The Big East tournament, being played here in New York City, remains a singular event worth watching. The momentum builds from each game until you have on the final three days, eight of the top teams in the country tearing at each other in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden. Nothing like it.

What exactly is all the talk about Lance Stephenson, the freshman from Cincinnati? I’m not seeing what all the press clippings said about him during the recruiting season last year. He seems to take lots of possessions off, and doesn’t have a semblance of a jump shot. Maybe, a little bit chubby….like by 25 pounds.

The 11th-seeded Bearcats (18-14), who had never won a game in the tournament until Tuesday’s opening-round win over Rutgers, advanced to the quarterfinals against third-seeded West Virginia (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP).

“Well, obviously, a big win for our team,” said Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin. “We attacked the basket tonight. Guys did a great job in the second half and we ended up with 40 points in the paint.”

Edgar Sosa had 28 points for the defending champion Cardinals (20-12), but he was stripped by Vaughn as he was headed toward a possible game-tying 3-point attempt.

Yancy Gates had 16 points for Cincinnati, which finished with a 54-33 rebound advantage, including 28-9 on the offensive end. Vaughn had 10 points

Reginald Delk hit a 3 with 9.7 seconds left to bring Louisville within 67-66 before Vaughn’s free throws made it a three-point game.

Roberts, now in his seventh year has been credited with getting his kids to play hard but the wins have still been hard to string together for the “little school from Queens,” as Roberts likes to describe the university. The questions about his job security have grown as his teams continue to be outclassed and out-recruited by other Big East schools.

Roberts is well aware of the buzz over whether St. Johns will offer him a new contract but he feels he’s gotten the program back on track. He took over a decimated program on the verge of NCAA penalty, is 60-76 overall and only 23-52 in Big East play.  He said he spoke to Father Harrington, St. Johns’ President, as recently as about two weeks ago at a board of directors meeting and that the university president was 100-percent supportive.

“I feel better about my team than I ever have,” said Roberts. “We’ve taken major steps to getting better and we’re going to be pretty good next year. We just have to continue to grow.”

“I don’t think anybody could forsee six years up the road and tell where a program will be,” he said. “I think we’re further along than when I first got here. We were rock bottom playing in the best league in America. I think we’ve got a chance to be one of the better teams in the league next year.”

St. Johns, under legendary coach Lou Carnesecca, was able to hold onto kids like Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Walter Berry, Bill Wennington, Malik Sealy and many others who went on to productive NBA careers. Under Roberts, they have yet to produce an All-American or an NBA-caliber player.

“Everybody thinks that St. Johns got every New York City kid, they never did,” Roberts said. “I say this all the time and people don’t want to listen to it but it’s right. Ed Pinckney went to Villanova, we got Walter Berry. So nobody worried about Ed Pinckney going to Villanova. Kenny Smith went to North Carolina, we got Mark Jackson so nobody worried about Kenny Smith going to Carolina. Pearl Washington went to Syracuse.

“What we have to do is get the kid that fits us and then when we get him, we have to make him as good as he can possibly be. Then nobody will be asking those questions anymore. You can’t keep them here in NY just like you can’t keep all the great players in Chicago. The landscape of basketball is totally different than it was 20 years ago. With AAU basketball, by the time they’re 18, they’ve been to North Carolina and L.A. 15 times, so it’s no big deal. So for a kid to go there for college, it’s no big deal. When I was growing up in Brooklyn, and I know I’m dating myself, when someone would tell me to go to New Jersey, I would say I don’t know those people over there. I’m from NYC and I wanted to stay home. So, it’s a totally different landscape.”

Roberts does have the respect of his coaching bretheren in the Big East. After St. Johns blew out Jim Calhoun’s Connecticut team, Calhoun went public with his admiration for the job Roberts was doing. At the same time, the wily Calhoun had to know his public support for Roberts could have a positive affect on St. Johns’ decision-making when it comes to retaining Roberts.

After today’s game, Buzz Williams, Marquette’s head coach supported Roberts as well, at the post-game press conference.

“Coach Roberts doesn’t get the credit he’s deserving of for how hard his team plays,” said Williams. “Not that I’m old, but I always trust our players to tell me the truth about other players. If you were to ask our players who is the hardest playing team in the league, they would tell you St. Johns. I thought they were the hardest playing team today.”

