What are your expectations for Porzingis this year?

T

tiger0330

Legend
Porzingis' lone stat rival? Only a young LeBron can compare

This was the headline on ESPN.com after they proclaimed our Kristaps Porzingis the 22nd best player in the NBA ahead of some notable names like KLove, Marc Gasol, Blake Griffin and Kyrie Irving. Not sure I'm buying this ESPN computer model after they rated Lonzo ahead of Melo but Knicks fans can hope he's the franchise player this ranking and headline are predicting for him.

I was wondering what the KOL expectations are for him. Mafra posted he wanted to see consistent high level play from him along with playing at least 70 games this season. I'd like to see him set some goals, 20ppg, 10rb, 40% 3pt shooting, top 20 defensive player and achieve a few of his goals in the season.

Begley wrote a good article on him (see below) after the rankings came out and he mentions it would be understandable if people were dubious about him being a franchise player. I have to admit I slowly turned into one of the skeptics having abandoned my sig of him and the Latvian flag as my avatar. I may have to bring them back this year if he backs up what he said about being an AS this season and well as all the work he's put in during the off season on his conditioning and game. It would be great to see a franchise player in NY, Melo hasn't been that guy and we haven't seen that guy since Ewing. Looking for a great season from him which maybe even offsets the disappointment of a losing Knicks season.


Kristaps Porzingis and LeBron James are in an elite club. They're the only players in NBA history to amass 1,000 rebounds, 150 made 3s and 100 blocks in their first two seasons. The list of players who've compiled 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 250 blocks and 100 made 3-pointers in their first two seasons is even smaller.
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It's only Porzingis. That's it. Maybe it's that unique profile -- a never-seen-before blend of height, shooting and shot-blocking -- that has landed Porzingis at No. 22 in ESPN's #NBArank. Does he deserve to be ranked in the top 25 at this point in his career? That's certainly up for debate. Porzingis is surrounded by the likes of Klay Thompson (19), Gordon Hayward (20), Mike Conley (23) and Blake Griffin (24) on the list. Reasonable people can disagree as to whether he deserves to be in the same sentence as those stars. His numbers last season were solid (18.1 PPG, 7.2 RPG) but not spectacular.

But if the 22-year-old makes the kind of leap that the Knicks are hoping for this season, his ranking might seem more appropriate in a few months. Porzingis made significant increases in field goal percentage and per-game scoring from Year 1 to Year 2, so there's reason to believe he can make a similar jump this season. Can he make the kind of jump that puts him in the league's 95th percentile? That probably depends on his pecking order in the Knicks' offense. Last year, Porzingis ranked third in usage behind Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose. It seems, at this point, as if Anthony will be with the Knicks through at least the early part of the season. And as long as Anthony is in New York, Porzingis won't be the Knicks' clear No. 1 scoring option.

That idea might upset some Knicks fans who want to see a slow rebuild around Porzingis and the young core in New York. But there are people around the league who believe that Porzingis could be better off playing with Anthony -- or another No. 1 scorer -- for at least one more season.

Doing so would give him more time to develop before he faces the nightly focus of NBA defenses. It would also shield him from the scrutiny that comes with being the face of the Knicks. If and when Anthony is traded, Porzingis will become the primary target for opposing defenses. Is he ready for that task? Last year, New York went 1-5 when Porzingis was in the lineup and Anthony wasn't. As FiveThirtyEight's Chris Herring pointed out earlier this week, the Knicks were a bottom-five offense when Porzingis was on the floor without Anthony.

Porzingis' individual numbers weren't bad when Anthony was out (14.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, 45 percent shooting). But it would be understandable if, based on last season, people wondered whether Porzingis was ready to assume a leading role for the Knicks. The numbers above, though, need some further context:

1. The Knicks won only 31 games last season, so it's not as if Porzingis was surrounded by elite talent when Anthony was out.

2. The club was also running the triangle offense -- an approach that many said hindered the team's ability on that end of the floor. It's reasonable to think that Jeff Hornacek's offense this season will give Porzingis some easier looks at the basket. Just as they did last season, Hornacek and the Knicks want to push the pace this season and, per league sources, would like to see Porzingis at center more frequently (he spent roughly 20 percent of his minutes at center last season, per 82games.com).

