Things I learned from Summer League Interviews

Post #1 » by **Smitty731** » Wed Jul 6, 2016 11:59 pm

Hey all!

Not sure how much you follow along the other boards, but I've been at Orlando Summer League all week. I had the chance to talk to a lot of people with the Knicks over the week and today got about 5 minutes with Phil Jackson and Steve Mills. Previously I talked to Jeff Hornacek and Kristaps Porzingis as well. Here are some of the notes I got from various people associated with the team. Not all of them are from the previously referenced guys.

Not all of this may be super newsworthy or anything, but all felt good enough to share.

If you have specific questions, please quote me so I'll be sure to see it.

1. Porzingis is ridiculously big in person up close. And he's all arms and legs. People are not meant to be built like he is.

2. He really wanted to play for Latvia in the Olympic qualifier and the team shut it down pretty quickly. So, he asked to play Summer League and they shut that down even quicker. But the team loves his desire to play and work. They have to make him leave the gym.

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

4. Expect to see Rose and Jennings play together some. Hornacek had really good success with that in Phoenix with Dragic and Bledsoe and likes the options it provides. He's really excited to draw up sets that feature multiple dribble drives and Porzinigis diving to the rim. Hornacek had great success with Miles Plumlee as a diver/roler and see Porzingis as about 100x better.

5. The usage of the triangle is still something Phil wants. As often said, the triangle to him is bigger than just a basketball thing. But the understanding was that Hornacek would not be forced to use the triangle. Elements of it, but not solely it. He has stuff he likes and you can already see the roster being constructed that way.

6. They feel like they will be very hard to score on inside with Noah and Porzingis. And they intend to play Thomas a lot to further extend the defense.

7. A big part of signing Noah was his passing and ball handling ability. They see his ability execute DHOs and screens as a huge key to getting Rose free and getting Anthony shots.

8. It was very hard for them to give up Robin Lopez. They loved everything he did for them and his fit with Porzingis. But, as the quote was, "you have to give something to get something and we feel like Rose was someone we had to get."

9. They weren't so sad to see Jerian Grant go. I won't name the person who said it but they said, "That was Phil's pick. Dude loves big PGs and reached. And we realized by the end of Summer League last year."

10. The team is really excited for Hernangomez and Kuzminskas. They feel like both are athletic and tough and will pair well up front with Porzingis.

11. Courtney Lee was the SG they wanted all along. They said the Eric Gordon rumors were "bullsh*t. We already took a shot on one injured guy and Melo isn't always healthy either. Why would we add a walking injury to the mix?"

12. The team was bummed to lose Galloway. They loved the kid, but had to make some tough choices with the cap.

13. And finally, don't be surprised to see Ron Baker get a camp invite and to make the team as an undrafted rookie. He's been pretty good in Orlando and repeatedly I was told "he just plays the right way all the time. All the time. It doesn't translate here (Summer League) because this is bullsh*t basketball. But this guy can play. He'll be in the league."

Bonus: They openly admit they may have the worst Summer League team ever and that most of their guys have no shot at the NBA.

So, again, not really anything earth shattering maybe, but some stuff I heard that I wanted to share.

ibraheim718 · Post #2 » by **ibraheim718** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:03 am

Nice.. thanks for the info.

NYKnicksTAPE · Post #3 » by **NYKnicksTAPE** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:04 am

I love everything I just read about KP

NY2TheBay · Post #4 » by **NY2TheBay** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:05 am

Thanks, good insight and appreciate you sharing it. Specifically the Jerian Grant info was interesting to me.

Post #5 » by **duetta** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:07 am

Good stuff. I'm glad that they saw the same things in Lopez's play that I did.

Newyorknick94 · Post #6 » by **Newyorknick94** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:08 am

How'd you get in? I wanted to go but the website said media only.

TheBigBoss · Post #7 » by **TheBigBoss** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:09 am

Before the skeptics raid this thread, I just want to say thanks for sharing this. All of it sounds like what I would expect to hear except for the Jerian Grant part. He played well in the summer league last year, he looked like he would have a good shot at being a player.

xNewYorkMadex · Post #8 » by **xNewYorkMadex** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:09 am

DE FENSE · Post #9 » by **DE FENSE** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:10 am

Great insight, thanks for sharing! I knew the Eric Gordon rumor was bogus.

omerome · Post #10 » by **omerome** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:12 am

I love the quote about Summer league being "bullsh*t basketball".