St. Johns manhandled Jim Calhoun’s squad, 73-51 in a game that may have said more about UConn then it does about St. Johns. With Roberts’ job rumored to be hanging by a thread, with the pressure to win a few games at least in this tournament, this win over one of the top collegiate programs in the country may have let some of the steam out of the pressure cooker St. Johns has become for its coach and its players.

Calhoun, the Hall of Fame coach who took UConn from being another backwater basketball program to among the top five in the country over the past 20 years, didn’t come through on his promise to bench seniors Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson at the start because of poor play in recent weeks. They did not reward him for the trust.

St. John’s (17-4), the 13th seed, advances to a second-round meeting with No. 5 Marquette at 2 p.m. Wednesday. UConn (17-15) had any hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament snuffed.

Sean Evans had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Horne and Justin Brownlee added 13 points apiece for the Storm as it overcame the absence of second-leading scorer Dwight Hardy (knee). Kemba Walker scored 12 points for UConn.

Being without Hardy was one thing, but leading scorer D.J. Kennedy picked up a second foul just 4:07 into the game and had to go to the bench. He did return for a few minutes and had just five points in seven minutes at halftime but St. John’s held a 35-22 lead.

The slack was picked up by Brownlee and Omari Lawrence. It had been more than a month since Lawrence played more than 10 minutes in a game, but he was the first one off the bench. He had four points on 2-for-3 shooting in 12 first-half minute. Brownlee had seven points on 3-for-5 shooting in 11 first-half minutes.

The Huskies shot just 31% in the first half.

In the second half UConn never got closer than eight points, last at 42-34 on a Robinson layup with 14:23 to play.

His coach, Jim Boeheim was named the Coach of the Year of the Conference.

Lance Stephenson, the acclaimed recruit from Brooklyn who finally settled on playing at the University of Cincinnati, was also named the Big East Rookie of the Year.

Johnson, a 6′7″ junior, sat out last season after transferring from Iowa State. The Texas native used his all-around skills to contribute to SU’s success. He averaged 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds, both team highs. He is second on the club in blocks (1.9) and steals (1.7). He’s the first transfer from a four-year school to win Big East Player of the Year honors. He is also the first Syracuse player to win the honor since Hakim Warrick in 2004-05.

Stephenson led all freshman in the league with a 12.0 scoring average. He was very productive late in the season when he averaged 16.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in his last four games. In Cincinnati’s season finale against highly-ranked Georgetown, he tallied his career-high 23 points.  Stephenson is Cincinnati’s first player to win a Big East individual award.

Boeheim directed Syracuse to an outright Big East regular season championship after being selected sixth in the Presseason Coaches’ Poll. The dean of Big East coaches, Boeheim owns a career record of 827-291.

Tonight’s game against the playoff-bound Atlanta Hawks provided the sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden with the rare opportunity to walk out of this building with a big collective smile instead of the more typical muttering under the breath Knick fans have grown used to for the past decade or so. 

The Knicks beat the Hawks for the third time this season, 99-98 when video replay showed Al Horford’s basket came after the buzzer.

Wilson Chandler stopped Josh Smith’s drive to the basket with seconds to play and the ball bounced out to Horford in the lane. Referees originally ruled his short jumper good, but replay clearly showed the light was on above the backboard with the ball still in his hands.

Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points and David Lee had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks (22-41), who won for just the third time in 15 games and temporarily avoided a franchise-record ninth straight losing season.

Smith had 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Hawks, who have lost two straight following a four-game winning streak. Joe Johnson scored 22 points and Horford finished with 18 points and 12 boards.

Atlanta fell a game behind Boston for third place in the Eastern Conference, and could come back to regret its surprisingly poor play against the Knicks. New York beat the Hawks for the third time in a row, having handed them two of their seven losses at home this season.

Al Harrington scored 14 points and Toney Douglas added 11 for the Knicks, who bounced back from a humiliating loss to New Jersey on Saturday by going 10 of 15 from 3-point range. They did it without Tracy McGrady, who was resting because of general soreness.

He’ll probably be back sometime on the Knicks’ five-game road trip starting Wednesday at San Antonio while the Big East has Madison Square Garden for its conference tournament.

Douglas snapped a 68-all tie with a 3-pointer with 1:23 left in the third quarter, and Harrington hit another as New York took a 76-70 lead to the fourth. Gallinari drilled another 3 a minute into the final period, and the Knicks led by 10 after Chandler’s 3 with 5:27 to go.

Atlanta used an 11-2 spurt, mostly on free throws, to get within 97-96 with 2:53 remaining, but then neither team could score again until Harrington’s jumper gave the Knicks a three-point cushion with 50.5 left.

