He's waiting for the unofficial torch to be passed (which will be much sooner than later it appears), and is doing the right thing as far carrying the vet bags, saying it's Melo's team, buying them donuts etc...he's not trying to step on toes at the age of 20.

Next season will be a different story.

Of course there are exceptions, but I think it holds true, in general. There is a reason why Hezonja got limited minutes at times, and seemed to have issues with his coaches, while KP, by all accounts, was like by coaches and teammates alike because he was willing to play team ball.

I think there will come a point where KP is recognized as the best player on the team and the guy you want to see assert himself on the court in key moments, and eventually KP will embrace this, but I feel it is something that will happen over time, and cannot be force fed to him.

It did look like there were times in the Houston game where he established himself down low and might have been annoyed that he was not recognized. He gets down the court quickly, sometimes, and is not seen when he is free, for some reason.

You don't want him facing up on the perimeter doing cross-overs to get free...at this point he depends a lot on being seen by his teammates when he's in an advantageous situation to receive the ball.

Best thing now is to run plays for him where he comes off a screen set by someone else and gets passed to, or they work a pick and pop with him. They also have to make sure that they exploit the size mismatches when they happen...something we seem slow to recognize.

IMO they already need to start getting KP more looks off curls, PnR and down screens where he is in catch and shoot situations. He can shoot in rhythm and get a good feel. Then they can mix in the post ups etc. You can see that KP is growing more confident in his post game even tho he's still a bit light and sometimes gets knocked off his base. IMO once KP matures he's gonna dominate.

WaltLongmire wrote:

Clean wrote:
At the 1st glance KP has the mentality of a superstar as-well. His work ethic is something you constantly hear about from other players. He has a burning desire to be great and he is always saying the right things to the media. The one thing I think KP is missing is his on court aggression and willingness to step on toes to get the win.

KP has shown a willingness to let other players push him around even though it is obvious they are purposely targeting him. An example of this is how Jason Smith was roughing up KP during the game against the Magic.

KP is also a little too willing to sit in the background and allow other players to takeover at points in every game.

Am I over analyzing? or do I actually have a point?

Smith should have gotten a T. Watch the play...Smith did what he did because KP was mixing it up with him in the post.

What happened the next play when the Knicks were on D, though (pretty sure it was the next play), Porzingis had the big block on Oladipo...did not see him shy away from a potential posterizing dunk.

I've seen him mix it up in the post...have also seen opponents try to push and intimidate him.

The stats and my eyes are telling me that whatever is being done to him by opponents...is not working too well.

I'm with Walt. KP gotta fill out and it's the only reason he isn't physically dominating more than he could be and I wouldn't confuse that with not having a superstar mentality.

The dude wanted to go head to head with Anthony Davis. As soon as game is finished he wants to know when he plays Dwight again. He wants and takes shots at the last minute, even if play is run for Melo. He dunks over Aldridge and screams. He bowls over the whole Toronto team and smiles afterwards.

Most of all, he heard boos on draft day and didn't back down. He has the media eating out of his hands.

I am super pumped about him coming out of the gate after next offseason. League watch out!

WaltLongmire wrote:I've said this before in some form or another...The Euro League approach to player development seems to be one that stresses team performance over individual achievement.

Of course there are exceptions, but I think it holds true, in general. There is a reason why Hezonja got limited minutes at times, and seemed to have issues with his coaches, while KP, by all accounts, was like by coaches and teammates alike because he was willing to play team ball.

I think there will come a point where KP is recognized as the best player on the team and the guy you want to see assert himself on the court in key moments, and eventually KP will embrace this, but I feel it is something that will happen over time, and cannot be force fed to him.

It did look like there were times in the Houston game where he established himself down low and might have been annoyed that he was not recognized. He gets down the court quickly, sometimes, and is not seen when he is free, for some reason.

You don't want him facing up on the perimeter doing cross-overs to get free...at this point he depends a lot on being seen by his teammates when he's in an advantageous situation to receive the ball.

Best thing now is to run plays for him where he comes off a screen set by someone else and gets passed to, or they work a pick and pop with him. They also have to make sure that they exploit the size mismatches when they happen...something we seem slow to recognize.

WaltLongmire wrote:I've said this before in some form or another...The Euro League approach to player development seems to be one that stresses team performance over individual achievement.

Of course there are exceptions, but I think it holds true, in general. There is a reason why Hezonja got limited minutes at times, and seemed to have issues with his coaches, while KP, by all accounts, was like by coaches and teammates alike because he was willing to play team ball.

I think there will come a point where KP is recognized as the best player on the team and the guy you want to see assert himself on the court in key moments, and eventually KP will embrace this, but I feel it is something that will happen over time, and cannot be force fed to him.

It did look like there were times in the Houston game where he established himself down low and might have been annoyed that he was not recognized. He gets down the court quickly, sometimes, and is not seen when he is free, for some reason.

You don't want him facing up on the perimeter doing cross-overs to get free...at this point he depends a lot on being seen by his teammates when he's in an advantageous situation to receive the ball.

Best thing now is to run plays for him where he comes off a screen set by someone else and gets passed to, or they work a pick and pop with him. They also have to make sure that they exploit the size mismatches when they happen...something we seem slow to recognize.

good post as usual.

Just to add about taking advantage of the mismatches. Sometimes we miss it but often our guards just can't get passed the hounding defender to be in a position to at least make the entry pass so that we can take advantage of the mismatch.

meloanyk wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:I've said this before in some form or another...The Euro League approach to player development seems to be one that stresses team performance over individual achievement.

Of course there are exceptions, but I think it holds true, in general. There is a reason why Hezonja got limited minutes at times, and seemed to have issues with his coaches, while KP, by all accounts, was like by coaches and teammates alike because he was willing to play team ball.

I think there will come a point where KP is recognized as the best player on the team and the guy you want to see assert himself on the court in key moments, and eventually KP will embrace this, but I feel it is something that will happen over time, and cannot be force fed to him.

It did look like there were times in the Houston game where he established himself down low and might have been annoyed that he was not recognized. He gets down the court quickly, sometimes, and is not seen when he is free, for some reason.

You don't want him facing up on the perimeter doing cross-overs to get free...at this point he depends a lot on being seen by his teammates when he's in an advantageous situation to receive the ball.

Best thing now is to run plays for him where he comes off a screen set by someone else and gets passed to, or they work a pick and pop with him. They also have to make sure that they exploit the size mismatches when they happen...something we seem slow to recognize.

He's nutty and did not offer long term stabilty but Rondo would have created and helped KP, Melo, Affalo and others get their shots

Rondo can be a big man's friend...no doubt about that.

KP has had varied success in the post, so far. Wonder if this is why they don't go to him as much when he's established position.

newyorknewyork wrote:For most of overtime, Rockets had Ariza guarding KP and we didn't look to exploit a post up with KP once during this span. Granted Afflobe was balling.

He did try to exploit ariza but we could not get him the ball due to the guard pressure.