3. It looks as if Porzingis has added significant muscle to his frame this offseason, one of his stated goals heading into the summer. So he might be better equipped to hold position in the post and to handle the grueling nature of an 82-game season (Porzingis has missed an average of 13 games per season over the past two years.)

Also worth noting: Porzingis thrived as the No. 1 option for the Latvian national team in the European Championships, scoring 23.6 points in 27 minutes and shooting 53 percent from the field. He led the tournament in blocks per game (1.9) -- though ranked just 20th in rebounding (5.9 per game).

Can Porzingis' Eurobasket success translate to the NBA? That's difficult to predict.

Some players' strong Eurobasket numbers have been a precursor to good NBA campaigns. Goran Dragic finished in the top five in scoring and assists in the 2013 tournament and won the NBA's Most Improved Player award in the following season.

Can Porzingis follow a similar path? It's certainly possible. Can he establish himself as one of the top 25 players in the NBA? That's another intriguing question, and one we'll have an answer to in the coming months.
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H

htr10

GM
Any jackoff can stuff the stat line for a bad team. You can put up your big numbers almost every game with minimal resistance if you're always losing by 20 points and playing backups in the 4th quarter.

What I want from KP this season is 22 ppg without a significant drop in his FG% (45% last season), 9 rpg, 2 bpg, and 2.5 apg (might be the hardest one for him). Plus, it wouldn't hurt to get that FT% above 80%. And, for all those numbers to mean something to me, I want us to win at least 38 games this season.
 
mafra

mafra

Legend
Knicks F Kristaps Porzingis is ranked 22nd on ESPN's NBA player rankings.

Carmelo Anthony, who was ranked 64th, slammed the rankings.

Porzingis, who was ranked 33rd prior to last season, is one spot ahead of Grizzlies PG Mike Conley and one spot behind Raptors PG Kyle Lowry.

"He protects the rim like Rudy Gobert and shoots 3s like Dirk Nowitzki in his prime," ESPN writes about Porzingis. "The next step for Porzingis is consistently carrying an offense, as he ranked just third on the Knicks in usage percentage last season behind Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose."

Porzingis is the first player in NBA history to amass 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 250 blocks, and 100 three-pointers in his first two seasons, notes Ian Begley of ESPN.

Theknicksblog

I want consistency and 75 games played
 
K

Kiyaman

Legend
LMAO .. How much $$$ Dolan paid ESPN to rank Melo and KP .. LMAO
The only way KP talent, skills, and performance will ever rank under 50 are if KP had one of the top 10 winning head coaches in the NBA calling all the shots for the Knicks.
KP 33 minute performance let KP stack his stats, KP learned nothing bout how to win games in his NBA 2 seasons.

My expectation of KP as a NBA starter in his 3rd season are little to no improvement from his past 2 inconsistent performance seasons .. KP decision-making with n without the ball last season decline from his rookie season, there are no way KP rank under 30 in just the (centers n PF) Big-Man frontcourt department .. LMAO

My expectation of KP coming off the bench as a bench-player are a 15 pts, 10 rb, 2 ast, 2 blks, plus shooting 48%.
Coming off the bench will teach KP how to play team-ball, by practicing hard on pick n roll, screening, box-outs, and when to shoot the 3 ball and when not to shoot the 3 ball.
 
and1

and1

Rotation player
he's still a young dude, but i expect to see a little bit of fatigue at some point, probably by ASB. he played a lot of ball this summer. not pick-up ball, but euro tournament ball. i expect to see him come out to a hot start. let's see how he looks around the end of december going into january.
 
T

tiger0330

Legend
I don't think KP is going to be averaging 10rb after seeing him only average 5.9 good for 20th place in the Euro tournament. He should have gotten more rebounds in the tournament since he was largely playing the 5 and he was playing with lesser talent than he'll play against in the NBA. I hope he's not going to be like Bargnani who was a crap rebounder despite being 7' tall.
 
H

htr10

GM
tiger0330 said:
I don't think KP is going to be averaging 10rb after seeing him only average 5.9 good for 20th place in the Euro tournament. He should have gotten more rebounds in the tournament since he was largely playing the 5 and he was playing with lesser talent than he'll play against in the NBA. I hope he's not going to be like Bargnani who was a crap rebounder despite being 7' tall.
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Rebounding is a hard to figure topic for KP. Early in his rookie season, he had a bunch of 12 to 15 rebound games in a string, if I remember correctly, which had gotten me much more excited about his potential than anything else. Since then, double digit rebound games have been few and far between. Not sure why. Is it an effort issue or a how he is being played issue? No idea.

