John Calipari addressed Kevin Knox's struggles in the NBA, saying that the New York Knicks should not yet give up on the former Kentucky Wildcat.
"He was so young. Some guys are even younger than their chronological age, which is young. And guess what? He's one of those. He was the youngest player in that draft. ... It's going to take time. What you don't want to do -- and teams have done this in that league -- they give up on a young, young player too soon. And now all of a sudden, the guy comes back and they look and the whole thing in New York will be, 'Well what if we had him? We gave him away. We should have held on longer. Why did we do that?'" said Calipari.
Knox is averaging 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds this season, down from his 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds from his rookie season.
Calipari added that Knox will take longer to develop due to his youth and size, but should eventually improve his shooting. Knox is currently shooting 35.9% from the field.
"Young guys take longer to develop, especially when they're big. And guys with his size and his skill, the game is going to him. In other words, if you're long, if you're lanky, if you're a basketball player, if you can shoot it -- shooting has become a premium in the NBA. If you can't shoot it, it's hard to become significant guy, or the No. 1 or No. 2 guy. You've got to be No. 3, 4 or 5 if you can't shoot. That's easy because in the NBA, over time, what happens is, guys shoot the ball better. they shoot it better."
