but subtracted depth, was another step toward building a championship-caliber team.

But without the benefit of a training camp and an entire season together, not to mention holes in various key places in the roster, the championship aspirations for this team, this season, are premature. Just beating the Celtics, a team that has a championship from 2008 and an NBA Finals appearance last season, is a lot to expect.

"Obviously, we're not the team everybody is saying will win the series,'' Anthony said, "but we're confident as a team to know we have a chance to win Game 1.''

But is there any real urgency to win right now? Considering that everyone acknowledges this as the start of the rebuild, isn't Stoudemire's proclamation that the team's goal is to "get to the Finals'' nothing more than rhetoric?

"No, we're going into the series with the intention of trying to win the series,'' said Billups, the only NBA champion on the roster. "That's it. We don't worry about the outside expectations or anything like that. We feel we've got a chance to play well against this team and we look forward to trying to prove that.''

Mike D'Antoni wouldn't accept the notion that this playoff appearance, with an incomplete roster, should come with low expectations.

"I'm going to coach as hard as I can coach and these players are going to play as hard as they can play,'' D'Antoni said. "That's an urgency. So it doesn't matter . . . Having Melo, Amar'e and Chauncey, especially, they expect to be in the Finals. They expect to win the whole thing. They expect to compete with anybody on the floor in any game.''

Asked if he expects it, too, D'Antoni replied, "Without a doubt, without a doubt. I expect we can beat anybody.''

D'Antoni did couch his comment by acknowledging the unknown that comes with a team that hasn't been together for a long period of time and isn't very deep. But it's typical for a coach to fret over a team's weaknesses. Players generally focus on strengths.

"I think about what we have right here in this gym and the guys that are in the locker room,'' Billups said. "We have an opportunity to do something special that nobody believes we can do. We've got to do it with the guys we have. We can't think about anything else.''