The New York Knicks have begun their re-build with a 2-0 start to pre-season with wins over Brazilian side Bauru and the Washington Wizards. The Knicks fans will have been pleased to see good performances throughout the roster. Carmelo Anthony looks back to his usual self and shot well in both games. His stroke looks comfortable and the knee doesn’t appear to be bothering him which is a positive. His leadership on the floor was apparent as he was constantly talking to his guys. It’s clear he’s embraced his new role as the leader of a young and growing team.
Kristapz Porzingis also looked comfortable taking to the NBA stage as he’s pulled some highlight plays out of the bag already. His defence is equally as impressive as his offence, already recording blocks in the pre-season. Not in his house. Unless you’re Bradley Beal of course.
Kyle O’Quinn might finally be living up to his initial hype when joining the league. His offence has been very impressive coming off the bench. He looks determined to push for a potential starting role. We all know he wouldn’t make the starting 5 anywhere else in the league apart from the 76ers so now is his time! He certainly has the potential to be a threat in this league and the triangle offence is suiting him well clearly. He had 14 points off the bench against Bauru at MSG and 14 again in Washington. Could more minutes be exactly what he’s needed?
Derrick Williams also put up an impressive 23 points in the win in Washington.
Now if Derek Fisher can keep matters off the court under control, he might just have a good little project going on here. Could Phil Jackson have done it again and put the foundations together for something special? Only time will tell. You never know, they may end up with 20 wins for the year…which would still be an improvement on last seasons disaster.
New York Knicks 2015-2016 roster:
Arron Afflalo – Consistent shooting guard, legitimate starter.
Lou Amundson – Mediocre forward
Thanasis Antetokounmpo – Potential to be a decent bench player
Carmelo Anthony – Superstar
Darion Atkins – Prospect
Jose Calderon – Overrated veteran
Cleanthony Early – Bench warmer
Langston Galloway – The undrafted guard who wasn’t too bad last term
Robin Lopez – Experienced center
Kyle O’Quinn – Potential to be a good player
Kristapz Porzingis – Good player, way too overrated though. Never gonna be as good as Dirk
Wesley Saunders – Will end up in the D-league
Kevin Seraphin – Potential to be great
Dajuan Summers – Making up numbers
Lance Thomas – Overrated
Travis Trice – D-league quality without a doubt
Sasha Vujacic – Shot the lights out at West Point, could be good
Derrick Williams – Only gonna get better.
