New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis Reflects On What Went Wrong
The New York Knicks have been a disaster during the 2016-17 NBA regular season. Kristaps Porzingis reflected on what went wrong.
The New York Knicks entered the 2016-17 NBA regular season with a reasonable amount of optimism surrounding the organization. Phil Jackson built a team that unequivocally possessed enough talent to make a push for the postseason.
Unfortunately, talent wasn’t enough for the Knicks to end the postseason drought—and rising star Kristaps Porzingis will be the first to acknowledge it.
New York’s roster consisted of big names and quality role players who formed a strong and dependable second unit. Unfortunately, the starting lineup has consistently failed to pull its weight in 2016-17.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Porzingis reflected on what went wrong and came to a painful conclusion: New York tried and failed to get by on its talent alone.
"“I think it was pretty easy to tell from the inside that we’re not that good of a team,’’ Porzingis said at the team hotel. “We can win games based on our talent but it’s not going to last long. [We needed] more work, attention to details, to keep growing as a team. A good team needs time to play together. It was our first year of most of the guys playing together. It never happens like that [where] you trade a couple of players and you’re a championship contender. It’s understandable we weren’t going to win the championship, but I could tell we weren’t there yet.’’"
Talent got New York to 16-13, but a lack of cohesion and teamwork caused the team to falter.
As Porzingis himself stated, the Knicks didn’t work hard enough or pay enough attention to the minor details to grow as a team. It was clear that New York needed time to adapt and adjust, but the effort to do so wasn’t nearly as consistent as it needed to be.
The end result was New York beginning the season at 16-13, only to go 11-29 over the course of its next 40 games.
Injuries have impacted the Knicks, with Porzingis missing 11 games and Derrick Rose being absent for nine. The issues were present before Porzingis started missing games, however, and Rose had a solid backup in Brandon Jennings.
From multiple players and coaches, the most consistent internal criticism of the Knicks has been that the team’s level of effort has wavered.
Jennings infamously called the Knicks out for playing without heart against the Washington Wizards in November. It was far from an isolated incident, as franchise player Carmelo Anthony did the same roughly a month later.
It’s one thing to try and fail, but it’s another issue entirely when the players are citing lackluster effort as the reason for the team’s failure.
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One can only hope that the New York Knicks will expose Kristaps Porzingis to a healthier environment during the 2016-17 NBA regular season.