Kristaps Porzingis is 'fired up' and trying to put on muscle before his first season in the NBA.

Kristaps Porzingis isn't sure why Phil Jackson compared him to draft-bust Shawn Bradley, but the rookie is motivated to change those doubts from the Knicks president.

Porzingis, speaking Wednesday at an event to unveil his sponsorship partnership with Shifman Mattress,acknowledged that Jackson's public concern over his lanky body, "fired me up." The rookie also understands that reaction was probably Jackson's intention.

"Yeah I saw it. I don't know what to say? I guess that's what Phil does, gets us to work hard and fired up. That fired me up. I'm like, 'I'm not Shawn Bradley, you know?" Porzingis said, responding to a recent interview on ESPN.com where Jackson wondered if the Latvian was "too tall for the NBA" like the awkward 7-6 Bradley. "I want to be better than Shawn Bradley obviously and be stronger than him," Porzingis added, "but I'm a different player."

Porzingis, who is roughly 7-2, has aggressively been trying to alter his body to fit the NBA, consuming roughly 5,000 calories (including three steaks) per day in hopes gaining 15 pounds. He's currently four pounds short, and there's an understanding that he's built for power forward in the NBA, rather than banging in the paint with centers.

"For now, I'm a (power forward) for sure because of the defense. I've got to be able to hold those (centers). So that's the main thing," the 20-year-old said. "Once I get stronger, I'll be able to play (center). Offensively, I can play both positions. At (center), I'll be way quicker than the defender. So I'll get stronger and gain more weight, if I want to play (center)."

With less than two weeks before training camp, Porzingis has been participating in two-a-day practices at the team facility and recovering in a hyperbaric chamber. He also mixes in two sessions in the weight room per day. Before that, he was playing one-on-one against Carmelo Anthony and, "just asking him about the moves."

Porzingis was coy when asked if he ever toppled the two-time Olympic champion.

"Maybe. But Melo is hard to guard. He's the best offensive player in the league so I have trouble with him but I think I got better from it."

Phil Jackson's comparison of his first-round pick to Shawn Bradley has Porzingis motivated.

Porzingis also revealed that he planned on playing for Latvia at this summer's Eurobasket tournament, until the "pressure" of being on the Knicks changed his mind. He was also advised by New York to skip the tournament.

"Before the draft, I was going to play for the national team, especially because the group round was in Latvia. It was a huge event. But once I got drafted by the Knicks, I just felt the pressure," Porzingis said. "I understood how good the guys were on the team and everything, so I said, 'If I really want to gain weight and get better in the summer, playing with the national team, I'll be playing, not gaining weight.' So that was the best option for me this summer.

"(The Knicks) wanted me to stay here, for sure. There's no question about it. But they couldn't demand it. So they were like, we want you to stay but it's your choice."

***

As part of his sponsorship with Shifman Matress, Porzingis was fitted for an Athletic King bed - with dimensions 18 inches longer than a standard King size mattress -- "so I don't have to sleep diagonal," the rookie said.

"I laid on it, and I was like, 'this is the real deal,'" he said.

Porzingis' mattress is biggest mattress ever made by Shifman, a company manufacturing in Newark since 1893. While on the road with his previous team in Spain, Porzingis would have to put two beds together in the shape of a 'T' so his feet wouldn't hang off.

"On a normal mattress, I'll need two minutes to fall asleep. On this one, it'll be 30 seconds."

yellowboy90 wrote:Between Araton, Rosen, and Nix we fans have all the insight on Phil we ever need.

StarksEwing1 wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:Between Araton, Rosen, and Nix we fans have all the insight on Phil we ever need.

Especially nix, sometimes I wonder if he lives with Phil

arkrud wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:Between Araton, Rosen, and Nix we fans have all the insight on Phil we ever need.

Especially nix, sometimes I wonder if he lives with Phil

Nix is always supporting the power that is... Isiah, Brown, Walsh, Phil....
If Knicks will be lead by ISIS jihadists Nix will support them too.

I was supportive of Isiah at the start. Initially there was no reason to be overly negative. My feelings on Isiah were that I liked his eye for talent and I liked what he said he wanted to do with the team. Actually executing that plan was much harder. Didn't think he was a great executive. Isiah made poor decisions trying to execute the win now edicts of Dolan. I was also supportive of Walsh initially. Behind most of the bad this team has done was Dolan. Our biggest problem was actually DOLAN more than the guys he hired. Now that he's not meddling I think there's a chance for success.