Tonight’s loss to the New Jersey Nets at home in front of a shocked Garden crowd is about as low as this franchise has been in years, and that includes the pathetic Isiah Thomas years at the helm. New Jersey, proud franchise that it is, won its seventh game of this season (against 55 losses) as the Knicks couldn’t hold down the ferocious Nets offense, losing 113-93.

Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, the Nets starting guards, had their way with whomever D’Antoni put out there, scoring 31 and 25 points, respectively. Meanwhile, the Knicks starting guards combined for 22 points, 20 of which were scored by Wilson Chandler (starting at the two) while getting just two points from Tracy McGrady.   

The Knicks have twenty games left to this disastrous season and it appears these players and their head coach have turned the page on this campaign and are already pointing towards June free agency and all that represents for this franchise and for their individual careers.

“It’s as bad as it can get,” said D’Antoni. “We just have to come back Monday and try to do better. I don’t have a whole lot to say, we just have to pull it together and find a little bit of a combination that works a little bit.”

Then, D’Antoni shared the most telling remark of the post-game.

“They started making threes and that gave them life while it seemed to take the life out of us. We started off playing good defense and then, it went downhill.”

There you have it. D’Antoni’s Knicks began to give up points to the NBA’s worst team and simply couldn’t handle it so they spit the bit, as George Steinbrenner used to like saying when one of his players choked under pressure. The Knicks stopped guarding people while the Nets grew in confidence as their open looks from all spots on the floor were increasing in frequency. And, of course, the boos began to rain down from the upper rafters all the way to the courtside seats.

The Knicks also set a record for futility tonight, missing all 18 of its three-point attempts. No other team in NBA history (or since three-point shots were implemented in 1979) had ever taken and missed that many three-pointers in a game. According to research by STATS, LLC, the previous most attempts without a make was 16 by Washington against the Celtics on Nov. 2, 2007.

Devin Harris scored 31 points and the Nets erased an early 16-point deficit to beat New York 113-93 on Saturday night.

The Nets improved their NBA-worst record to 7-55, while the Knicks missed all 18 attempts in the most futile 3-point shooting night in league history.

Courtney Lee added 25 in his return to the starting lineup for the Nets, who are trying to avoid finishing with the worst record in NBA history. They beat the Knicks for the second straight time, but have completed the season series with their almost-as-hapless neighbors across the Hudson River.

McGrady, coming back from micro-fracture surgery on his right knee, is still struggling.

“I struggled getting up and down the court, moving,” he said. “For the most part, I felt better on this back-to-back than I have in the past.”

McGrady’s line read like Chris Duhon’s, who didn’t even play for the eighth consecutive game. In 22 minutes, he shot 1 of 6 from the field, with three rebounds and seven assists. His two points were not exactly what these Knicks were looking for when they traded for him.

“No disrespect to them, but I think we’re a better team and for them to … come in here and put it on us like that, it’s kind of tough on us,” Knicks forward Al Harrington said.

Uh, Al, that probably is no longer the case as this Knicks team has been torn to shreds in preparation for what may turn out to be a gigantic anti-climactic July, when the greatest free agents in the league may decide NOT to come to New York. Wouldn’t that be a slap in the face, after all Donnie Walsh has done to rid the Knicks of Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, Nate Robinson, Jared Jeffries, Jordan Hill, and a couple of number 1 draft choices?

Taking advantage of the easiest game on a difficult early March schedule, the Nets snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the first time since stunning Boston last Saturday. Despite its woeful record, New Jersey has actually won three straight road games.

“When everybody’s healthy and we’re all on the same page and making the right plays for each other, the game is easy,” Lee said.

Brook Lopez finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for New Jersey, which made 14 3-pointers and took control in the third quarter behind 13 points from Harris.

“At a certain point you do have to score some,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They got hot and they got confidence and they just beat us.”

The Nets were coming off consecutive home losses to NBA powers Cleveland and Orlando and are running out of time to surpass the 9-73 record of the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers that is the worst in NBA history. This was the opener of a five-game road trip that now moves to the Western Conference for games at Memphis, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Houston.

It was also a homecoming of sorts for old buddy, Zach Randolph, who came into this building with a chip on his shoulder, hoping to prove to the Knicks they had made the most grievous of errors when they let him go to the Clippers last year as part of a salary cap move to clear room for the free agent class of 2010.

