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.
had #34 after Oakley 
Knicks could be a three seed in the East if this can gel well and Porzingis continues to improve
is a gym rat; just makes our future look even brighter
Ovastood Larry Holmes Garden was real
