Sorry folks...I'm just getting back to the hotel. saw 4 games today. lol. heaven for a bball junkie like myself
I heard i was on TV today. I was the guy in the melo jersey sitting next to the big guy wearing the #33 jersey. afterwards, NBATV interviewed me and asked me waht i thought of KP. I hope they aired it. lol
anyways, you all saw the game, so im sure you have made your OWN observations (and ill read them once i settle down). so i guess i'll just add what i saw in the arena
1. K. Porzingus is an ATHLETE...Capital A.T.H.L.E.T.E!!! I got there 1 hr before the game. I got a chance to watch them warm up and shoot. Dude can JUMP! he's extremely agile and smooth. He moves like a 6-6 wing until he stands next to someone and you realize that hes by far over 7 ft. (7-2?). he dribbles, he shoots, he dunks, very very agile. to be honest i've NEVER seen any human being like this. He's by far superior to prime-Dirk athletically. I can def see the KDurant comparisons now but he's SNEAKY tough. he WANTS to post up and mix it up.
2. Grant is a leader. PERIOD. He leads the huddle. tells guys where to go on offense and defense (unlike galloway who is a bit shy). He looks to PASS first and second. he had a couple open looks that he passed up. he's extremely VOCAL
3. Cle Early was just shooting way too much. I'm sure you saw that. Looked like he got hurt but we could hear the huddle. he just said "its my funny bone". by the way, he has no idea what he is doing in the triangle. grant was telling him where to go. smh
4. Spoke with Ricky Ledo before the game. mad cool dude (who has probably been humbled by his lack of success so far). He simply said thanks for coming out but he needs to hydrate. im happy he played well. dude is a slasher
5. Coaches = D. fisher is not audible...even in the huddle. you can hear players saying "HUH?!?". By the way, im not sure if any of you brought this up but give fish credit for changing up the triangle. to the naked eye, it looked like they WEREN'T RUNNING it...but in fact they were. they were using grant to DRIBBLE into the triangle. the guards would criss cross at the top (instead of the "moment of truth" pass)
6. Others: for someone making $12mill, phil knows how to dress down. lol. D.williams and OQuinn were in the crowd. My rule is i dont ask for autographs or sweat someone younger than myself. I gave them handshakes and said welcome to NY. OQuinn responded that he's from queens so no need for a welcome. lol. One brotha i was happy to see was Allan Houston. I shook his hand and thanked him for "teaching me how to shoot" when he was balling and i was in HS.
7. Misc - the NBA is one big fraternity. all these players know each other from AAU or something way back. and their parents knows each other too. SO after the game, the knicks would sit in the stands - with their parents. and its just one big social network. its like a high school feel. also in vegas, a lot of the "Stars" are there to support the rookies. so they sit in the stands to watch. the NBA probably tells them to do so and sign autographs. but a lot of these guys were very accessible. gave dame lilliard a bro hug and he told me where the club was poppin tonight.
- any questions or comments, let me know. Again, i tried to stay away from basketball because im sure you all saw the game. The things that stood out to me were KP, Grant and how accessible the players/coaches/media were. like i was on line to buy some food. i was standing next to kiki vanderweigh. lol. i was sitting next to this old man and he hand trouble going up the stairs. so i kinda assisted him. he told me "dont worry i have bad arthritis". turns out that was Gar Forman - GM for the bulls.
- This Las Vegas summer league is for basketball fanatics like myself. you get to meet other fanatics of the knicks and other teams. I wouldn;t do this EVERY year but i def recommend to try it at least once. lol
since im not sure how to post videos or pics here...you can follow me on twiiter (6ft3drmd @NOkarter)
Knicks should be improved: win about 40 games and maybe sneak into the playoffs. Melo, Rose and even Noah will have some nice moments however this team should be about PORZINGUS. the sooner they make him the primary player, the better