Randolph not only accomplished his objective, he rubbed the Knicks collective noses in it as he put up a monster game, even by Knicks opponents’ standards. He scored 31 points and pulled down 25 rebounds (yup, that’s what the line score said, 25 rebounds) in a performance so dominant and so complete, even he was surprised.

These two teams are clearly going in different directions, the Grizzlies in a fight for a playoff spot with everything to play for and the Knicks, essentially on a 25 game tryout for the remaining players on their roster, with almost no team goals to achieve.  Who would have thought it would come down to this? Worse who would have believed the well-traveled, still only 28-year old Randolph, now on his fourth NBA team in his eight NBA seasons, would be the leader of a young team that is viewed as being on the come, along with Oklahoma City.

Randolph, who wanted nothing more than to come into the Garden and show his old team what a gigantic mistake it made by trading him off to the Clippers, could not have been happier after the game.

“If they get LeBron, it was worth it,” Randolph said. “If they don’t, I wonder about it. I don’t know.”

“What can you say about Zach (Randolph”. Thirty-one and 25 and he probably would’ve had more [rebounds] if guys weren’t taking rebounds from him because he can’t jump,” Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins joked.

Rudy Gay added 27 points and five rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have won four in a row on the road for the first time since January 1-19, 2005. Marc Gasol donated 25 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists, while Mike Conley tallied 18 points and five assists for the victors.

Al Harrington finished with 31 points off the bench for the Knicks, who have dropped six in a row at home. David Lee added 21 points and seven rebounds.

Tracy McGrady had zero points in just over 15 minutes of action in the first half. He sat on the bench for the entire second half due to a sore left knee.

“Actually I was [feeling some pain], tonight was pretty tough on me,” McGrady said. “I felt that in the beginning. Usually in the first half I’m pretty good but tonight even the first couple of trips up the court I noticed that this wasn’t my night.”

Trailing 107-99 near the midway point of the fourth, the Knicks ripped off eight consecutive points to tie the contest. Sergio Rodriguez and Danilo Gallinari and made three-pointers around a Harrington jumper to make it 107-107 with 4:04 to play.

The Grizzlies then fought right back with an 11-0 run to claim victory. Randolph had five points during the flurry, which Conley capped with a layup for a 118-107 margin with 34.6 seconds left. New York went 0-for-7 from the field during that stretch.

Lee made a jumper and Marcus Williams made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to account for the final score.

The Grizzlies came out of the gates on fire, starting the game on a 21-7 run. New York was able to chip away at its deficit and trailed 31-23 after 12 minutes.

The Knicks opened the second quarter on a 17-8 burst to go in front. Harrington tallied five points during the stretch, which Rodriguez ended with a layup to make it a 40-39 contest with over 5 1/2 minutes left.

Memphis finished the first half on a small 5-1 spurt to grab a 56-52 lead at the break.

New York scored the final seven points of the third to take an 88-85 edge into the fourth.

With all due respect to the great Rivera, we may be embarking on another decade or so of bullpen excellence in the Bronx with a young man who has also been groomed to be a starting pitcher, but seems naturally suited to close out games. Perhaps, someday, we will refer to the next decade or so as the Joba Years.

This past Sunday at Yankee Stadium, in front of another sellout crowd infected with pennant fever, Chamberlain — on his 22nd birthday — not only gained the first save of his career, but also gave us a glimpse of what the future may hold for the Yankees.

If history has taught this franchise anything at all, the Yankees will apply their experience from the Rivera experiment 13 years ago to Chamberlain, the new kid with the electric arm. It’s time to let Joba close out games, starting next year.

“He is very, very special,” Torre has said. “I don’t discount that Chamberlain can be a great closer. His mental capacity plus his physical ability make that easy to see. Until the organization makes that decision, though, we have to proceed as if he will be a starting pitcher next year.”

The way the game has changed, the seventh and eighth-inning setup role is just as important as the closer position. The great Yankee teams of the 1990s perfected the art of shortening games to six innings because of the strength of their bullpens. Rivera will be 38 years old next season, and though he’s thrown exceptionally well since his early-season struggles, sharing the closer’s load next season with Chamberlain will keep the veteran fresh. The bigger question is: will Rivera be willing to remain a Yankee under this scenario?

There are many parallels between the way the Yankees developed Rivera and how they are bringing along Chamberlain. In both cases, the organization recognized the talent, control, poise, and mound presence both pitchers possessed as youngsters in the Minor Leagues. Both were brought up to be starting pitchers, but instead of throwing them immediately into the fray of a tight pennant race, the Yankees opted to ease them into the Major Leagues with bullpen appearances.

