Johnson reclaims leader role 10.27.99

Larry Johnson's presence has certainly fired up the Knicks. And with the NBA season fast approaching, coach Jeff Van Gundy is happy to see one of his key players not only back in action, but feeling strong and confident. "Larry is crucial to us at both ends of the court," Van Gundy said yesterday after putting his players through a lengthy practice session. "One, he is a very good defender individually and also a terrific team defender and communicator; and then on the offensive end, when we go through him, he can score against single coverage and he likes to pass against double coverage, so he's a significent difference." The Knicks were 0-4 in preseason play without Johnson, who was nursing a sprained left foot, and when he returned to action for the first time last Saturday against San Antonio in Buffalo, he had a few words to say to his teammates before the game. Obviously his pep talk did some good, as the Knicks have won two straight. "I hope so," Johnson said. "I basically said, 'Fellas, I know it's still preseason and I know what some of us are thinking. I was thinking the same thing, but it ain't going to be preseason long and its time to tighten up this ship.'" Johnson readily acknowledges his role as a team leader. "I think the guys understand me," he said. "I know they know me. When I step on the floor, we're going out to win. When we go five-on-five here in practice, two-on-two or three-on-three, let's win. After we won Monday night we came in and Jeff pointed out everything we did wrong and it looked bad. But like I tell the guys, it's more heartbreaking for that to happen and you lost. Preseason or not, I'm still coming to win." Van Gundy certainly appreciates Johnson's role as a team leader. "He has been a leader of this team since the day he stepped in here," Van Gundy said. "He does the right things. He says the right things. He plays the right way and he does it every day, so we're really fortunate in that way." Johnson scored 18 points, all in the first half, and pulled down seven rebounds in the Knicks' 89-79 victory over Washington on Monday night in Albany. "I would have liked to have seen him be a little bit hungrier to score in the second half," Van Gundy said, "but he always is trying to involve everybody else." Said Johnson, "I'm playing basically the same defense I tried to play last year, high intensity, making others react to the defense. If I did anything on the defensive end that I tried to pay more attention to, it's boxing out on rebounds. That was an Achilles' heel for us last year, and this year I was trying to make sure. It's still the preseason and you develop good habits and bad habits in preseason, and the two games that I have played I've definitely tried to keep my body on guys and tried to get the defensive rebounds." Johnson doesn't see himself as the major offensive force on the team. "I had a nice stretch going (Monday)," he said. "Jeff called the plays and guys gave me good passes to the post, and so I had a nice five or six minutes. But we're just going to go with the flow. One night it may be me filling it, another night Allan (Houston) or someone else."