A couple of us had a nice conversation with Stephon Marbury this afternoon when practice was over. Most of us were running around getting one last quote for the previews that are being pulled together for upcoming print editions, but there was one headline from the Knicks playmaker.

“I’m looking way more for my shot this year as opposed to last year,” he said. “Way more. Because when I’m aggressive it just opens things up for the other players as opposed to last year when I was sitting back.”

Now don’t go jumping to conclusions.

Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph will still be Option 1 and 1A, but Marbury has to keep himself busy. When he was aggressive last season, there were more easy shots for the other players on the floor.

He didn’t mention the alter ego once in this conversation.

Since he believes there’s potential for an upturn, Marbury altered his offseason approach.

“I’m just prepared,” Marbury said. “I’m more prepared this year. I think with the team that we have, there’s a lot at stake as far as on the positive end, so I think it’s important for everyone to definitely put forth what they’re going to put forth as far as trying to make this a successful year.”

How good might the Knicks be?

“Me being someone who’s played on a several teams with different coaches and a bunch of different guys, this here is definitely one of the best teams I’ve ever played on because of the diversity that we have,” Marbury said. “We have so many guys who can do so many different things. Every night it will be somebody different, and if somebody has it rolling for five or six games, that’s who we’re going to roll with.”

So yesterday I’m walking into the MSG Training Center when I came upon this to the left of the front entrance …

I’m not kidding.

Are you into symbolism? The best punch line so far comes from Daily News writer Frank Isola who asked whether 1872 is going to be the Knicks’ record this season.

Happy Halloween if you’re so inclined.

I don’t know if anybody saw NBA commissioner David Stern on ESPN last night, but he was asked how the sexual harassment fiasco in any way spoke to the state of the Knicks franchise.

Just so you know, Stern doesn’t waste time hiding emotions.

“It demonstrates that they’re not a model of intelligent management,” Stern said. “There were many checkpoints along the way where more decisive action would have eliminated this issue.”

Wow.

I don’t know about you, but where I come from that’s deserving of two shots and the ball. Where is Dick Bavetta when you need him?

Naturally, we solicited a response today at practice.

Steve Mills just happened to be standing in the gym, but a request to speak with the president of MSG sports was denied. I even said please. Isiah Thomas was not allowed to address the subject in a direct manner, either.

Instead, they gave us a very brief statement from ownership.

“We have high regard for the commissioner,” MSG chairman James Dolan said. “Right now, what we can all agree on is the best thing for the Knicks is to get on the court and win some basketball games.”

Darn.

This had the potential to become an entertaining tussle.

I know. I know. All of you excited Knicks fans will have to find other ways to occupy yourselves until Friday’s tipoff in Cleveland.

Who knows why the schedule worked out that way.

The Bobcats, Hawks, Timberwolves, Celtics, and Clippers have to wait, too.

For the record, the NBA sets up the schedule. Individual teams make it easy or hard on the league to set up the slate based on the availability of their respective arenas. For example, the Knicks hit the road every April for at least a week. There’s no way around it because the Garden is hosting the circus.

Anyway, here’s what you can do before they hand out the rings tonight in San Antonio, if you’ve already made a prediction about the upcoming Knicks season, give me your NBA Finals match up.

Let’s say the Spurs will top the Pistons in a six-game series that will establish new ratings lows.

Your turn. Have fun.

Oh yeah, scroll down to vote in the latest starting lineup poll.

We never get to see the good stuff.

David Lee had blood on the front of his practice jersey. Malik Rose got poked in the eye and was struggling to keep it open. Wilson Chandler limped off with what appeared to be a minor thigh issue. Zach Randolph was sporting an elastic sleeve on his knee for extra support.

We only got to sample the standard free throws at the end of practice, which is standard fare.

Nobody seemed to be nursing any bad feelings, though.

“We got a game Friday,” Isiah Thomas said. “I just think guys are working extremely hard right now.”

Apparently the level of competition remains high because a number of players are convinced they still might be able to pick up a couple of extra minutes here or a couple of extra shots there.

“I see a work in progress,” Malik Rose said. “Everybody is willing to do what it takes to win. I don’t think everybody is 100 percent clear on their roles. That’s what training camp is for, and the early part of the regular season. Isiah will deliniate jobs and roles, and guys will learn to execute to the best of their ability. Then you’ll see cohesiveness and camaraderie and wins start to pile up.”

