THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : If Riley, Knicks Survive This, More Power to Them

As Friedrich Nietzsche and Pat Riley like to say: That which does not kill me makes me stronger.

By that standard, the New York Knicks are going to be monsters by the spring, assuming they survive.

Also by that standard, the best thing for them is that which almost kills them. That’s what they’re going through now.

Aging, limping, slumping and snapping at each other, they’re running a distant second to loaded, young Orlando, threatening Riley’s career-long string of first-place finishes.

Overmatched, frustrated and batted around in the New York papers like a beach ball, Riley is snapping too, even ridiculing his players for their sniveling.

Here’s a week in their lives (be glad it’s not yours):

--Dec. 9--Knicks lose in Atlanta, 89-85. Ice-cold John Starks gets open, waves his hands but is ignored by Patrick Ewing. As they run downcourt, Starks says something to Ewing. During the next timeout, Ewing rips into Starks.

“I don’t have any comment on that,” Ewing says later.

Sitting on the bench during the timeout, Starks puts his head into his towel and starts crying.

Moments later, Charles Oakley ignores an open Starks on an inbounds play. A conspiracy theory is suspected, a result of Starks’ two-week slump, memories of his two-for-18 performance in Game 7 in Houston during last season’s finals, and players’ resentment of Riley’s coddling (Riley adores Starks’ courage; other Knicks sometimes call Starks “Riley’s son”). Faced with an open schism, Riley throws in with Ewing and Oakley, telling Starks, forcefully, he had no right to question Ewing.

Yells Riley at Starks in front of teammates, “Who are you to ever question anybody’s shot selection?”

Good point.

--Dec. 10--At home against the Philadelphia 76ers, Riley benches Starks and Greg Anthony. The Knicks have to rally to win, 107-103. When Doc Rivers fouls out, Riley sends in Hubert Davis as the crowd chants for Starks.

Riley says with a straight face, “I never heard it once.”

--Dec. 12--At home against the Miami Heat, the Knicks give up at least 120 points for the second time this month and lose, 122-111.

Starks comes off the bench but goes one for nine, his only basket a breakaway layup. Fans cheer when he enters, boo him later.

“Hold up!” Starks barks at reporters. “Let me say this for everybody! No more questions about my shooting! That (stuff) is over!”

Riley tries his trusty guilt trip on reporters to get everyone off Starks’ back.

“If you want to rake him over the coals, rake him over the coals,” he says.

Riley also reserves similar coal-raking privileges. Asked about Anthony, who was unhappy at being benched without being told, he gets indignant.

“Why is it necessary every single time to sit down and explain why you’re doing something?” Riley asks.

“Why has it gotten that way in the NBA that players say, ‘He didn’t talk to me?’ These guys are pros, making millions of dollars. Their job is to come and play, accept a role.”

Riley goes on to note the “self-centered, greed-oriented, defiant attitudes” running rampant in the NBA, which he believes “are going to bring this league down.”

--Dec. 13--Riley announces the real problem is a jammed roster: 14 players with guaranteed contracts for 12 slots.

“The No. 1 priority on this team is to clean up the roster,” he says.

“There isn’t one player who doesn’t understand that the hammer is going to fall shortly. They don’t want to talk about it because it’s uncomfortable, but they know. It’s going to happen shortly. I can’t guarantee anybody, except for certain core members, that they’re going to be here.”

In other words, if you send your laundry out, ask for 24-hour service.

--Dec. 14--The New York Times’ George Vecsey writes that Riley is carrying on a “one-man crusade against the dreaded ‘disease of me’ (in other people).”

--Dec. 15--Headline in the New York Times: “Attitude Check Begins with Riley.”

Of course, the Knicks have the same “core” Riley used to praise for playing with such heart.

What happened to the Knicks this season is last season. After a record-tying 24-game playoff season--Riley’s championship ’88 Lakers also played 24--they had a short summer to heal but couldn’t.

Ewing had arthroscopic knee surgery and still has occasional swelling. Oakley was talked out of surgery on his dislocated toe and says he’s in pain.