I support Phil because I understand what he's trying to do with the franchise and the absolute mess that he inherited didn't make it easy. I actually do research!!! I understand his philosophy, his offensive system, his preferences in the type of players he favors. Before this summer all I preached was patience to let Phil actually execute his plan. After seeing what he's done I approve of most of what he's done so far. We still have to wait to see how things work out, but in regard to what Phil is doing I approve of his approach to rebuilding this franchise with a more sound foundation. It's not the end of the process. This isn't a KG, Allen and Pierce or Lebron, Wade and Bosh type situation so it's gonna take time.

I posted this for the naysayers since it's easy to take pot shots at what Phil does and says, especially coming off a 17 win season and not signing any big names in the summer. Phil is not the money grabbing slacker that some say and he isn't some lost and out of his depth President. Now we can start to see what he's about and in time things will be even clearer. There are no guarantees and you never read me saying there are. Being supportive is not the negative some are trying to make it out to be.

nixluva wrote:

arkrud wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:Between Araton, Rosen, and Nix we fans have all the insight on Phil we ever need.

Especially nix, sometimes I wonder if he lives with Phil

Nix is always supporting the power that is... Isiah, Brown, Walsh, Phil....
If Knicks will be lead by ISIS jihadists Nix will support them too.

Who is going to trash a qualified GM or Coach before they have a chance to do anything? Sure if we hired someone that had no business being a GM or Coach and had a horrid track record then I could see it. Most of the time we're hiring someone who is replacing someone who failed miserably. Initially I give everyone a chance to prove what they can do. I hated Layden but you wouldn't know that. Why would anyone be against Larry Brown back when we got him initially? He was a winner and we weren't.

I was supportive of Isiah at the start. Initially there was no reason to be overly negative. My feelings on Isiah were that I liked his eye for talent and I liked what he said he wanted to do with the team. Actually executing that plan was much harder. Didn't think he was a great executive. Isiah made poor decisions trying to execute the win now edicts of Dolan. I was also supportive of Walsh initially. Behind most of the bad this team has done was Dolan. Our biggest problem was actually DOLAN more than the guys he hired. Now that he's not meddling I think there's a chance for success.

I support Phil because I understand what he's trying to do with the franchise and the absolute mess that he inherited didn't make it easy. I actually do research!!! I understand his philosophy, his offensive system, his preferences in the type of players he favors. Before this summer all I preached was patience to let Phil actually execute his plan. After seeing what he's done I approve of most of what he's done so far. We still have to wait to see how things work out, but in regard to what Phil is doing I approve of his approach to rebuilding this franchise with a more sound foundation. It's not the end of the process. This isn't a KG, Allen and Pierce or Lebron, Wade and Bosh type situation so it's gonna take time.

I posted this for the naysayers since it's easy to take pot shots at what Phil does and says, especially coming off a 17 win season and not signing any big names in the summer. Phil is not the money grabbing slacker that some say and he isn't some lost and out of his depth President. Now we can start to see what he's about and in time things will be even clearer. There are no guarantees and you never read me saying there are. Being supportive is not the negative some are trying to make it out to be.

I also disliked Laydum. Eventhough our most successful time recently was probably under him. I just never thought we had a chance at a championship.

And I thought the Marbury trade Isiah pulled off, was the begining to his ending. I believe he was just trying to make a huge plash and please the fans, instead of developing a rebuilding plan.

Walsh accepting the Melo trade was also a bad move to me. I never thought nba stars want to play for a chucker who doesn't pass or defend. Hopefully the current Melo under Phil can change my perception.

But I agree......I will support you until you F up. And Phil so far, is actually doing what we should've done 10 plus years ago, after Ewing was let go (which was the ultimate bad move).

mreinman wrote:

Cartman718 wrote:I wish Phil would say something like this about Derrick Williams.

now thats funny

It's not like Phil just ignored DWill. He had plenty to say about him and to him. My point is that Phil is a very deep thinker when it comes to evaluating NBA talent and he always has been that way. Reading what Phil said about DWill indicates that he didn't just grab the kid without some thought about what has been going on with him and how he could improve DWill's game. Despite many of the naysayers we don't have a fool running this team. Phil is a top Basketball mind. The worst part of last season is that it allowed many to question Phil's thinking. Clowns like SAS can make fun but he is a Know Nothing Loud Mouth and has no clue what Phil knows about the game. I used to have feel Phil was a bit overrated tho I always respected him, but with a lot more research I've come to have more respect for him as a basketball mind.

Phil regarding DWill.

"A lot of people have questioned our signing Derrick, but I think he has a considerable upside. He runs, finishes in early-offense situations and has the strength to finish in a crowd when he attacks the rim from the wing. He's working on his 3-point shooting and his intermediate game. I also think he can play power forward against certain opponents.

