CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Antonio McDyess recently walked outside his apartment on New York City's Upper West Side when someone called his name.

	Antonio McDyess Power Forward New York Knicks Profile
	CAREER STATISTICS (1995-2002) GM PPG RPG BPG FG% FT% 442 17.6 8.7 1.7 .494 .682

"I'm looking for you to get the Knicks back into the playoffs," the man said.

McDyess smiled when he thought back about the encounter on the street.

"There's a lot more pressure here than in Denver," he said.

You think so, Antonio?

Wait 'til the games start counting.

But McDyess believes he can withstand the pressure -- and answer some very pointed questions about his game -- when he performs at power forward and center for the Knicks this season. For one thing, his left knee is fine. It'll be a year ago Oct. 4 that he tore the patella tendon, suffering the first serious injury of his career. He wound up having to undergo surgery and missed 72 games for the Nuggets.

After a pain-free summer of workouts in his offseason Houston home, McDyess went through his first workouts with the Knicks in Charleston without any problems, prompting coach Don Chaney to say, "I can't get over how quick he is."

But the Knicks know that McDyess has some major tests to pass with the knee, including his regular-season New York debut. With the Knicks opening on the road with two straight games, McDyess will be taking the Madison Square Garden floor for this third game in four nights.

If everything checks out with the knee, McDyess still has to get out of the gate quickly, something he's never done during his seven NBA seasons.

	“	I just hope he can deal with New York and all the pressure. He definitely has the game the fans will love. But sometimes, he needs to be pushed. He's pretty laid-back, you know? ”
		— Nick Van Exel, former teammate

"One thing I'm gonna warn New York fans about: He's not a fast starter. He'll probably be like Jason Giambi," Nick Van Exel said a few weeks ago, about his old Nuggets teammate. "He always starts out slow."

Giambi started slowly, then had the kind of banner season George Steinbrenner and Joe Torre had in mind when they lured him to New York.

Now it's McDyess' turn to show New Yorkers what he can do. Anything short of helping the Knicks get back to the playoffs isn't going to sit well with fans.

"I know I'm going to have to get out fast," he said. "I expect the pressure, but I look forward to the challenge."

The challenge got a bit larger when Latrell Sprewell shocked the Knicks by showing up for the start of training camp with a broken bone in his right (shooting) hand. He needed surgery and is out six weeks, minimum, meaning he'll likely miss the first two weeks of the season.

As Sprewell heals, demanding Knicks fans will be looking for McDyess to pick up the slack.

"I just hope he can deal with New York and all the pressure," Van Exel said. "He definitely has the game the fans will love. But sometimes, he needs to be pushed. He's pretty laid-back, you know?"

McDyess is from tiny Quitman, Miss. When asked how many traffic lights are in his hometown, he smiled and without hesitation said, "three." He then talked of how all the hustle and bustle of New York made things "pretty confusing."

But there's no confusing what McDyess needs to do, first and foremost, for the Knicks. The Knicks have been without a low-post presence since Patrick Ewing was traded two seasons ago and Larry Johnson retired before last season. McDyess isn't your classic post player, but he's still being called on to suck the defenses away from Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston, both of whom had inconsistent seasons last year as the Knicks failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons.

"He's going to bring that quality and it's going to make a big difference," said Houston, who struggled getting open looks last season but still averaged 20 points per game. "I expect he's going to be a threat down there and command the double-team. Larry (Johnson) was still a threat, even with his bad back. He wasn't dunking the ball on people like he once did. But defenses still treated him like a threat. I expect they'll do the same with McDyess. I think teams will look at him and say, 'even if he's not 100 percent, we've still got to double him.' And that's key."

It's just as critical that McDyess come with the same energy every night, if not every quarter. During his career, he's been known to jump over people, when he's in the mood. As a reminder of what he has to do every night, he'll only have to look at who's jersey he'll be wearing. No 34. As any Knick fan can tell you, Charles Oakley never had to be prodded to dive into the second row for a loose ball. McDyess, however, has a history of disappearing.

"I had to get in his face, sometimes," said Van Exel, who played three seasons with McDyess in Denver. "There were times I had to let him know that you have to play tough from the beginning of the game and not wait until the fourth quarter. He's a great player. He can get you 20 points and 10 rebounds, night in and night out. He's the kind of player the fans in New York will love. He'll block shots -- he's an underrated defender -- and he'll make big shots, too. But you have to stay on him. Sometimes, you've got to give him that extra push to get him going."

But the Knicks don't really have an established leader at point guard.

With Mark Jackson gone, the job will go to Charlie Ward or Howard Eisley, both backups. Neither reminds anyone of Magic Johnson when it comes to getting the most out of teammates.

"That's what a point guard has to do," Van Exel said. "That's what I did."

So who will fill the role in New York? Only in town a few weeks, McDyess can probably think of a few fans who are up to the challenge.

Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.