Great quotes though and it's nice to read about what the team wants to do moving forward.

StephNYKurry · Post #11 » by **StephNYKurry** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:15 am

Jennings
Rose
Kuzminskas
Thomas
KP

Early candidate for my favorite lineup of the year LT and Kuz gotta knock down some jumpers for it to REALLY work, but I think our small ball lineups will be really really good this year.

Thanks for love

thebuzzardman · Post #12 » by **thebuzzardman** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:15 am

NYPost and DailyNews, please pay attention. I got more information and in a succinct manner, from a Basketball forum mod from a team other than the Knicks, as a result of a 5 minute interview during summer league. WSJ, keep doing what you do.

Things of note to me:

Turning it over to KP
That they love and intend to use Noah's passing (I mean, figures, but nice confirmation)
That Jennings and Rose would see the floor together - that they actually intend to push that. I figured they would wind up out on the floor together sometimes, but I'm more than psych'd to see this is a plan
That Jerian Grant wasn't that favored and that someone had the stones to say it was a Phil move
That RonGod is liked; again, sort of got that impression, but I think no one was sure

Good stuff, even for a Celtic fan

AllanHoustonFan · Post #13 » by **AllanHoustonFan** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:18 am

Thanks for the great insider info. I'm surprised Phil thought Grant was a bust by the end of last year's Summer League. Also LOL at them acknowledging this is the worst summer league team ever.

thebuzzardman · Post #14 » by **thebuzzardman** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:19 am

Wanted to add

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

Making sure that Willie comes over and getting MingisTingis makes all the more sense. Look, I get KP is a super well adjusted dude, but this is Phil zen again, surrounding him with simpatico guys who are natural allies in the locker room. I think the team is a collection of good veteran guys - not that there will be friction, but I think this just makes the transition easier for KP.

Post #15 » by **Smitty731** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:21 am

Newyorknick94 wrote:How'd you get in? I wanted to go but the website said media only.

I work in the media.

http://basketball.realgm.com/news/analysis/author/211/Keith-P-Smith

@KeithSmithNBA on Twitter.

Post #16 » by **Smitty731** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:22 am

AllanHoustonFan wrote:Thanks for the great insider info. I'm surprised Phil thought Grant was a bust by the end of last year's Summer League. Also LOL at them acknowledging this is the worst summer league team ever.

That did not come from Phil. I want to be clear about that.

AllanHoustonFan · Post #17 » by **AllanHoustonFan** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:22 am

thebuzzardman wrote:Wanted to add

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

Making sure that Willie comes over and getting MingisTingis makes all the more sense. Look, I get KP is a super well adjusted dude, but this is Phil zen again, surrounding him with simpatico guys who are natural allies in the locker room. I think the team is a collection of good veteran guys - not that there will be friction, but I think this just makes the transition easier for KP.

When do you think Frank will make up a rumor that there is friction between Melo and Zingis? I say January.

thebuzzardman · Post #18 » by **thebuzzardman** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:24 am

AllanHoustonFan wrote:
thebuzzardman wrote:Wanted to add

3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.

Making sure that Willie comes over and getting MingisTingis makes all the more sense. Look, I get KP is a super well adjusted dude, but this is Phil zen again, surrounding him with simpatico guys who are natural allies in the locker room. I think the team is a collection of good veteran guys - not that there will be friction, but I think this just makes the transition easier for KP.

When do you think Frank will make up a rumor that there is friction between Melo and Zingis? I say January.

Hmm. When is that slow period when baseball is over, basketball and hockey didn't start and football is just getting going?

That week

thebuzzardman · Post #19 » by **thebuzzardman** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:26 am

Smitty731 wrote:
AllanHoustonFan wrote:Thanks for the great insider info. I'm surprised Phil thought Grant was a bust by the end of last year's Summer League. Also LOL at them acknowledging this is the worst summer league team ever.

That did not come from Phil. I want to be clear about that.

Orange Mamba · Post #20 » by **Orange Mamba** » Thu Jul 7, 2016 12:30 am

Smitty731 wrote:3. They see him as 100% the star of the franchise, beyond even Carmelo Anthony. As soon as this year, they hope to start to transition the team to being Porzingis' team.