By Raymond Felton Calls Himself A ‘Newborn Kid’ With Knicks, Believes New York Can Do Something Special This Season
November 9, 2012 – 6:15 am by Steven Cuce
Raymond Felton heard it all this offseason when he signed back up with the New York Knicks. Felton was too fat. He was out of shape. Could he still play at a high level? Did his play drop off? Was he just another product of Mike D’Antoni’s point guard system?
Well, Felton is having the last laugh early on this season. New York is 3-0 and currently the only undefeated team left in the NBA going into tonight’s action. He’s averaging 13.7 points and 6.0 assists per game. It may still be very early on, but Felton is bringing the winning formula with great point guard play and hard-fought defense.
Raymond Felton joined WFAN in New York with Boomer and Carton in the Morning to discuss not being angry that the New York Knicks traded him for Carmelo Anthony two years ago, the rumors of him not trying out in Portland and not being in shape, his excitement to come back to the Knicks, the team being confident they can win this season and defense winning games for the Knicks.
Were you pissed when you got traded out of here for Carmelo Anthony?:
“I wasn’t pissed. I was just a little hurt cause I loved it here.”
How do you respond to the reports that you forced your way out of Portland by not caring too much and being overweight?:
“No. Now that part was definitely not true. I think anybody, any coach, any player other than … I ain’t going to put that out there. I don’t think no coach would say that. No player would say that. It was just the media writing some stuff they didn’t know anything about. Only thing was that I came in out of shape. I said that from Day 1. I admitted to it, but I worked my behind off to get my weight off towards the end of the year and second half of the season to have better numbers. I made sure that didn’t happen again this year. I came in in great shape and still am.”
What did you feel like when you found out you were coming back to the Knicks?:
“Oh man, I felt like a newborn kid again. It’s just one of those things where this is where I wanted to be. It makes things easier when you are somewhere where you want to be and somewhere you’re wanted. I worked out extra hard this summer. I worked out two times, three times a day, just putting in the extra work to really be ready this year.”
It seems like this Knicks team goes out there this year and expects to win rather than just saying it. Is that true?:
“Oh no question. It shows in practice. If you was able to tell the way we go at each other, the way we focus in and we really know what we want and we focus in on it. Everyone has the same common goal and we’re going for it. That’s the key. If you’ve got a team that is willing to sacrifice and be together as one, no matter who it is, you’ve got a good chance to do some amazing things. I feel like we have that type of team.”
There will be a day in the next few months when you get both Iman Shumpert and Amare Stoudemire back. There will be no team deeper than the Knicks when everyone comes back and is healthy?:
“Oh no question. We’re definitely excited about that with the way we’re playing right now and to add those two guys back to our roster off injuries. Like I said, man, we’ve got a good enough team to do something special, but we just gotta keep it together and continue to play the way we have been playing, and right now I think our defense is the key, not our scoring. Not Carmelo Anthony scoring points. Not J.R. Smith scoring points. Not myself scoring points. Not Steve Novak. Everybody. Not Jason Kidd. Ronnie Brewer. Our defense has been winning us games.”
Listen to Raymond Felton on 660 WFAN in New York here
Tags: 660 WFAN in New York, Amare Stoudemire, Boomer and Carton, Carmelo Anthony, Iman Shumpert, NBA, New York Knicks, Raymond Felton
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