Barkley once said that if he had been teamed up with a pure scorer like Melo, he would have made rebounding his focus and thought he could have easily gotten 20 rebounds a game. Maybe that's part of the issue. Maybe it's a mental/energy issue for KP and the more he is asked to be the focus of our offense, the less he wants to spend all his energy clearing the glass.

If I had my pick, I'd probably take the 17 ppg, 11 rpg KP over the 22 ppg, 6 rpg KP, but I think that the latter is what we're going to get.
 
K

Kiyaman

Legend
At 7.3 height and 30 minute per game plus being advertised as the Knicks future star player .. my expectation were 10-10-2-2 on 50% shooting in 28 minute per night .. having high scorers in Melo and D.Rose, i did expect KP to average 12 to 15 rebounds 2 blocks plus 2 assist per game last season.
KP did not have one game last season where he recorded 12 reb, 2 ast, and 2 blks to be the Knicks big man in the middle to grab as many defensive rebounds in the 33 minutes he was given each night.
All KP wanted to do was shoot shoot shoot on 40% shooting when the Knicks needed a big man in the middle to help Quinn or rookie WHG having Noah on the injured list.
KP were clueless of his frontcourt role two seasons in a row !!!
 
donchris

donchris

Next season, keep waiting
If the triangle is truly dead and stankin, then I have high hopes for Porzingis and Melo. Take a look at Melo's stats. His points per game took a nose dive from the point that Phil Jackson took over. With that system gone, and an emphasis on scoring and running we should see points per game go up for just about everyone. Boards shouldn't be an issue for Porzingis. I see double double games in his future. But we got to get Melo back to 25 points per game to get a decent trade for him.
 
K

Kiyaman

Legend
KP will be the best improve player of the year .. making the ALL-STAR team

Without Melo .. KP will average 35 minutes of playing-time adding 25 pts on 55% FG shooting, plus grab 12 rbds, 4 blks, 4 ast, 1 steal, and 2 turn overs playing in 80 games this season. LMAO
Im smoking the good stuff this season .. :smokin::smokin::smokin: I can DREAM too !!!
 
T

tiger0330

Legend
I was reading Mirotic who re-signed with the Bulls put on about 30 pounds in an effort to get stronger to be a force inside. The weight gain seems to have worked for Nikola with him saying he feels the strongest he's ever felt in his career and his teammate Rolo saying he notices how much stronger he is battling with him in the post.

Interesting comparison with what KP did in the off-season gaining only 5 pounds emphasizing strength without becoming bigger. I said I was expecting opposing players to say that KP had gotten a lot stronger since last season playing against him, lets see if KP can pull that off with only gaining 5 pounds vs. 30.
 
H

htr10

GM
tiger0330 said:
I was reading Mirotic who re-signed with the Bulls put on about 30 pounds in an effort to get stronger to be a force inside. The weight gain seems to have worked for Nikola with him saying he feels the strongest he's ever felt in his career and his teammate Rolo saying he notices how much stronger he is battling with him in the post.

Interesting comparison with what KP did in the off-season gaining only 5 pounds emphasizing strength without becoming bigger. I said I was expecting opposing players to say that KP had gotten a lot stronger since last season playing against him, lets see if KP can pull that off with only gaining 5 pounds vs. 30.
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Hmm. Mirotic is a 26-year-old with a burly frame. KP is 22 and still has what looks to me like a teenager's frame. I think that KP did what he could do with what he had to work with. He's never going to be a down low banger. He needs to maximize his other physical assets to be a dominant player in my mind. This is why you pair him with someone like WHG who is a huge piece of meat.
 
B

Broadway

All Star
Bulls resigning Mirotic was probably a very bad decision but who knows. I only expect volume and some big games here and there from #kporzee out of circumstance necessity...not because his game is so diversified and warranted so
 
K

Kiyaman

Legend
tiger0330 said:
I was reading Mirotic who re-signed with the Bulls put on about 30 pounds in an effort to get stronger to be a force inside. The weight gain seems to have worked for Nikola with him saying he feels the strongest he's ever felt in his career and his teammate Rolo saying he notices how much stronger he is battling with him in the post.

