We present to you this morning’s NBA betting rumors regarding the New York Knicks spotlight! Let’s begin, shall we?
The other night, before his New York Knicks took the floor against the Dallas Mavericks (a 104-97 loss) head coach Derek Fisher was asked to compare Kristaps Porzingis, his rookie phenom, with Mavs great Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki, of course, is a lock for the Hall of Fame, has won an NBA MVP and an NBA title. Porzingis is a rookie who is just 20 years old and has yet to play 25 games in the NBA. Fisher responded, “I don’t think it’s fair to either guy. Kristaps, his upside may be as high as Dirk’s but I think we need to kind of let him tie his other shoe before we start comparing him to all these other guys.”
NBA Betting: The Arrival of Kristaps Porzingis
Somebody to learn from.. @swish41 Photo cred: @GeminiKeez pic.twitter.com/EU07icvcr1
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) December 8, 2015
This is something that sports enthusiasts have always done, though. We compared Shaq to Wilt, Dirk to Larry Bird and Kobe to Mike. The comparison here to Nowitzki is a fair one, not in the sense that they play the game the same way, but in the sense that Dirk revolutionized his position, and Porzingis appears like he could do the same for his.
Power forwards never looked like Dirk before Dirk. Instead, they looked and played like Kevin McHale, Charles Barkley or Charles Oakley. They might dribble five or six times and then turn and shoot. Dirk had a terrific three-point shot that altered the game completely. There is no way to develop a pick and roll scheme that covers him adequately, because he is either a mismatch in terms of size or with his shot.
Porzingis grew up watching Nowitzki drain the ball from downtown and practiced that shot over and over and over as he grew to 7-3. Today, Porzingis is also a 4, although he will likely move over to take over the 5 spot. He will cause the same havoc that Dirk has at the 4. Can you imagine Porzingis at the 5? Right now, the most athletic center in the game is Brook Lopez, who can drop back and drain the ball from 17. However, he can’t dribble and only has one three-point shot in his whole career. Porzingis already dribbles like a 3 and makes more threes with each passing week.
Porzingis is not the same player as Dirk, but Dirk will tell you that Porzingis has made a lot more progress than Dirk had at that point in his career. As a rookie, Nowitzki averaged 8.2 points per game in 47 contests, starting only about half the games. Porzingis averages 14.6 points per games and has all kinds of confidence. Nowitzki delivered perhaps the ultimate compliment: “I was scared to death out there. He’s way better than I was when I was 20.”
Porzingis is part of a Knicks team that is already overperforming. It will be exciting to see what he and his team can become.
