WaltLongmire wrote:Some good stuff...glad to see that they are recognizing and analyzing everything we've been impressed by so far.

Ford voiced something many of us have also thought about so far:

What have you seen watching Porzingis?

Ford: The same. Defense and rebounding were the things I thought he'd struggle with out of the gate. Porzingis is well ahead of the curve early on.

Ironically, where I thought he'd excel early -- shooting -- he's struggled. Porzingis is shooting just 23 percent from 3 so far. Given his soft shooting touch, I expect that will improve dramatically down the road. That makes me even more bullish about his future.

I'm hoping that as he becomes more relaxed and confident on the offensive end he should be averaging about 15+PPG with a few 20 pt games.

Amazing that we are talking about his progress in terms of games, weeks, or months, and not the "years" that we first heard talked about pre and post draft.

Thanks for bringing that up. Many great shooters struggled their rookie seasons shooting the ball. Shooting is about rhythm, confidence, and comfort and most don't have those things their rookie season. Dirk, who is widely considered the best shooting big man in league history, did not shoot well his rookie year. In fact his shooting numbers were approx. 40% shooting, 20% from three, and are very similar to Porzingis right now.

Knixkik wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:Some good stuff...glad to see that they are recognizing and analyzing everything we've been impressed by so far.

Ford voiced something many of us have also thought about so far:

What have you seen watching Porzingis?

Ford: The same. Defense and rebounding were the things I thought he'd struggle with out of the gate. Porzingis is well ahead of the curve early on.

Ironically, where I thought he'd excel early -- shooting -- he's struggled. Porzingis is shooting just 23 percent from 3 so far. Given his soft shooting touch, I expect that will improve dramatically down the road. That makes me even more bullish about his future.

I'm hoping that as he becomes more relaxed and confident on the offensive end he should be averaging about 15+PPG with a few 20 pt games.

Amazing that we are talking about his progress in terms of games, weeks, or months, and not the "years" that we first heard talked about pre and post draft.

Thanks for bringing that up. Many great shooters struggled their rookie seasons shooting the ball. Shooting is about rhythm, confidence, and comfort and most don't have those things their rookie season. Dirk, who is widely considered the best shooting big man in league history, did not shoot well his rookie year. In fact his shooting numbers were approx. 40% shooting, 20% from three, and are very similar to Porzingis right now.

If he was getting bullied, knocked around, and abused on D, and shooting the way he is now, his minutes would really get reduced, perhaps even below 20MPG.

Knixkik wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:Some good stuff...glad to see that they are recognizing and analyzing everything we've been impressed by so far.

Ford voiced something many of us have also thought about so far:

What have you seen watching Porzingis?

Ford: The same. Defense and rebounding were the things I thought he'd struggle with out of the gate. Porzingis is well ahead of the curve early on.

Ironically, where I thought he'd excel early -- shooting -- he's struggled. Porzingis is shooting just 23 percent from 3 so far. Given his soft shooting touch, I expect that will improve dramatically down the road. That makes me even more bullish about his future.

I'm hoping that as he becomes more relaxed and confident on the offensive end he should be averaging about 15+PPG with a few 20 pt games.

Amazing that we are talking about his progress in terms of games, weeks, or months, and not the "years" that we first heard talked about pre and post draft.

Thanks for bringing that up. Many great shooters struggled their rookie seasons shooting the ball. Shooting is about rhythm, confidence, and comfort and most don't have those things their rookie season. Dirk, who is widely considered the best shooting big man in league history, did not shoot well his rookie year. In fact his shooting numbers were approx. 40% shooting, 20% from three, and are very similar to Porzingis right now.

His defensive presence is what really sets him apart from Dirk, and makes his rookie shooting issues much more acceptable.

If he was getting bullied, knocked around, and abused on D, and shooting the way he is now, his minutes would really get reduced, perhaps even below 20MPG.

Not necessarily. He is still shooting 40% from the field, and he is actually second in field goal % in our starting lineup believe it or not. That speaks more to how poorly our starting lineup has been offensively, but KP has proven to be pretty consistent on offense, always active enough and able to hit enough open shots to score in double figures. I have come to expect him to knock down his mid range jumper every time he touched it. I think he has been great on defense, but for a rookie he has also been pretty impressive with his offense as well. His percentages will slowly climb up over time.

Not worried about his shooting...its all about confidence and shot selection, IMO.

I'm just waiting for a breakout game...hopefully at home against a good team.

Hopefully he continues to progress and the national TV folks come to regret not giving us some exposure.

Knixkik wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:Some good stuff...glad to see that they are recognizing and analyzing everything we've been impressed by so far.

Ford voiced something many of us have also thought about so far:

What have you seen watching Porzingis?

Ford: The same. Defense and rebounding were the things I thought he'd struggle with out of the gate. Porzingis is well ahead of the curve early on.

Ironically, where I thought he'd excel early -- shooting -- he's struggled. Porzingis is shooting just 23 percent from 3 so far. Given his soft shooting touch, I expect that will improve dramatically down the road. That makes me even more bullish about his future.

I'm hoping that as he becomes more relaxed and confident on the offensive end he should be averaging about 15+PPG with a few 20 pt games.

Amazing that we are talking about his progress in terms of games, weeks, or months, and not the "years" that we first heard talked about pre and post draft.

