It's in the fourth quarter and the Knicks appear on their way to a win over the Sonics.
Last year I quickly developed an appeal for Mardy Collins and this year my affinity is in Demetris Nichols. The kid has a terrific shot. Great form. Always square to the basket and knows how to get himself freed up. He was 5 for 9 in the first half with 11 points to lead the Knicks. He finished with 13 points.
The Syracuse sniper was acquired from Portland, who drafted him 53rd overall. At 6-8, he's a big two-guard. There's a lot of competition among the veterans for minutes, but Nichols could be a sleeper to watch come training camp. That could mean a veteran will not just lose his minutes, he could lose a roster spot.
The first round pick, Wilson Chandler, has been quietly decent. Nothing overly-impressive. He had 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting in 30 minutes.
Nate Robinson looked good running the team. His usual antics, of course. Flying all over the place, flashy dribbling. He was a far more superior athlete than any guard the Sonics put out on the floor, so it's tough to judge. Robinson led the Knicks with 19 points and 7 assists.
I was most anxious to watch Randolph Morris, to see what he would look like. I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Some people like to promote the idea that Morris, who was signed right out of the NCAA tournament, is like another first-round pick for the Knicks. He didn't play like one tonight, even though his stat line says 10 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. He's kind of robotic and doesn't have much explosiveness.
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- Quick observation of Kevin Durant - he looks tired. Been a whirlwind few weeks for the kid so it's understandable. He didn't engage much and relied on -- and missed -- mostly jumpers. He's 3 for 15 at this point. Renaldo Balkman started the game against him and it seemed clear Durant preferred to play the perimeter against him. Durant finished with 18 points on 4 of 19 shooting.
- Quentin Richardson made an appearance tonight. He was dressed in bright yellow -- oversized t-shirt and shorts -- so it was hard to miss him walking through the crowd here. He says he's ready to go. More on that in our print edition tomorrow.
- A little tease, there's also an interesting development in the Artest situation in my story tomorrow. A quick synopsis: we were correct to speculate the Artest talk was mostly that.
- OK, the game just ended. Knicks win 87-74. 1-0 in summer league. Wooo!
- Gotta get ready to head to the locker room when the game ends to get some late interviews.
Comments (14)
When is the last time you saw a bigman do well in a Summer League game. He did his part by grabbing rebounds and taking up space in the paint. This a run and gun type of league so a bigman will not stand out as much.
Any luck on the interviews?
Randolph was a bit robotic. A little slow in responding. A little sloppy with his passing.
Good quality young big man on the bench though. Especially if Aguirre can show him some moves in the post. Not what we NEED now, but could be a nice trading piece in the future with some offensive output.
"kind of robotic and doesn't have much explosiveness"
Can anyone think of another Knick center who might have been described that way? Maybe even had his number retired?
It's a bit early to be registering disappointment, especially since Morris played reasonably well. Give the boy a chance.
Do you even understand the game of basketball? Chandler scored 12 points on 5-of-10 , along with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. This is "quietly decent"? This is an amazing summer league debut for a rookie and anyone with a clue would understand this. More over did you notice the vision and skill he displayed on his two long range passes to Balkman? Do you know what that can do to an opposing team, and what kind of a lift it can bring to yours?
Then you cut up Morris? The guy was a monster, his blocks on the second over all draft pick set a tone for the rest of the game and that tone said "don't bring it inside". Again this plays o nthe mind of the other team and inspires yours to "greater heights". He then went on to grab a double double. Yeah he is robotic... Okay. I will take a robot who can give me a double double and two key blocks any day of the week.
I am not sure who told you that you would make a good sports writer, but perhaps you should reconsider.
I was very pleased with Randolph. Good hands on some difficult catches, very good body awareness, balance and strength on his post moves (did get blocked on a rushed shot) but the few times he recieved the ball properly on the block, his man was helpless. Plus the strong defensive presence protecting the basket - tracking penetrators down for blocks, making it look easy, really. And I thought Chandler played a great overall game - opportunistic on D, strong and always in control on offense. Basically the tools that Frye did not have. Nichols has the J and hustled on D as well. I think that was the biggest plus I took from last night - Chandler, Nichols and Balkman committed to shutting down the other squad. I saw more D last night and more penetrators being blocked or stopped from converting than I did all last season. With the new kids, Collins, Q, Jones if he stays, perimeter D will look alot different than last year.
Who is this writing?! More Knick bashing. Look this guys were commited, as one of the other responders stated, to D. I will not break down the numbers, but I will say that if Zic makes no more trades, cool. This the brightest the Knicks future has looked in a very long time, and they can make a good push into the playoffs. Baring any major set backs due to injuries, this team will do well this year.
I gotta co-sign on the praise for Morris. I must've seen something different from Hahn, the guy was tough on boards and was a defensive presence on the blocks. He showed some post moves that were a little raw but I see a lot of upside for him. I think he did great.
I have to agree with the praise for Morris as well. Let's face it, if he pans out he will be Z-Bo's backup so he must be able to rebound and defend, with lesser emphasis on scoring. If Morris did nothing else out there besides the 2 blocks, I'd have been satisfied. His future looks bright.
Morris is a big-man version of Frye. He's stronger and looks like he can take a beating in the paint. He'll be a good backup to Zach or Curry off the bench, depending on the lineup. Did anyone notice if he ran the floor well? With Balkman, Chandler and Nate running, I didn't notice. Morris also hit a baseline hook shot that was crooked but went in. Can't argue with a double double even if its in summer league game against some weak competition in Seattle. Petro's more of a mobile PF than a solid Center. Not much competition. But a hell of a first game for the Knicks.
Excellent comments Charles. I couldn't have said it better myself. The writer who puts this blog together couldn't know too much about the game of basketball to come up with that posting.
I think you actually were directing that at me BT. Names are displayed under the post in here... though I may be wrong. I am the one however who pointed out that this guy has no clue about basketball. He admitted himself he couldn't play it, I just want to point out he doesn't understand it either.
Worst write up/review ever.
Saw the second half....Morris-has the size/strength to play inside. Liked his footwork most times in the paint, squares up for shot with superior fundamentals. Wilson-good court savvy, did not try to do too much, pin point pass to Balklman for break stuff. Nichols-what the team needs-a floor spreading threat from 23'...could really open up area for ZackCurry. Let's keep watchin' ....hope I.T. can dump some contracts come Oct.1.
OK, maybe 'disappointed' was a bit strong. But I was watching him closely to gauge his abilities. In my recent post I go into further detail.
But you guys can criticize what I write all you want. We can debate it. That's what the comments area is for. Just don't make it personal. Save the juvenile trash talking for those other blogs. Enjoy.
It seems to me that some you are taking this a bit personal...the writer said some good things about players, but he wrote about what he observed. I thought Morris was a bit sluggish too..he did ok but he seemed to be overwhelmed at times. Maybe he needs to just get into shape! However, the overall look for the Knicks is a good one..they are young again and have a good nucleus of veteran players. If they can all play their roles and stay healthy and unselfish, they will at least make it to the conference finals.