Things appear to be looking up for New York Knicks rookie Kevin Knox. No less than his team's head coach, David Fizdale, recently commended the 19-year-old for how he has become more confident following his debut season.

“To his credit, he’s still in really solid shape,’’ Fizdale said, via Marc Berman of the New York Post. “But even in just in the week’s workouts, his walk is different. He has a little more confidence in him knowing what’s coming now instead of it being such a surprise to him.”

Knox was selected ninth overall in last season's draft and did not exactly light up the scene during his rookie campaign. He averaged 12.8 points (on just 37.0 percent shooting), 1.7 three-pointers, 4.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.6 steals in 28.8 minutes per contest. Nevertheless, the former Kentucky standout did show some flashes of brilliance throughout the season, which proves that he does hold a lot of promise.

Knox was given a lot of room to grow during his rookie year, and surely, this helped develop his confidence. Credit to coach Fizdale here for letting the youngster spread his wings.

This is going to be an important summer for Knox, as he hopes to accelerate the development of his game for the season ahead. There's going to be a lot of changes that will take place in New York this offseason and Knox will want to make sure that he remains relevant to the team not only for the new season but for the foreseeable future as well.