Category: New York Knicks Blog

Health is the most important thing for all of us. You. Me. And professional basketball players, too. Here’s ESPN New York reporting on the Knicks and star forward Carmelo Anthony:

After undergoing knee surgery in late February, Carmelo Anthony didn’t shoot a basketball for nearly five months.

He seems to be making up for lost time over the past few days.

Anthony has made 18 of his first 25 shots of the preseason, including 10 of 15 on Friday night against the Washington Wizards.

What’s behind the hot start?

“The most important thing is being healthy,” Anthony said late Friday night. “When you’re healthy, everything kind of falls into place mentally. There’s a lot of clarity for me at this moment where I can just play ball and not worry about [a] tick-tack injury or having surgery or things like that — and I can just help my team.”

Here’s the New York Daily News reporting on a key young Knick who will hopefully emerge as a serious building block for the future:

The Knicks other rookie acquitted himself well in his first preseason action Wednesday, but a much bigger test awaits Jerian Grant Friday night in Washington.

Grant, the 19th overall pick out of Notre Dame, was a composed floor general during his 28 minutes in Wednesday’s victory over the Brazilian team Bauru at the Garden, collecting four assists and eight points while facilitating the game-breaking runs next to Langston Galloway. (There was a very impressive behind-the-back-dribble-to-an-assist play from Grant late in the first quarter).

Coach Derek Fisher was certainly pleased.

“Jerian has a good feel for the game,” the coach said.

Expectations for the Knicks are… improving.

The New York Knicks should certainly be better this season than last. That’s our bold statement for today. Anyway, here’s the New York Post reporting:

Though he said Monday he held “no expectations at this time’’ for the 2015-16 Knicks, Carmelo Anthony amended the remark two days later, saying the title still is “our big-picture goal.’’ Maybe he’s seen something at West Point.

And Derek Fisher said just because they are the no-name Knicks other than Anthony, it doesn’t mean they are “rebuilding’’ and still expect to win. Fisher said he likes the notion the Knicks are filled with names not befitting the grand marquee.

“Based on the fact we don’t have a certain caliber of player on our roster other than Carmelo, people assume we’re rebuilding,’’ Fisher said after Wednesday’s second day of practices. “Was Atlanta rebuilding last year when they didn’t have quote-unquote [name] player on their roster. We think our group, as we figure it out, will be more competitive than people think. But rebuilding doesn’t mean we’re not trying to win right now.’’

It should be noted Atlanta placed four guys on the All-Star team last February — Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver.

Here’s the New York Post with a fun feature on 7-3 Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, who took a stroll around NYC and joked to one young fan that he’ll “be 8-feet by the end of the season.”

“Since I’ve been like 15, I can’t really hide, you know?” Porzingis says. “I always stand out. At one point, you’re just like, ‘I can’t be hiding my whole life. I gotta get used to this.’ Now I’m enjoying it.”

He is wise beyond his 20 years and a 7-foot-3 cutup. As he stares straight ahead and smiles for a photo with a short young man named Adam Eliassof, he startles him by telling him, “I’m gonna be 8-feet by the end of the season.”

Before more stargazers and curiosity seekers can flood the Seventh Avenue entrance to his next basketball home, Porzingis, with his older brother Martin and Knicks staffer Gregg Schwartz and several security men in tow, begins walking through the 33rd Street Plaza, where a man shouts out: “Kristaps, I need you to put on some weight.”

Truth be told, Porzingis already has bulked up, to 240 pounds, likely on his way to 250. He sneers at the stereotypical perception of European players as soft and uses it to fuel the fire that burns within him to be great. He doesn’t intend to let stronger, meaner opponents bully him.

New York Knicks rookie guard Jerian Grant did big things at Notre Dame last season, averaging 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game, shooting a very impressive 47.8 percent from the field. Enjoy this “DC Clips” highlight video:

Yes, the New York Knicks struggled in dramatic fashion last season, finishing with a 17-65 record. But over the course of an 82-game season, highlights happen. Enjoy the video: