Preseason game two has come and gone, and the Knicks are now 2-0. It was admittedly a tough game to watch, but I’m encouraged by some of what I saw and look forward to seeing this Knicks team again as they continue to learn how to play together.

Early on the Knicks looked nervous, Stephon and Quentin missed some easy buckets I’d like to think they’d make once they get into regular season rhythem.

Mardy’s got no hops yet coming off surgery, yet he did some great stuff including a spin move in the paint that dazzled. He had a few looks at the basket where it seemed he had no lift. I know from the Wheelchair Charity game last year that Mardy can throw it down, so I hope with more time he can redevelop his leaping ability. His defense was still very good, and he picked somebody’s pocket out there and pushed the ball on the break. That’s what I like to see from Mardy Collins.

Fred Jones played solid defense and challenged/altered some shots in the paint. I’d hate to think of what would happen if it were against a more athletic NBA player, Fred might get dunked on some times, but nobody said good defensive players don’t ever get dunked on–ask Mutumbo about that.

Nate looked like a real distributor out there. I’m liking what I’m seeing this year. His jumper looked good too–lookout AH7.

We’ve heard that Nate and Fred would be picking up their man at 3/4 court, yet I didn’t see much full court press tonight; I suppose we didn’t need it once New York took the lead.

Physically, Fizer looked like Boozer out there. He put on some weight while he’s been overseas.

I noticed they played Mardy at the Small Forward position some tonight, with Fred Jones and Nate Robinson in the back court. Very interesting lineup choice. There was some good chemistry between Nate and Fred, looks like that second unit is going to be a terror.

But what stood out most in my mind was Zach Randolph’s performance. He didn’t hit too many from the perimeter as he did in the first preseason game, but instead he showed great ability to score the ball with his lefty shot. Early on ZBO and Stephon played some promising two-man game, something to look forward to this season. All the rumors that ZBO doesn’t pass the ball once he gets it seem to be false, because I saw Zach passing to everybody out there, he just didn’t get any assists out of it.

Jared Jeffries had a nice dunk on the break, but he and Mardy still seem to be passing up open shots, I hope they develop the confidence and skill to take–and make–that shot this season.

The rookies: Chandler is very athletic, he has a shot too. Too bad Jared Jordan, Demetris Nichols and Randolph Morris played limited minutes, I’d like to see more from them in the next game.

Overall they looked rusty, but I like the team passing and I’m more than impressed that New York only had 11 turnovers for the game.

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I’m a lefty myself so it is nice to see such great lefties on this team like ZBO and DLee.

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I tried to get tickets to this game, the cheapest they had today at the Garden Box Office was $250. I couldn’t bring myself to pay that much for a game that doesn’t matter, even if it is for chairty. Outside MSG they were selling Maccabi jerseys and everything was very pro Maccabi Elite, I did not see much Knicks stuff at the merchandise tables. Suffice to say the crowd wasn’t a knicks crowd, they were still cheering for Israel despite being down by 20 in the fourth quarter.