"I mean, there's no doubt that Derrick has the talent, size and strength to be a more-than-capable NBA player. However, his development has been hindered by several factors. From the start of his pro career, being the second overall draft pick has been like an albatross around his neck, something that he, and lots of other people, felt a lot of pressure to live up to. I told him that right now he's an NBA player and it no longer makes any difference where he was drafted. He just has to learn how to play the game the right way. That means developing a defensive mindset, developing an intermediate game and improving his long-range shooting.

"Another reason why Derrick hasn't really blossomed was that he never found a comfort space in an NBA offense, which means that his role was never clearly defined. Was he a post-up or a pull-up scorer? Was he a small or a power forward? Hopefully, he can find those answers with us.

"Derrick is an L.A. kid, so he saw plenty of Lakers games. That, and his studying of videos on YouTube, has him confident that he already knows the triangle.

"Anyway, Derrick is a player who will hopefully find his way back into a starter's role."

This is Phil pumping DWill's confidence up. He knows that each player needs something different. KP needed to be challenged and DWill lacks confidence after so much failure and negative talk about him, so Phil took a different approach with him. This isn't Phil's 1st time dealing with players and Knicks fans should all know that he's been highly successful in reading his players over the years. Naysayers need to stop focusing on last season so much and pay attention to what is actually going on.

Cartman718 wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Cartman718 wrote:I wish Phil would say something like this about Derrick Williams.

now thats funny

It's not like Phil just ignored DWill. He had plenty to say about him and to him. My point is that Phil is a very deep thinker when it comes to evaluating NBA talent and he always has been that way. Reading what Phil said about DWill indicates that he didn't just grab the kid without some thought about what has been going on with him and how he could improve DWill's game. Despite many of the naysayers we don't have a fool running this team. Phil is a top Basketball mind. The worst part of last season is that it allowed many to question Phil's thinking. Clowns like SAS can make fun but he is a Know Nothing Loud Mouth and has no clue what Phil knows about the game. I used to have feel Phil was a bit overrated tho I always respected him, but with a lot more research I've come to have more respect for him as a basketball mind.

Phil regarding DWill.

"A lot of people have questioned our signing Derrick, but I think he has a considerable upside. He runs, finishes in early-offense situations and has the strength to finish in a crowd when he attacks the rim from the wing. He's working on his 3-point shooting and his intermediate game. I also think he can play power forward against certain opponents.

"I mean, there's no doubt that Derrick has the talent, size and strength to be a more-than-capable NBA player. However, his development has been hindered by several factors. From the start of his pro career, being the second overall draft pick has been like an albatross around his neck, something that he, and lots of other people, felt a lot of pressure to live up to. I told him that right now he's an NBA player and it no longer makes any difference where he was drafted. He just has to learn how to play the game the right way. That means developing a defensive mindset, developing an intermediate game and improving his long-range shooting.

"Another reason why Derrick hasn't really blossomed was that he never found a comfort space in an NBA offense, which means that his role was never clearly defined. Was he a post-up or a pull-up scorer? Was he a small or a power forward? Hopefully, he can find those answers with us.

"Derrick is an L.A. kid, so he saw plenty of Lakers games. That, and his studying of videos on YouTube, has him confident that he already knows the triangle.

"Anyway, Derrick is a player who will hopefully find his way back into a starter's role."

This is Phil pumping DWill's confidence up. He knows that each player needs something different. KP needed to be challenged and DWill lacks confidence after so much failure and negative talk about him, so Phil took a different approach with him. This isn't Phil's 1st time dealing with players and Knicks fans should all know that he's been highly successful in reading his players over the years. Naysayers need to stop focusing on last season so much and pay attention to what is actually going on.

this i do agree with that he does know his personnel...but are these his personnel or fisher's? why is fisher mum through this whole process? i think he needs to take on some of phil's personality as a coach.

IMO Fish has plenty to say about the players. Guys that Phil kept were most likely guys that Fish approved of. Phil knows that a coach needs support from his GM. Phil also knows that he's got to give Fish players who won't need to be Babysat and Whipped all the time just to do the basic things. Those things help a coach to be able to focus on the more important things.

I'm still shocked and surprised that some fans don't realize who Fish is as a person. Fish was renowned for his locker room presence and being a vocal leader. This is a man who took on a leadership role as a player who wasn't a star!!! You think that's easy to do? You think players easily listen to a guy who isn't one of the best players? Fish is going to be just fine IMO. Fish is the least of our problems. We need these players to come together and develop as individuals and a team. Fish and his staff will give them all the preparation they need. Everything they're doing is what Phil has done for decades to prepare his teams to win. They know how to do this. Now with better and more dedicated players they should get better results.

TPercy wrote:I hope he is not putting on too much weight, Don't want him to lose his quickness.

KP looks like he has the frame to carry a lot more weight. His hips are not narrow but wide. His Brother had big legs and it looks like KP is gonna follow the same kind of body.