Knicks eager to make it to next level

GREENBURGH, N.Y.

Talk isn't cheap -- not at the prices the Knicks are paying for their star players. But as they parted ways for the last time this season, that was pretty much all they had to offer.

For what it's worth, they said all the right things yesterday, assuring fans they are not satisfied merely with returning the franchise to relevance. Rather, there was urgency in their voices.

"I'm ready," Amar'e Stoudemire said. "I think the time is near. We're close. I can feel it. The franchise can feel it. I think the city can feel it, that we're on the right track to ultimately win a championship.

"I'm still young, but time is of the essence."

Said Carmelo Anthony: "We want to win right now. I'm 26 years old. Amar'e is 27, 28. We're young. At the same time, we want to get it done right now. We've been waiting for a long time to win. The time is now."

When someone asked him if now that he has it all off the court, winning remains a priority, he shot back: "Oh, hell yeah, I need to win. I want to win. Nothing else even matters to me right now, when we talk about basketball, but winning."

For the record, Stoudemire will turn 29 early next season -- if there is one -- and Anthony turns 27 next month. But each has plenty of NBA mileage on him, without a Finals appearance to show for it.

So what exactly is the plan here?

Both stars said they hope to have input on personnel. ("Why not?" Anthony asked. "I'm going to be the guy they're going to have to go out there and play with.")

But in the modern NBA, that often means more than identifying the obvious, such as the need for a big, tough defender and rebounder. It also means recruiting. Players said the gains made this season will make that easier.

"Everybody wants to play in New York now, especially with the excitement that we brought back to this city," said Anthony, who said he has heard from opposing players, "Man, I need to get there,'' or words to that effect.

The wild card, on and off the court, is Chauncey Billups, whose status for next season will be decided by Friday. He is a respected veteran who knows pretty much everyone in the NBA.

"I've done that everywhere I've been, to be honest with you,'' he said of recruiting. "Guys come there because I'm there. They know what I'm about.''

And what might Billups tell them? "There are so many great reasons why you would want to play here. We're on our way up. It's just: How fast can we take the elevator up?"

So it went at the MSG Training Center as both the Knicks and Rangers gave their final interviews after a season in which they made the playoffs together for the first time since 1997, then went a combined 1-8.

In one interview room, cameras pointed at a Knicks banner attached to one wall, then did a 180 turn for interviews in front of a Rangers banner on the opposite wall.

Neither team survived into May. But both appear to be ascendant.

Interest in the Knicks indisputably has skyrocketed. Their average regular-season rating on MSG was 1.82 percent of area homes, up a cool 100 percent from last season.

It's all very nice, but not nearly enough. Anthony made it clear that a first-round cameo won't do henceforth.

"Our goal is to always be in the 50-plus win range, especially after having a whole, full year with each other,'' he said. "On my radar, I want to be the top team in the East next year.''

Easy to say. Now comes the hard part.

The Dolan family owns controlling interest in the Knicks, MSG and Cablevision. Cablevision owns Newsday.