A funny thing happened to Rivera back in 1995. With his 97-mph fastball and pinpoint control, he took to his new role setting up Wetteland as if he was born to do it. The crescendo of Yankee fans cheering in anticipation of the slender Panamanian’s mound appearances exploded into deafening roars as he blew away opposing batters. Rivera grew to love his new job. The Yankees grew to understand that Rivera was too much of an asset as a relief pitcher — with the capacity to impact upwards of 70-80 games per season — to move him back to being a starter.

Consider the importance placed on having great closers by baseball’s best teams. Last year’s world-champion St. Louis Cardinals would not have made the playoffs if not for the late-season heroics of Adam Wainwright. Interestingly, as a starter this year, Wainwright is a very mortal 13-11, with an ERA that’s hovered over 4.00 most of the year.

The Red Sox decided to move last year’s closer, Jonathan Papelbon, into their starting rotation this season. After watching several of their spring training games end in blown saves by the likes of Mike Timlin, the notion of using Papelbon every five days seemed less attractive. Papelbon went back to his old job and has been a primary reason for the Red Sox’s dominance for most of this season.

Make no mistake, though: Chamberlain, with his 100-mph fastball and his nasty slider is a phenomenon. Since he made his Major League debut on August 7, 2007 in Toronto, he has been dominant in every respect. He has allowed one earned run in his 18 appearances, giving him a microscopic 0.38 ERA. He has pitched 23.2 innings, striking out 34 batters while walking only six in that span. He has allowed only twelve hits. Roger Clemens calls his stuff “electric”.

When he faced the Red Sox for the first time, he got David Ortiz — perhaps the league’s most feared slugger — to pop out on one pitch at a crucial moment of the game.

“Against Boston, there’s certainly a lot more electricity, and he handled it,” Torre said. “He’s certainly not afraid out there.”

Then there was his August 19 appearance against the Detroit Tigers. Chamberlain was called in then to start the seventh with the Yankees leading, 4-3, and the heart of the Tigers’ lineup due to bat. Gary Sheffield? Pop-up on two pitches. Magglio Ordonez? Strikeout on three pitches. Carlos Guillen? Fanned on four. Chamberlain had stamped himself as a force to be reckoned with in the American League.

Three nights after his heroics against the Tigers, Chamberlain struck out the side in a victory against the Angels, hitting 100 mph on the radar gun and fanning Vladimir Guerrero on three pitches. The Chamberlain legend grew.

Chamberlain may also have a bit of a mean streak on the mound, similar to that of Clemens. On the day he threw two 99-mph fastballs over Kevin Youkilis’ head — leading to his immediate ejection — he may have planted the idea firmly into the psyches of American League hitters he was not going to be a cupcake out on the mound. It’s a very good makeup for a closer.

How many championships and pennants would the Yankees have won since 1995 without Rivera? The one piece of the puzzle that has separated the Yankees from all other teams in baseball since 1995 is Mariano Rivera, a guaranteed first-ballot Hall of Famer. A former Yankee teammate of Rivera’s once described him as the “ultimate security blanket.” Chamberlain looks to have the talent and personality to be the same kind of player.

“It’s all kind of happening fast, but it’s been a great run,” Chamberlain says. “It seems like every day I’m adding another chapter to a book of things I never thought I’d experience.”

If Chamberlain keeps pitching like he has to this point, he’ll be adding more than just chapters to his book of experiences. He’ll be helping to raise additional pennants above (the new) Yankee Stadium for years to come. If the Yankees are smart, Chamberlain will be doing his best work with a fireman’s hat on.

East Rutherford, N.J. — As the 32 NFL teams open their training camps this week, the big question surrounding the Giants as they begin their 82nd season in the NFL remains eerily similar to that which faced this team before the 2006 training camp commenced: Will Eli Manning finally deliver consistent performances, correct his occasionally misplaced on-field decision-making, and develop into the team leader the 2007 Giants sorely need him to be?

It’s fair to say this is a franchise in transition with the retirement of Tiki Barber and the aging of veteran stars Michael Strahan and Amani Toomer. The Giants are badly in need of new leadership on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Manning, entering his fourth year, says he’s ready to take on that role.

“Leadership is something you either feel or you don’t,” Manning said recently. “It’s part of growing up and becoming a more mature player. You want people to look up to you, you want people to come up to you with questions and for support. You want people to watch how you do things. It’s what I’m used to and what I expect.”