Meanwhile, the Knicks’ $3-million-a-year contract extension--more than twice as much as any other coach makes--sits on Riley’s desk, unsigned. Skeptics say he’d be silly to sign before the season ends and they know if they’re going to have a parade or a bonfire.

Of course, this day has been coming since Riley, who grew up as a coach of a dynasty in the soft breezes of Southern California, took his ever-more-high-powered act to merciless Manhattan.

If you haven’t noticed, he isn’t the same lovable, unassuming Riles who as a young Laker coach said, “I want the players to use the court as an arena to express themselves.”

Now he wants them to use the court as an arena to express himself.

They’re trying. He may question their spirit, but their flesh looks like the problem.

OK, NOW I’M READY TO HANDICAP THIS

The key to punditry lies in making enough guesses to assure that one blunders onto the truth.

Let’s just hope we’re getting warmer:

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ATLANTIC DIVISION

1. Orlando Magic--OK, so they’re kids who have never won a playoff game. On the other hand, they have overpowering talent, Horace Grant is a perfect fit and, most important, who else is there in the East?

Indiana General Manager Donnie Walsh says of Shaquille O’Neal, “I don’t think people understand yet the way this guy changes the game. What are you going to do to stop this guy? If you double-team him, he knocks them down and dunks on them.”

2. Knicks--Authoritarian or not, Riley is a great coach whose tenacity is legendary and he can never be written off. But if he expects to win a title with this crew, he has his work cut out for him.

3. New Jersey Nets--Business as usual: players fighting a guerrilla war against Coach Butch Beard, rallying late to grab the seventh or eighth playoff spot, losing in the first round.

4. Washington Bullets--A rally gets them to ninth best in the East and another lottery pick, which will come in handy for the Golden State Warriors, who acquired it in the Chris Webber trade.

5. Boston Celtics--Nice pickup, Dominique Wilkins. Looks like 35 victories and the last pick in the lottery.

6. Heat--Nice trades.

7. 76ers--Shawn Bradley has made strides since the first week when Orlando’s Nick Anderson called what O’Neal did to him “child abuse.” But we’re talking l-o-n-g term project.

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CENTRAL DIVISION

1. Indiana Pacers--Year II of the Larry Brown era and everything’s still OK! Look for them in the Eastern finals on the who-else-is-there theory.

2. Charlotte Hornets--Or Allan Bristow is gone. Larry Johnson looks better but still not the old LJ.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers--Mike Fratello has never coached better, but Brad Daugherty is out for the season and Mark Price’s numbers are the lowest since his rookie year.

4. Chicago Bulls--Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen prove they can make the playoffs (in the East, anyway) with 11 guys off the street.

5. Atlanta Hawks--General Manager Pete Babcock bit the bullet and traded Wilkins and Kevin Willis, but they’re trapped in the middle: not good enough to go anywhere in the playoffs, too high in the draft to get a star.

6. Detroit Pistons--Grant Hill was a huge plus. Oliver Miller is a $10-million weight on their salary cap. If they don’t wise up, good luck won’t matter.

7. Milwaukee Bucks--At his current pace, Glenn Robinson will overcome Hill’s insurmountable lead in the rookie-of-the-year race by Christmas. The Bucks have a doughnut hole at center and here’s their last chance to get one in the lottery.

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MIDWEST DIVISION

1. Houston Rockets--Even if they aren’t at last season’s level. In case you haven’t noticed, the West isn’t chock-full of dynasties, either.

2. Utah Jazz--America’s most boring 50-game winners.

3. San Antonio Spurs--OK, they got Dennis Rodman back on the reservation. How long can they keep him there?

4. Denver Nuggets--LaPhonso Ellis is gone for the season; Dikembe Mutombo has claimed his shots.

5. Dallas Mavericks--Jason Kidd, no factor in the rookie race, still looks like the point guard of the ‘90s. The Minnesota Timberwolves owe them one of their next three No. 1 picks for Sean Rooks, so things are looking good.

6. Minnesota--Latest escapade for the Brat Pack: Coach Bill Blair says Isaiah Rider “has to grow up.” Rider calls a news conference to reply, proving Blair’s point.

