After playing a rotation role in each of the Knicks‘ first five games, veteran point guard Cameron Payne was unavailable on Monday in Houston due to a hamstring strain. That resulted in rookie guard Tyler Kolek seeing his first meaningful minutes of the season for New York.
Kolek was only on the court for 5:32 and was a minus-four in his limited playing time. Still, he knocked down his only field goal attempt (a three-pointer) and has made a positive impression on a head coach who typically doesn’t make a habit of playing rookies.
“I really like (Kolek) a lot,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “I think he’s learning like most young guys coming into the league. He’s a gym rat. Works extremely hard. Puts a lot of time into film study. Extra work. Practice. He’s around really good veterans. That helps move it along in terms of how you learn. And then a big part of it is the trial and error of getting out there and doing it. So I think he’s putting everything he has into it. So we’ll see.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Having seen his rotation role increase over the past week, Celtics center Neemias Queta earned his first career start on Monday in Atlanta and delivered with 10 points, seven rebounds, and a plus-31 mark in just 23 minutes. As Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes, Queta’s transformation into a rotation player gives Boston more insurance up front behind veterans Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. “He’s grown a lot as a player and quite honestly he doesn’t know how good he can be,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Queta after Monday’s win. “He’s got a great ceiling and so the standard is very high and I thought he did some great things for us tonight.”
- Following an up-and-down rookie season, Raptors sharpshooter Gradey Dick is showing early signs of breaking out in his second year, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, who takes a closer look at how 2023’s No. 13 overall pick is thriving so far this fall. With a 26-point outing on Monday in Denver, Dick is up to 21.6 PPG on .473/.383/.929 shooting in his first eight games as an NBA sophomore.
- After a meeting with doctors on Monday, the Raptors determined that injured forward Scottie Barnes won’t require surgery to repair the right orbital fracture he suffered last week, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. A surgical procedure likely would’ve extended the recovery timeline for Barnes, who will be reevaluated in about two weeks.
““He’s grown a lot as a player and quite honestly he doesn’t know how good he can be,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Queta”…Posters on this site have always criticized me for defending Wiseman. Queta played 2 years professionally in Spain. Played 3 years at Utah State. He has done time in the GLeague. At 25, it looks like he is just beginning to put it together. Big men take longer to develop. They don’t pop out of the womb as all-stars. Wiseman is younger and has far less experience than Queta.
Or maybe you just guessed wrong and need to move on?
Kind of a weak rebuttal. All reports from Indiana were that Wiseman had a great camp and was moving up on the depth chart. It is the same for all big men, now and in the future. So, how am I wrong?
I like Kolek, Hukporti, and Dadiet. Pretty good chance at least one of them develops into a solid role player. Might take some time, especially with Hukporti and Dadiet, but the talent is there. Nice use of limited draft resources and cap space by the Knicks this year.
Dick season
Queta is looking good. Has good size. Definitely will help with KP out.
Knicks did a great job on their picks. They really need Hukporti to step up as backup C. I have a feeling Kolek will help us this year too. Thibs loves him. I can see McBride having a great yr. Being pushed by Kolek.
Glad Kolek is getting a chance. His court vision and optionality make him super valuable in a half-court offense, plus he’s a decent shooter.
Gotta expand the rotation beyond the six to seven it is right now. The Knicks still need to get their defense in order, which imo will be up-and-down as long as KAT is the rim protector (you cannot hide a Center on defense). But when the Knicks get Achiuwa or Robinson back, they should start turning that end around by adding more size to the half-court system they like to run.
Offense looks excellent, top 3 O-Rating right now, probably top 5 over the full season since Precious and Mitch aren’t really big weapons on that end (though the rebounding will help, especially from Mitch). Adding Kolek and/or Duce into more rotations will help with the somewhat wonky spacing, in addition to giving the Knicks more penetrators to keep opposing defenses from just setting up above the break.