It’s fair to say expectations are greater than ever for the Giants quarterback. Considering his family pedigree, his skills, and the huge investment the Giants made to secure him in the 2004 draft, any excuses referencing his youth and inexperience will no longer be acceptable to most Giants fans. Manning will either become one of the top quarterbacks in the league this year or he could very well be viewed as one of the all-time busts. Suffice to say, his progress and how he deals with adversity will be scrutinized all season long by teammates, coaches, fans and the opposition.

Unlike last season however — when the Giants leaned on Barber to pick up the slack when nothing else was clicking for them offensively — there will be no such safety valve for the Giants this year. Now, the burden and the pressure of putting points on the board will fall squarely on the shoulders of Manning as he becomes the new focal point of the Giants’ offense.

At the Giants’ recent three day mini-camp, Manning did not seem fazed. Rather, he’s fully aware of the pressure cooker he’s now playing under here in the nation’s biggest media market.

“You can’t do anything about pressure, you can’t control it,” he said. “I feel I’m prepared for this situation. I’m looking forward to this season. It’s part of being an NFL quarterback.”

Manning also recognizes the importance of becoming a more consistent performer and one capable of handling adversity better than he has in the past.

“Any quarterback could start out throwing two interceptions early in the game, but the great players bounce back,” he said. “They don’t let it affect them the rest of the game.

“The key for me is simple. You don’t want to make costly mistakes when it matters.”

For his career, Manning has started 39 consecutive games and led the Giants to the playoffs each of the last two years. His completion percentage last year was just 54.1 percent, putting him 21st among 32 ranked quarterbacks. His 77 percent quarterback rating was 18th, just behind Jon Kitna and David Garrard. His 18 interceptions were the fourth most by a starting quarterback. Certainly not what the Giants and their fans may have expected.

The Giants recognized the need for Manning to increase his growth curve as their off-season hiring of Chris Palmer — a known NFL quarterback guru — indicated. They also handed the offensive play-calling reigns to Kevin Gilbride, with whom Manning reportedly had a better relationship than he had had with predecessor John Hufnagel.

Coughlin feels Manning has shown good progress since this past April’s mini-camp.

“I think anytime you have a guy going into his fourth season, having seen an awful lot of things, it’s a plus,” Coughlin said. “This spring, he got a lot of work with Jeremy Shockey, Sinorice Moss, Steve Smith, Michael Jennings, and some of the young tight ends, Darcy Johnson and Kevin Boss. I think it will really pay off for him.”

Coughlin believes this improved familiarity will lead to better decision-making by his quarterback in game situations.

“The more players have a chance to work on the communication between the quarterback and the receiver — even if it is not spoken — the better off we can be,” Coughlin added. “That’s what you are really after — the unspoken, the look of the eye. It can only help us win.”

Gilbride has noticed some improvement in Manning.

“There are different drills to try to get him to accomplish the same goals that we’ve always had for Eli,” Gilbride said. “We want him to be in balance when he throws the ball, have his feet underneath him so he gets the weight transferred from the back to the front, just the basic fundamental things.”

Gilbride is also working with Manning to improve his in-game decision-making.

“He usually makes great decisions, but it’s been those occasional bad ones that have really hurt us. So those are the ones we are trying to stay away from. Eli looks at hours of film, he works hard to understand things that are going on out there.”

It remains to be seen whether Manning’s outwardly calm, country boy demeanor is the ideal fit for this particular team or town. He has, perhaps, not yet comprehended that the job of quarterback of the New York Giants, like it or not, requires poise and leadership on and off the field.

That’s particularly the case without a veteran presence like Barber to speak with authority to his teammates as well as to the hyperactive New York press corps. In addition, Coughlin is now working on a one-year “win or else” contract, so it’s safe to say the 61-year-old coach will no longer treat Manning with kid gloves. If Manning doesn’t perform, Coughlin will do and say whatever it takes to win games, including using backups.

Another season of mediocrity will undoubtedly set off a huge chain reaction within the Giant organization beginning with a new coaching staff and, perhaps, an organizational review of the quarterback position.

There is big pressure this year on the Giants, Coughlin and Manning. This is the season that we find out if Eli will forever be described as the quarterback who never seemed to improve from his first season or if he will become an elite, winning player in this league, joining his brother in the pantheon of the quarterback position.

It should be a fascinating season, practice to practice, game to game.