Keep posting your season predicitions, final record, place in the standings, short explanation. We’re getting a strong response, and everybody seems to have at least one foot in reality. Nice work.

Here’s your chance to go on the record.

Maybe the Knicks will shock the world, or perhaps they’ll chemistry will fizzle again. Let’s put some numbers down to avoid the revisionist history in April.

Make a prediction.

Follow my lead. I’m a hopeless optimist, so the Knicks will go 42-40 and just barely finish eighth in a vastly improved Eastern Conference. There’s going to be a lot of competition for the last two or three postseason berths. I’m figuring somebody in the group—Orlando, Toronto, Miami, Milwaukee, and Washington—will suffer a critical injury and fall off the pace.

That’ll open the door.

So give me a record, give me a position in the standings, give me a reason.

Hit the keyboard.

It seemed to be a quiet practice today, none of the players were double over and drenched in sweat. More than likely, there was a fair amount of film study. I’m sure Isiah Thomas let everyone know what must be accomplished in the days leading up to the opener in Cleveland.

He sort of needled Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford after the loss to New Jersey.

“I know they’re better players than what we’ve seen in the exhibition,” Thomas said. “A lot of the focus
has been on putting the ball inside, but we definitely need a healthy compliment from the guards to be
considered a dangerous team.”

Marbury averaged 9.2 points and 4 assists in 26.7 minutes. He shot 36.2 percent from the field.

Crawford averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 assists in 30.3 minutes. He shot 27.9 percent from the field.

No updates on Jared Jeffries, who actually put down the crutches and shot free throws with his teammates. He was 2 for 2 when I was looking, so maybe we’re on to something.

Depending on the situation, any number of players could be coming off the bench for Quentin Richardson in the next few weeks.

“We could go anywhere from Renaldo to Mardy to Fred to David,” Thomas said. “So we can go a lot of different directions at that spot, depending on the match ups that night. We could even put Steph over there at the 3 slot. Malik also.”

Oh, there was a bit of news.

The Knicks exercised the fourth-year options on the rookie contracts of David Lee and Nate Robinson, as well as the third-year options of the rookie deals of Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins.

As we headed for the locker room door tonight, Jared Jeffries came back in on crutches with MRI results for the medical staff to review. They all huddled in a back room, exhaled and exited with the news.

Jeffries has a sprained right knee along with a bone bruise.

It’s the same ACL he tore in 2002, which is what cause Jeffries more agony than anything when he was on the floor. He is to use the crutches for the weekend and will be re-evaluated within two weeks.

That’s worse than a day-to-day issue, but not as bad as a season-long sentance.

“It was scary for a while because I know how much goes into (rehab) if you have a serious injury like an ACL,â€? Jeffries said. “But I got really good news for the most part.”

The sad thing is, he was playing well before hitting the floor in obvious pain.

Jared Jeffries drilled a baseline jumper, hustled back up the court and beat Richard Jefferson to the inbounds pass with 6:56 to play in the first quarter. They got tangled up, though, and Jeffries went down. He needed help to get off the court.

Right now, they’re calling it a sprained knee.

There are usually more tests in cases like this, but it seems the Knicks will be minus a versatile defender for a period of time. It’s a situation that would be a lot worse if Renaldo Balkman was not expected to be ready in time for the opener Friday in Cleveland.

Don’t expect to see a dressed rehearsal.

The goal tonight is to play 48 minutes without injury. Opening night in Cleveland is a week away. Quentin Richardson isn’t playing again. It’s a way to make sure the sore left ankle is completely healed. Jerome James and Renaldo Balkman are sitting out, too.

No real news there.

Richardson is expected to practice all week and be ready to chase LeBron James next Friday.

“This is me,” Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said when asked if there was a reason to be concerned. “I don’t want any of our guys going into the season with any kind of nagging injuries, whether it be hamstring, calf, slight ankle sprains. The most important thing right now is health. So this is me holding him out.”

Eddy Curry is cleared to lose the shoulder brace tomorrow, but he planned to lobby the medical staff to lose the awkward device tonight. It’s apparently become annoying. We talked with Curry for a few minutes about his adjustment to lining up with Zach Randolph.

He acknowledged there is work to do.

“I was really expecting for it to really be wide open for some reason when I got the ball, but it really seems to be the same (as last season),” Curry said. “I just gotta kind of dissect the game a little bit and see what spots are going to be open for me and for Zach.”

Quite a few of the players got tangled up in traffic coming down from Westchester in the rain. I don’t know whether there will be fines. Thomas was late, too.