Anthony Fucilli checks in from Vegas

Hi Knicks fans, I'm out here in Las Vegas for the Summer League where it's 100, 105, 110 degrees...and that's on a cool day! But NBA rookies and select veterans and first-year players are out here with 16 teams trying to work on their game for the fall. And the Knicks are here also.

Last year, in their first year at the Las Vegas Summer League, we saw an early glimpse of Nate Robinson. Nate had excitement and a flare to do things that you don't think someone his size could pull off. We first saw it in this league last year and we saw signs of that during the season, including him taking home the Slam Dunk Championship in Houston at the NBA All-Star Game. Well, the All-Star Game next year will be in Las Vegas!

Nate Robinson is back out here with Channing Frye and David Lee and Mardy Collins. And the Knicks are also waiting patiently to see if last year's class can get better, stronger, bigger.

So far Channing Frye has done that. He reported to camp at 260 pounds. He said he put on some muscle. He hasn't played basketball coming off his injury where he sprained his knee when Andre Barrett ran into him during a game at The Garden against Toronto. But he says he's healthy and he's looking forward to playing five games, but probably four out of five will be what he gets into.

David Lee feels this is a chance for him to work on his jumpshot and work on his perimeter skills, but most importantly have some fun.

Here in Las Vegas it's easy to have fun, but these guys have been out here working since July 2. Double sessions every day starting at nine o'clock in the morning until 12.

Isiah Thomas ran the practices. He went back, put the whistle around his neck shouting out instuctions and the guys seem very, very enthusiastic about it.

They're tired, I'm sure, after the long practices - the first one went two hours and 45 minutes - as Isiah gave them his philosophy on how he wants to be open and running, but playing defense. That's what we should see once these games tip-off tommorrow here at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas as they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

So it should be fun. It should be something that Knick fans would want to tune to just to get a glimpse of how the big three from last year have improved their game, and also if Renaldo Balkman, this year's first pick, will get a chance to play.

He sprained his left knee. He did practice today, however, but we may not see him until Saturday. Although he said he's a warrior and he's not going to let a sprained knee slow him down. You have to like his attitude.

So the Knicks' five will have a chance to impress Knicks managment and Knick fans, and they'll get to work on their games. They've been working hard and most importantly they've been having fun, which is one of the big themes of this camp so far.

They've been very positive working with Isiah. They've talked about how being around him has made them a little bit more excited about playing. Not that they aren't excited about playing in the NBA, but it just seems contagious right now with these young players, what they're getting from Isiah Thomas, and you hope somehow when the veterans come into training camp later on that that will be passed on to them and the confidence of the team will be much improved.