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PACIFIC DIVISION

1. Phoenix Suns--They haven’t put their first team on the floor yet and the way Paul Westphal is coaching, might not when Kevin Johnson returns. So far, “the Nellie of the Desert” has tried bringing Charles Barkley, Danny Manning and Dan Majerle off the bench. They’re still the league’s best show. David Stern must pray nightly for a Phoenix-Orlando final.

2. Seattle SuperSonics--Around the league, everyone is on pins and needles, waiting for the blowup.

3. Portland Trail Blazers--P.J. Carlesimo’s first hurrah, their last.

4. Lakers--Fifty victories? I’ll believe that when I see it. Oh, they’re already on a 50-victory pace?

5. Sacramento Kings--Little-known rookie bruisers Brian Grant and Michael Smith energized a seemingly hopeless situation.

6. Warriors--Heartbreak Hotel. There’s speculation this could be Don Nelson’s last season on the sideline.

7. Clippers--Let’s look at the bright side; except for a slow start, they’d be in the playoff hunt.

FACES AND FIGURES

Pippen, the Bulls’ new voice of reason, on Jackson’s theory that the new United Center has ruined their home-court advantage: “Let the record show that I haven’t complained about the new arena. I feel good professional players can play anywhere.” . . . Jackson, worried that the high ceiling is disorienting, moved shoot-arounds downtown from the suburban facility where they shot while winning three titles. Said irreverent center Will Perdue: “Interesting, but wouldn’t it also be harder for the other team?”

Unfortunately, he now plays in the East: Ron ($19.2 million for five years) Harper is averaging 12 points against Western teams, six against the East. On the other hand, Harper, pilloried here after moping through last season, gave Clipper trainer Keith Jones and equipment man Pete Serrano $1,000 watches on his return to Los Angeles. . . . Pacer warhorse LaSalle Thompson on Larry Brown: “I think there are only three great coaches, Larry, Pat Riley and Lenny Wilkens. The rest of them you can interchange and the teams would do about the same.”

Byron Scott: “Larry and Pat Riley are a lot alike in that they’re both very driven to win, they are both very good with X’s and O’s. But in how they deal with players, they’re different. Riley separated himself from us. Larry doesn’t do that. He wants to be around us. He cares about us as people.” . . . The Clippers, Pacers and 76ers are reportedly interested in Roy Tarpley, now on terminal outs with Dallas Coach Dick Motta. Meanwhile, people are wondering why the Mavericks ignored Tarpley’s pleas for a trade, brought their prodigal back once more--then gave him a six-year, $25-million contract?

Dennis Rodman, on his plans now that he has rejoined the Spurs: “They don’t have any guidelines that I’m going to follow. Nothing’s changed. I’m still black. I still wear (dark) glasses. I’ve still got tattoos. If you (reporters) want some ammunition, there it is. You guys blow it out of proportion anyway. There’s nothing exciting in San Antonio, so you have to twist it out of proportion.” Comment: Sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship. . . . Spur Coach Bob Hill, watching Rodman pass up a layup to pass to Moses Malone: “Dennis hasn’t shot since Lincoln died.”

Webber, after the Bullets dropped to 2-10 since acquiring him: “I’m emotionally drained, nearly burned out. I’m not going to get used to this. I’m never going to get used to this.” Comment: We’ll see. . . . Net madman Chris Morris, fined $500 after refusing Beard’s order to tie his shoelaces after entering a game, says he deserves a role like Kenny Anderson’s and Derrick Coleman’s (“Why did they put me on the All-Star ballot then?”) but is confident everything will turn out for him. “Will I get $2 million somewhere else?” Morris said. “With two expansion teams coming in, heck yeah.”

Barkley, after a victory over the Nets: “Something is wrong with that team.” Comment: No kidding. . . . Seattle Coach George Karl, bristling after Shawn Kemp got a technical foul on one of his post-dunk primal-screams: “He should have gotten thrown out. I just don’t understand that stuff. Call me an old dork, but this is supposed to be about team.” . . . Barkley, arguing that he and Buddy Ryan are the best things to have happened to Phoenix: “Before, there were a lot of old people just waiting to die.” . . . Well, maybe not the very best things: Westphal, asked if Barkley, also an Auburn alum, has much influence on Auburn rookie Wesley Person: “Not too much, I hope.”