Choose Your Own Adventure: You and Hubie Brown take Kristaps Porzingis up to his first trade deadline

Ok, here we go. See I'm happy for Kristaps Porzingis now. During the course of the season he's given ya a ton of energy, and he's made an improvement each time he takes the floor. Ya really see his potential to be a great player in this league. Coach Derek Fisher and the Knicks organization stuck to their plan and let the young man figure things out without pushing him too hard for the instant success. Ok, it's not easy sticking to the script when you see the all the po-tential, but I tell ya I agree 100%.

Now. Porzingis was able to work his way into the Rookie-Sophomore game without extending his minutes, and ya know- he's better for it. He had to work to correct some things and now he's looking like a more all-around player. He has increased his points per game to right at eleven on average, and he's shooting it 46% from 2-point range and 38% from deep on the season. And his stroke at the foul line is upped to 81%. In the Triangle-- now just watch-- you see he's a little more active and involved and becoming a real matchup issue. He's having better stretches on the floor, and he gets rewarded with extra minutes when he's got it going. Ok, and in Toronto, he had a career night on national TV, ok, I called the game! I saw it with my own eyes. A-ha-ha! The Raptors just had no way to stop him. Ok and he ended up with career highs with 28 points and 8 rebounds. What he struggles with still is spotting the cutter and hitting his man in stride. Ok but his teammates are getting open that way. And the rebounding is right at about four a game, ok?

And ya say, so what's the problem here? Now, alright, it's on defense. They know he can shot-block. But he becomes a negative against the teams that pound ya down in the low post. But this is the problem for the Knicks as a unit. Alright but ya like his footwork and his effort on the defensive side of the ball. And what ya really like to see is he's sliding his feet into position, and starting to draw the offensive foul right in the chest. What ya want out here now is for Porzingis to keep his nose in the action, finish strong and make his time on the floor meaningful minutes, alright, even if the shot is not falling.

The silly fouls are being cut down, ok. And the Madison Square Garden crowd is really feeding off his energy. They like his spirit, his leadership, and the aggression going at the basket. I'm really happy for him. He's a wonderful young man and has had some big games and what you're seeing now is that he is a clutch performer. Ok, he's in all the New York papers because his potential for scoring gives them a cushion and takes some of the pressure off of Carmelo Anthony.

Ok, now take a look this here. The Knicks are five games under .500, with some unfortunate losses. That's good for 11th in the Eastern Conference. There are a few teams struggling, ok? So the Knicks have a chance here, because with Anthony on the team ya know you always have a puncher's chance. Porzingis has it going, and ya love to see that. And give your other big guys a ton of credit, here. Ok, they're figuring out their roles and getting the job done by fighting for their time on the floor and doing all the dirty work.