Thanks for bringing that up. Many great shooters struggled their rookie seasons shooting the ball. Shooting is about rhythm, confidence, and comfort and most don't have those things their rookie season. Dirk, who is widely considered the best shooting big man in league history, did not shoot well his rookie year. In fact his shooting numbers were approx. 40% shooting, 20% from three, and are very similar to Porzingis right now.

His defensive presence is what really sets him apart from Dirk, and makes his rookie shooting issues much more acceptable.

If he was getting bullied, knocked around, and abused on D, and shooting the way he is now, his minutes would really get reduced, perhaps even below 20MPG.

Not necessarily. He is still shooting 40% from the field, and he is actually second in field goal % in our starting lineup believe it or not. That speaks more to how poorly our starting lineup has been offensively, but KP has proven to be pretty consistent on offense, always active enough and able to hit enough open shots to score in double figures. I have come to expect him to knock down his mid range jumper every time he touched it. I think he has been great on defense, but for a rookie he has also been pretty impressive with his offense as well. His percentages will slowly climb up over time.

There's a certain feeling in the Garden when he sets to shoot the 3 pointer, like when Gallinari would set to shoot. I can't wait until he starts canning them on the regular.

CrushAlot wrote:I love that they are talking about his defense. He just plays hard. I thought this season Grant would have the bigger immediate impact. Porzingis has been fantastic. Also, I think he looks a lot better than he did in the summer league. He seems to be maintaining the weight that he put on. I think he will get stronger. The Knicks drafted a franchise player.

It's so exciting to finally have a player that has so much potential and early respect around the league. We all have noted KP's mental disposition as being special. It's IMO what separates talent in this league. You have to want to be GREAT! Players also have to have a certain level of intelligence and perspective about things. KP is well prepared by his family and early coaches. He simply GETS IT! After years of dealing with the JR's and Eddy Curry's of the NBA it's so refreshing to have a young stud who is trying to actually MAXIMIZE his potential. That fits with the other young players we have too. Maybe now people will stop talking crap about Phil and his commitment to doing his job.

DrAlphaeus wrote:Only watched recaps and read box scores but KP's defense is definitely exciting. Like the comment about Kris already playing against pros in a good league in Spain.

Do you think his early defense success is the league isn't used to him yet? Do you think teams will be able to organize strategies to limit the defensive looks he's gotten? Or is he looking that good of a talent?

It's mostly effort and talent. He's using his length and quickness very well already. It's hard to deal with his size and quickness. I can't really see what teams could do besides having someone pinned to him all the time. He's always moving so it's hard to stop him from crashing the boards. I guess it's like that for other talented bigs like Anthony Davis. How do you stop that kind of physical talent, effort and desire?

WaltLongmire wrote:

DrAlphaeus wrote:Only watched recaps and read box scores but KP's defense is definitely exciting. Like the comment about Kris already playing against pros in a good league in Spain.

Do you think his early defense success is the league isn't used to him yet? Do you think teams will be able to organize strategies to limit the defensive looks he's gotten? Or is he looking that good of a talent?

Have to put him in a situation where he is uncomfortable or get him into foul trouble. Getting him off the floor would be the best strategy, I suppose.

Seems to be able to guard guys who are facing up against him on the perimeter, even smaller/quicker players, but he's also a pretty good post defender.

I would pound him down low with my PF if possible...see if I could get a quick foul, but the way the game is now, though, how many PFs can actually pound someone down in the post?

Maybe talk to your guards about being more aggressive going to the paint and potentially putting KP in foul trouble that way.

He is 7'3" with a significant wingspan...the guy is going to be able to defend just by moving his feet and keeping his hands up- in some ways his greatest strength is just altering shots, without even blocking them.

Plays the passing lanes sell for a big man, and has the hand speed to knock balls away.

I'll be stunned if he is not the DPOY at some point in his career.

I would say that the best way to deal with him is match him up with a stretch 4 and then to run him into a ton of screens.

And, as you said, penetrating guards that beat our guards off the dribble will definitely be a way to get him into early foul trouble.

I am impressed though that he does not get into worse foul trouble with the number of shots that he contests. I would love to see the stats on that. He really does not leave his feet and realizes (as clyde says) that he is tall enough to not have to leave his feet. The foul call on the kobe 3 was terrible call!

knicks1248 wrote:I'm not the least bit surprise at his level of play. This league is not a half court physical league like it use to be. it's a guards league and KP already has the quickness.

These AAU players that have zero fundamentals, are the ones that need more time to grow. There were so many warning that this kid was special, but LA, Phili, and minni, obviously didn't do their home work.

Minny got towns. He was the clear number one and he is playing like it. Given a do over, they still pick towns.

mreinman wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:I'm not the least bit surprise at his level of play. This league is not a half court physical league like it use to be. it's a guards league and KP already has the quickness.

These AAU players that have zero fundamentals, are the ones that need more time to grow. There were so many warning that this kid was special, but LA, Phili, and minni, obviously didn't do their home work.

Minny got towns. He was the clear number one and he is playing like it. Given a do over, they still pick towns.

Actually OK4 was the clear cut #1. But there was a very small group of us that argued for many threads how towns should be moved up to first pick. Then another very small group that saw potential in KP....over ok4. Russell is the biggest surprise. Thought he would play better. I guess he's a system guy. Lakers don't have the right system.