FanPost

Going Down the Road Feeling... Pretty Dang Good

As fans, we are constantly caught in the present moment. This tendency was reinforced over the summer when we heard the stories about Melo and Phil deciding to roll the dice and "win now." After 19 games, it looks like the Knick’s will be a .500 or better squad, but have shown few signs of gelling mentally enough to be a dangerous team against an elite team in a series. They still lack mental toughness and fanatical desire. That said, the season is young and Hornacek seems like he is going to be a very good coach, so after 63 more games, they might be a lot more cohesive and nasty.

But, let’s take a step back and think about the Knick’s longer term prospects and some key parts of what is happening on that front with players under 30 years old. Obviously, with KP in the mix, if the Knick’s front office can remain even partially coherent and functional over the course of the next decade, the Knick’s should win a lot of games, many play-off series, and depending in the basketball gods, at least one NBA championship. They already have some good parts with possible 3 to 7 years remaining on their shelve-lives. If the quality under 30 players can be kept together as the supporting cast for KP, with good drafts and canny trades thrown in, good things await.

This leaves analysis leaves out Melo (32), Lee (31), Noah (31), and Sasha (32). Though Father Time is a jerk to any and all, Melo and Lee may have another decent 3 years left. Noah and Sasha… not so much. I also left out Ndour and Ron because of the very small sample size of their work we’ve seen. So, here goes:

Under 30, not sure yet:

Willy: Age 22. has shown some flashes of brilliance offensively. He has some nice post moves, sets decent picks, rolls well, and is a good passer. Unfortunately, from a defensive perspective, he seems a step slow at times and does not have remarkable leaping ability for rebounding purposes. In the 12/2 Minnesota game, he reinforced the concern that he needs time to settle into a game and does not perform well until he has been out on the court for several minutes. That won't work as a back-up in the NBA. One interesting thing to find out is if he has an on-court temper or killer attitude; he almost seems a bit too easy going so far.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas: Age 27. A highly likable player, because he respects the game and plays hard. Surprisingly, his defense tends to be a bit above average. He needs a fair bit of space to get his three pointer launched, and has shot quite a few air-balls in my opinion – but has also drained enough baskets to be shooting 42% overall and 40% from downtown. I suspect he has more slashing ability than shown to date. Very hopeful for his continued development as an NBA player. I was thinking he might want to grow a gnarly goatee to make him look less like your resident 7th grader; he should definitely keep dunking over people like Cole Aldrich.

D-Rose: Age 28. I put Rose in "not sure yet," because of the contract situation only. Intuitively, I am not sure Rose is going to be Knick beyond this year. I respect the hell out of the man, and it could be he is going to stick around. He has been a little too bull-headed at times this year on his drives, and I always hold my breath on his arc-less jumpers (the reason he uses the glass so well is that bank shots are far less dependent on arc). He has sometimes chosen impossible drives against 2 or 3 defenders and ignored reasonably open wings this year. But, he is a tough dude and has no fear. We like that and he seems to be willing to be a good soldier. If he stays that is great, if he doesn’t… I wish him well.

Plumlord: Age 24. If I had a DNA kit, I would infuse each Knick with Plumlord’s hustle and selflessness. Who knows if he will stick in the NBA or not, but you can’t fault his energy.

Quality Role Players under 30:

Holiday: Age 27. There is a plausible argument Jennings should be starting over Courtney Lee at this point. His length and energy as a defender, consistent shooting, leaping ability and decent handles all add up. He’s looking like a grown man out there. Keep him around, give him more minutes. He is a pro.

Jennings: Age 27. His energy on both ends is A+. His talent is a strong A. The only downside is he gets out of control sometimes. Not shooting great this year, given his role, this is not a huge deal.

Lance: Age 28. Haven’t seen much of Lance this year, but it was good to see him hit 1 of 2 three pointers vs. Minnesota. If the Lance from 2015/2016 shows up and sticks around, it’s all good in the neighborhood.

Kyle: Age 26. Before becoming the messiah in the Minnesota game, I was disappointed in Kyle this year. I heavily favored him over Seraphin last year, but this year he had seemed out of place and slightly meek. He plays like a forward more than a center, and his hops down-low are not very good, which is why he often can’t finish directly under the rim. But if he is going to be an energy guy with good passing skills and the ability to hit the foul-line jumper, then I say great!

The keystone:

KP: Age 21. Little needs to be said here. If the Knick’s management can continue to feed the Unicorn, he’ll eventually stick his horn through the heart of all who stand in the way of his number retired in the rafters of MSG. He still needs to learn to impose his will more on lesser talents, but that will come with experience.