SU decided to really check out the Knicks last night in a home game vs. Detroit. Porzingis went off for 35 points – 25 in the first half alone. He scored from deep, on alley-oops, step back jumpers, and follow-up dunks on offensive rebounds. The guy is 21 years old and his game is still forming. He is clearly the real deal. Coach Hornacek made a smart move and put him in with the 2nd unit which really allowed him to get more touches and shots which no doubt made long-time SU subscriber B. Levine happy who has been pushing for this all year. On top of all of this, he is a good guy, doesn’t seem to travel with a “posse” (see Phil Jackson and his latest poor choice of words), smiles on the court and doesn’t argue with the refs. The fans are totally behind him – even chanting “MVP, MVP” late in the game.
Carmelo and Derrick Rose are both saying the right things – for now. But here’s the thing. The Knicks had a comfortable lead all game and the ball was really moving – 24 team assists and even Carmelo had 3 which could be a season high for him. But late in the game, between Rose and Melo, they reverted to isolation ball and just running down the shot clock. SU says: why deviate from the style of play that got you the lead all game? And while deviating now late in the game, why do you freeze out Porzingis on these possessions when anyone guarding him is always going to be a mis-match? Let me answer that one for you: Porzingis is only 21 and it’s not his team yet. That is the next step for this team’s evolution. Let him take some big shots down the stretch and please, please, please, stop with the Rose or Melo isolation offensive sets. I mean, how many playoff series wins has this produced in the past? It’s also why long-term, Melo needs to be moved. He is helpful now if he plays the right way as it keeps the defense honest and allows Porzingis more opportunities but not long term.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are off to a 7-5 start and enjoying life after Kobe. There is a good article in today’s New York Times on how the young players are thrilled to have Kobe gone along with his enabler Byron Scott. New Coach Luke Walton insists on a minimum of 300 passes a game and his assistants track this. He talks about how the isolation style of play doesn’t work and he won’t allow it. I guess he skimmed through the Mike Woodson offensive playbook and decided a 1-page pamphlet was not the way to go. SU says that is a great way to encourage team ball and sharing in each others’ success. This is a team that I will start to follow on the NBA Season Pass until Jeremy Lin returns from his injury.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
You hit the Knicks problem squarely on the head. If Hornacek will really have any skillset in managing the team the right way he must keep the abll passing and much less ball hogging going till the buzzer sounds. Coaching in the NBA appears to be much less in control of their players than in the other sports. I wonder if the Anti-Romo system is just too embedded in our players as well as most other players in the NBA. Less “me” and more “us” needs to be the norm. This is where coaching must play a big role… an assertive role.
So will the Yankees pick up Trout? They need at least one major offensive impact player and ditto for a Starter and ditto for a reliever other wise their record in 2016 will be no better than in 2017.
I believe the Knicks flirted with .500 even further into the season last year…and we know how that turned out. Porzingis is very young so there’s real upside there but Anthony will not play second fiddle. I’ve seen a few articles recapping games where he barely gets mentioned. He stifled Linsanity and he will ruin whatever success they have this year that doesn’t run through him.
I understand that the Knicks have discovered that Porzingis and Noah don’t make sense on the floor together. They’re games don’t work together. Well that’s a $70 million oversight. Admittedly, I didn’t see the two as incompatible. But I’m not a basketball executive. Isn’t compatibility a key factor when you’re forming a team in a sport that has 5 guys on the court at a time? Maybe it’s the only factor. What do these guys look for when signing players. Maybe they just saw Durant come off the board and then grabbed whatever names they recognized from All Star games from 4 or 5 years ago.
Seth, I read the same thing today. When Noah is out there, it forces Porzingis to chase around a smaller player on defense vs. having him play the 5 and cover the other team’s center. On the other hand, Noah is an able and willing passer so that has to benefit Porzingis. I think they will figure out a happy medium where Porzingis plays with the 2nd unit a lot. That and Noah is always injured so this may become a moot point.