LAS VEGAS– Thousands of Knicks fans filled the bottom half of the lower bowl inside the Thomas & Mack Center at 1:30 in the afternoon, desperate for something to be optimistic about.
Sadly, the Summer League New York Knicks squad had a lot of familiar faces from the 17-win squad, the team’s worst season ever. The one major change was a 7-1 teenage Latvian named Kristaps Porzingis, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft.
After a rude reception on draft night, Knicks fans here in Lost Wages anxiously anticipated Porzingis’ debut. So did team president Phil Jackson, who wore a colorful, short-sleeved plaid shirt while sitting along the baseline closest to coach Derek Fisher’s bench.
Just like this entire Knicks rebuild, Porzingis’ slow development is going to require patience and understanding. But the 19-year-old showed a lot of good signs in his first game against San Antonio that will put him on a trajectory towards a solid NBA career.
The first thing Porzingis showed was his unadulterated enthusiasm for the game. He ran the floor with his head up, clapped for his teammates both on and off the floor and seemed to enjoy his first professional game in America. One scout told SheridanHoops that a lot of prized big men play with their heads down and seem entitled when they play, but Porzingis’ body language was a good sign that he actually enjoys playing basketball.
Fisher limited Porzingis’ minutes Saturday, playing him only 18:26 against Becky Hammon’s Spurs. But Fisher was extremely pleased with how he impacted the game on defense. Porzingis mainly drew Livio Jean Charles and Brandon Davies defensively, which is not exactly Tim Duncan and David Robinson. But he blocked two shots, altered and affected several others and made things difficult for the opponent simply with his size and length.
“On the defensive end, he has the potential to be really special,” Fisher said. “There were some things that he recognized and made adjustments on and supported his teammates, switching on smaller players, using his left [hand] to protect the basket, that’s something that we’re really excited about as we go forward.”
New York jumped to a 13-2 lead with Porzingis on the floor. He ended the game with a plus-8, as his teammates seemed to feed off his positive energy. Whether that positive energy will be sustained over an 82-game season remains to be seen.
One thing Porzingis will have to work on defensively is leaving the paint and defending quick shooters with range. Davies stepped back and knocked down a 16-foot jumper in the first half and Porzingis didn’t get out in time. Porzingis also only had three rebounds and needs to do a better job of boxing out and muscling his way inside for loose balls. It’s not an enormous secret that Porzingis has to go put on a substantial amount of muscle – most rookies do – and it showed at times during the game.
Porzingis admitted after the game that players heavier than him are going to try to be physical with him inside and seems aware that he needs to work on that.
“I try to be as aggressive as I can to help my teammates and play as hard as I can,” Porzingis said in fluent, perfect English. “I’ve got to get stronger,” he said. “I’ve just gotta see. Ten pounds, 15 pounds, maybe 20, maybe 30. I don’t know how I feel. Maybe get to 240, 250. Just little by litte, putting on the weight, and seeing if I have the same athleticism.”
Offensively, Porzingis has a long way to go but has a very smooth shooting touch and a pretty good handle for a 7-footer. He was 6-of-7 on free throws in his short time on the court, and getting to the line and converting is hardly a given for big men in the league (see Jordan, DeAndre).
So creating contact inside and drawing fouls will be an important early skill for Porzingis. He only took five shots but hit three of them, including a feathery jumper from 12 feet that he banked in to the delight of the orange-and-blue clad faithful in Vegas.
Porzingis seems at least decently competent playing the pick-and-roll, converting a layup in one sequence in the first half that looked fairly smooth and well-rehearsed. He has to work on setting screens in the pick-and-roll and in general – one scout said that he should be setting harder screens for someone his size – but that improved as the game progressed and Porzingis set aside any jitters.
So there were plenty of things to be hopeful for as Knicks fans with Porzingis, but this entire next season with this team will be preaching patience as they try to build towards a more stable and prosperous future.
Shlomo Sprung is a national columnist for SheridanHoops who focuses on analytics, profiles and features. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. You should follow him on Twitter.
“Porzingis said in fluent, perfect English.”
Why did you write this? Are you impressed/surprised that a player from Europe can actually speak English and speak it well? Does it matter even if he spoke in broken English?
Who cares about that—fluent, perfect English is redundant.
Do you speak fluent, perfect Latvian?
Why is it sad the Knicks have familiar young faces on the summer league team? Early and Galloway (maybe even Wear) are talented young players that may have roll in the upcoming season.
I saw tweets that Early looked solid. If you are watching Knick fans wNt to know more about these guys and Grant.