Tyson Chandler, after first preseason game in MSG
“Just an incredible night, an amazing experience, playing here and hearing the fans and knowing I’m not an enemy here, that I’m representing them and the city of New York,” Chandler would say later, his feet freshly plunged in a bucket of ice water. “Normally when I come out on the floor, [I am] snarling and grumpy ... but it took me a few minutes to finally stop smiling tonight.”
It was a feel-good festival all the way around, the Garden welcoming Chandler with a loud ovation during introductions and taking immediately to his game, to his ferocious rebounding and his aggressive inside presence and, most notably, to the way he challenged Nets who wandered into the lane.
Now, this is all a work in progress, and it should be noted that the biggest difference, for now, is that instead of the driver getting his own uncontested layup — a staple of the 2010-11 Knicks highlight reel — he now needs to make one pass in order to free a teammate up for an uncontested layup. You don’t go from a charity to the ’85 Bears overnight — or in 10 days, either.
-- NY Post
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