N.Y. Knicks: The New Alpha Claims His Turf

From the desk of:  DUTCH PANTS CAN'T JUMP

Welcome To The House of Kristaps

New York Knicks: There's a New Ball Hog in Town, and His Name is Kristaps Porzingis.

I'm not a big fan of playing people out of position.

The Knicks demonstrated over the course of the previous two seasons that having two feature power forwards and only one ball was problematic.  But that goes for any team.  There can only be one alpha at any position.

That's why I call this season a perfect example of addition by subtraction.

Do you think that if Carmelo Anthony were still here, Kristaps Porzingis would be scoring the way he's been through the first nine games of the season?

I don't.

Over his last two seasons with the Knicks, Melo averaged 22.1 points, and 6.8 rebounds, in 34.7 minutes per game.  As a rookie and sophomore, Porzingis averaged 16.2 points, and 7.25 rebounds, in 30.6 minutes per game.

Melo is presently averaging 20.6 points through nine games for Oklahoma City, with 5.7 rebounds, in 32.2 mpg.  Those stats come with a grain of salt, of course, as Melo is now 33 years old, and is surrounded by a new and superior supporting cast.  Therefore, he is not being required to carry as much of a load as was necessary here in New York.

But now that Kristaps is out from Melo's shadow, he is averaging 30.2 points this season, with 7.8 rebounds in 33.4 minutes per game.

Moreover, Melo has averaged seven-plus rebounds for a season five times in his 14-year career, but not since the 2010-2011 season.  During that season, he averaged 7.6 rebounds in 50 games for the Denver Nuggets, but slipped to 6.7 rebounds in his final 27 games of the season playing with the Knicks.

Kristaps Porzingis, now in his third year, has consistently averaged seven plus rebounds throughout his 147 game career with the Knicks.

Still only 22-years old, Kristaps is perhaps the only thing Phil Jackson did right prior to receiving his separation papers (although Frank Ntilikina looks promising).  We know the truth, though, how Pozingis really fell into Jackson's lap at #4 overall in the 2015 draft.  And in truth, some Knicks fans weren't all that thrilled at the time with the selection.

Just goes to show even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while.

Nuts, however, is a good way to describe the atmosphere this season at Madison Square Garden.  Look no further than at the Latvian Nightmare as the main reason why.

A week ago today, Porzingis dropped 38 points on the Denver Nuggets, then one-upped himself with a career high 40 points against the Pacers at the Garden on Sunday.

Porzingis has now scored 30-points or better in seven of the Knicks first nine games of the season.

The team is off to a 5-4 start, but are 5-2 when Kristaps tops 30 points, and 0-2 in the games he has not.

That could spell trouble down the line.

Just not tonight.


UPDATE: Per SNY-TV

Most points to start first nine games of season:

• Kristaps Porzingis 272 (2017)
• Bernard King 264 (1984)
• Patrick Ewing 261 (1989)
• Willis Reed 243 (1967)
• Patrick Ewing 241 (1990)
• Carmelo Anthony 239 (2011)