Interesting comparison with what KP did in the off-season gaining only 5 pounds emphasizing strength without becoming bigger. I said I was expecting opposing players to say that KP had gotten a lot stronger since last season playing against him, lets see if KP can pull that off with only gaining 5 pounds vs. 30.
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Mirotic earned the starter spot when Gibson/Mcbucket were traded .. It look like Mirotic worked out hard in the weight room throughout the offseason to keep the starter spot.
The matchup of the Bulls Lopez n Mirotic vs Knicks Kanter n KP will let us know where we will be standing at the end of the season.
I wonder if all Knicks opponents will look at us as a easy push over this season ???
Having a frontcourt lineup of Kanter n WHG or Noah n Quinn would give us size to score inside n defend inside the paint.
 
T

tiger0330

Legend
KP came out and said he prefers playing the 4 because most 4s are smaller and less physical than 5's and it wears him out fighting underneath with 5's. He got pushed around by Booker and Carroll yesterday so he still has trouble dealing with the physicality of the bruisers in the league, this year I don't think is going to be much different than last year. Teams will crowd him and play him physical and the Knicks have to pair him with a rebounder inside. WHG had 10 rbs last night but Kanter has shown he can get you 10 rbs plus score. Kanter was tied with Timmy for highest scorer despite playing only 17mins, he would have scored more but missed a few ducks early in the game that he usually makes. I think Kanter should start.
 
DontForgetDerekHarper

DontForgetDerekHarper

Starter
I love how every one still ignores kiyamans crazy talk on here.

been a while since I posted.

I am not sure what to expect when it comes to KP

the kids had 3 or so head coaches in 2 seasons lol.

He has also had a revolving cast of characters.

I am not sure Kiya how him playing team ball is the issue when he has had to deal with 2 ball dominant players in rose and melo

its virtually impossible for him to shoot shot shot when last year there were barely any plays run for him to shoot the ball.

he almost had to force himself into the offense at times.

I think this year if we work the pick and roll correctly, he will have some games where he looks unstoppable.

the key for him is to notice when his shot is off, not to force the issue but to focus on the other areas of his game like rebounding and defense.

if he can carry the offense other games then non double digit rebounding is ok to me.

I consider this his real rookie year as unlike many other rookies he hasnt gotten the greenlight yet, a rookie has to be given some freedom on the court to make some mistakes and progress without having the expectations be so high because of other well knowns on their team.

Karl anthony towns was able to make mistakes and get away with the learning curve, same with anthony davis, same with embiid and many other young bigs in the league.

playing along side melo rose noah and other veterans he hasnt really been able to have a 5-25 shooting night and learn from game tape what he did wrong. It has always been melo taking over and isolating for half the game virtually blocking porzingas out of the offense for long stretches.

this will be the first year porzingas can fully go in every night and with limited fear try his best to maximize his potential.

with that being said this discussion should be more valid in about 3 months when we truly see what hornacek has in store for him.
 
H

htr10

GM
Broadway said:
This guy....SIGH!!!

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The dude plays like a wing, we play him at PF because he's tall, and then he has to explain why he doesn't want to play center on a team that has WHG, Kanter, O'Quinn, and Noah (when he comes back from suspension). Everything about this team is weird.
 
and1

and1

Rotation player
yeah, i don't think he should play center either. i really hope that horns doesn't try to force him to play the 5.
how many minutes did durant play the center last year? i mean what's the big deal? why are people even still talking about this?
but the 'wasting a lot of energy' part is a little odd. i hope he doesn't feel that way about playing defense in general hahaaaa.
 
T

tiger0330

Legend
htr10 said:
The dude plays like a wing, we play him at PF because he's tall, and then he has to explain why he doesn't want to play center on a team that has WHG, Kanter, O'Quinn, and Noah (when he comes back from suspension). Everything about this team is weird.
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I'd agree the way the team is constructed there's no need to play him at center, we have enough guys this year where he doesn't have to even play backup at the 5. Still a work in progress, only took one 3 against the Nets and is recognizing he needs to play closer to the basket for the high percentage shot. His post game is basic, took a couple of hook shots which he missed and short jumpers close in which he made. His best play was something a guard would do, change of direction on a crossover dribble for a dunk but he's still growing his game as a big man. It's early but I did not see the All Star he's predicting yet.
 
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