Now He Believes Cinderella Knicks Will Have a Ball

Wallace Matthews of the New York Post writing on the NBA finals:

“The wise guys tell us that the Knicks are about to wake up from their Improbable Dream, that the glass slipper is about to crack, that [Jeff] Van Gundy is due to turn back into a gnome and [Latrell] Sprewell back into a rat.

“Believe me, six days ago I was one of them. But now I’ve wised up. Knicks in seven. Convince me otherwise.”

The Spurs most likely will do that, Wally.

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Add finals: Mike Littwin of the Rocky Mountain News writing on Sprewell:

“As the New York Knicks prepare to play in the NBA finals, Sprewell is suddenly the toast of New York. Until recently the most reviled man on the planet (non-Balkans category), he has somehow evolved into the semi-legitimate heir to the Frazier-Reed-Bradley Knicks of legend.

“In fact, if the underdog Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs to win the title, I fully expect they’ll have a ticker tape parade for Sprewell.

“And then maybe his agent will announce that he wants Hillary Rodham Clinton to step aside so Spree can run for the Senate.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NBA finals record for most free throws made in a game?

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Minor scramble: Gary Shelton in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times: “Turns out a lot of teams are excited about the prospect of Penny Hardaway on the free-agent market.

“Those teams include Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Fort Wayne.”

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Just another diner: San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young on eating out in San Francisco:

“You’d be surprised at how anonymous I can be. If I go into a restaurant, put my name on the list, go outside and wait for my name to be called, ‘Young, party of two,’ nobody makes a big fuss.

“They look at me and say: ‘He’s waiting just like us. How important can he be?’ ”

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Sour grapes: Ricky Henderson, 40, of the New York Mets, referring to five-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens:

“He ain’t in my class, so how can anyone say he’s intimidating? He isn’t on that level yet. He hasn’t been around as long as me. He hasn’t done as much as me.”

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Refreshing: Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that Star Coach Ken Hitchcock has been a walking impromptu news conference.

“I got some advice before the series started,” Hitchcock said. “I was told I could either fight the media crush or enjoy it. I decided I would have a good time with it. Who knows, we might not ever get back here again.”

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Ha, ha: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writing on the Oakland Athletics’ sweep of the Dodgers: “The haves left town yesterday, but the have-nots pocketed all the wins.”

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No big deal: Tampa Devil Ray designated hitter Jose Canseco broke Fred McGriff’s club home run record of 19 for a season with his 20th--but is not impressed:

“It’s not like I did something great. If the record was 40 or 50, maybe I could be proud of it. This isn’t that big.”

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Olympic spirit: From comedy writer Earl Hochman: “IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch broke a federal law, taking a handgun out of the country, and worse, tried to bribe an airline hostess to give him an extra bag of peanuts.”

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Trivia answer: Bob Pettit of the St. Louis Hawks, 19, against Boston on April 9, 1958.

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And finally: Parry O’Brien, a former Olympic gold medalist in the shotput, has found another gold medal sport--swimming.

Bothered by back and knee pain, O’Brien turned to swimming and the pain has subsided. At the recent Arizona Senior Olympics, O’Brien, 66, won the butterfly and freestyle events.

“It’s the only sport I know that makes you feel better after you finish than before you go in,” O’Brien told Modern Maturity magazine.