With how hot he’s started this season, it’s no surprise that Kristaps Porzingis is receiving a lot of praise for his stellar play. From fans, coaches, and their opponents, they’ve all noticed the improvements he’s shown so far, and how he has responded to being the new franchise player of the New York Knicks.
Even his teammates had only good words to say about him. Courtney Lee, Lance Thomas, and Enes Kanter have all been impressed with what they’re seeing from him, and gave their thoughts about the Latvian international recently, via Ian Begley of ESPN. They discussed the aspects of his game where he excels at, and also his relationship with the rest of the Knicks.
“He's up to the task,” Knicks guard Courtney Lee says. “…. He knows what's ahead of him and what we expect from him.”
“He's catching the ball where he wants to catch it,” Knicks forward Lance Thomas says. “The last couple of years, guys were able to push him off of where he wants the ball and he'd be able to make up that ground by dribbling and playing down to the defender. [Now] he has shots where people can't guard him. … He's realizing that he has that advantage over guys that are 6-10, 6-11.”
“He's in tune with everyone. In the past, guys have always had their groups of people they hang out with. But he's everywhere. He's over there [hanging out] with everyone.”
“Some of the stuff he does, we just look at each other on the bench like, ‘Man, did he really just do that?'” new teammate Enes Kanter says.
Their praise for Kristaps Porzingis proves how much they trust him to lead the Knicks this year. More importantly, it also goes to show the respect they have for him despite only being 22 years old. Kristaps Porzingis has upped his game in the two campaigns he’s spent in the NBA so far. Now, it appears that he will once again eclipse his production from last season, and is geared to have a career year.
Through six games, Porzingis is averaging career-high numbers of 29.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, to go along with 1.7 blocks in 34.0 minutes per game. If he continues to play at this pace as the season progresses, the Knicks could contend for a playoff berth, and give their fans a chance to watch postseason action inside Madison Square Garden for the first time in five years.
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