It really was nothing rookie point guard Jerian Grant did — or didn’t do. It was more what other guys were doing that resulted in his first did not play (DNP), coach’s decision, at the end of the Knicks’ road trip.
“He [coach Derek Fisher] didn’t say anything specifically, and I think he just goes with rotations that are working. And it was working because we won the game, so he didn’t really say much,” Grant said regarding the first game, Saturday’s win in Portland, in which he sat the entire time. “He wants me to make sure the second group is running the offense the right way. He obviously wants me to push the pace, and he was talking to me a little bit about getting them in the right position.”
Fisher, after practice Monday, stressed he stayed with what was working, which is what he usually does.
“I try to. It’s more fair to the team than getting stuck with a particular guy because that’s what you normally do. Sometimes it’s worked for us. Sometimes it hasn’t,” Fisher said. “I know as a player, you never wanted to feel like you don’t have an opportunity because everything was already set. Every player should feel like they should be ready every single night.”
Fisher didn’t want the rookie reading too much into one DNP. He pointed to vets Kyle O’Quinn, Sasha Vujacic and Derrick Williams, who have endured DNPs.
“Just stay ready. For your entire career there are going to be theses ups and downs that can break you or make you,” Fisher said. “When the opportunity comes back around, you capitalize, and that shows a level of professionalism and sustainability that as a young player you have to develop. So there isn’t anything he’s doing wrong, it’s just night to night I’m going with what fits best.”
“In this corner, in the orange and blue trunks, weighing in at 240 pounds, Kristaps Porzingis …”
Yeah, a boxing ring might be the only place where Porzingis is technically a heavyweight. The 7-foot-3 rookie admitted Monday boxing is in his past.
“We were just boxing in a camp. It was all basketball players, but we were working out in boxing, conditioning,” said Porzingis, who revealed he once missed a tryout with a team in Italy because of boxing. “I was in a camp in Latvia and we were boxing, and I broke one of my fingers. I wasn’t able to go to the camp in Italy.”
If there’s no hitting below the belt, how could anyone beat Porzingis?
Carmelo Anthony welcomed Monday’s practice as a time to review and renew defensive principles. The Knicks are seventh in field-goal percentage allowed (.431), second in 3-point defense (.308) and 11th in scoring defense (99.2).
“A lot of times it’s just kind of continuing being in the gym and looking at the film, seeing the things that we did good, seeing the things that we didn’t do so well and tightening those up. That’s why we had a day like today, a teaching day, a competitive day, where we can get after it a little bit,” Anthony said of the defense-themed session. “We need those days.”