New York Knicks: Reasons to like a deeply flawed team

There’s plenty to be upset about when it comes to the New York Knicks. The season has been disappointing, but we tried to find the positive.

Even the most positive of supporters would have to admit that the 2016-17 season hasn’t been a success one for the New York Knicks. They moved to 14-10 after a win on Dec. 11, against the Los Angeles Lakers and the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

Kristaps Porzingis improved in the offseason, and thus the hype machine started to gear towards the playoffs. As it tends to happen all too often New York, it may have been too soon.

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Despite their encouraging win Monday night in Indiana, the Knicks have been victorious in just six of their last 22 games and slipped all the way to the eleventh seed.

Between Derrick Rose going AWOL and Carmelo Anthony‘s public feud with Phil Jackson, New York has turned into a soap opera like the one that used to star Isiah Thomas and Stephon Marbury.

It’s hard to imagine that things could get any worse for Jackson and his poorly assembled win-now roster and most of the basketball world is rightfully insistent on letting him know it. The Knicks are one of the worst teams in the league, but there’s still things to like this deeply flawed squad. We decided to look on the bright side of things. The future isn’t as bleak as you think.

Kristaps Porzingis’ Improvement

Kristaps Porzingis finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting last season and exceeded all expectations for his debut campaign in the NBA. When the Knicks decided to alter their approach for the 2016-17 season, Porzingis’ improvement was obviously a big part of the team’s plan.

Before he hurt his Achilles, the Unicorn was on fire. In the first 25 games, he averaged 34.5 minutes, 20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 2.2 three-pointers made on a crazy slash line of .459/.399/.787. Those are All-Star numbers.

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It’s not a coincidence that KP’s injury troubles began at the same time as New York began losing.

He’s missed six games in January and struggled in the seven games he played. Porzingis has measly averages of 13.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting just 31.3 percent from downtown.

The Latvian is clearly not back to 100 percent yet, and may not be for awhile, so the Knicks need to be careful with the future of their franchise.

The most important takeaway from this troubling season is that Porzingis did show incredible improvement when he was healthy. At least there’s that.

Jeff Hornacek

Phil Jackson was reportedly leaning towards naming his longtime assistant Kurt Rambis head coach of the Knicks before Jeff Hornacek blew him away in an interview. Rambis stayed on as Hornacek’s lead assistant. It’s only been half of a season for Hornacek in New York, but he already seems like a good fit.

Hornacek has proven he’s not afraid to make difficult changes to the rotation or bench key players when they aren’t effective. The coach has handled numerous adverse situations (like Derrick Rose going AWOL) with poise.

The triangle offense hasn’t been at the forefront nearly as much as it was with Derek Fisher at the helm. Last season, the Knicks were dead last in pick and roll ball handler possessions, but at this point in 2016-17, they’re ranked 20th in the league (via NBA.com). It may not seem like a huge leap, but it is.

Billy and Kuz

Willy Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas were expected to be fringe rotation players at best. The expectations were low for KP’s buddy and the guy with the weird name. After seeing them play we know how valuable they are to the franchise. If not to the future then at least as trade chips.

Hernangomez has proven to be a weapon in the paint on both ends of the court. He’s in the 89th percentile (1.29 points per possession) of roll man efficiency, and he’s also been a solid rim protector.

Willy showed off those skills on Monday night against the Pacers. Check out these videos of Hernangomez diving right to the rim for an easy dunk and blocking a layup.

Kuzminskas is the older of the two but is more of a wild card. His per 36 minutes stats are wild. Kuz started three games, and his scoring average jumped to 12.3 points in those 28.2 minutes per game. It’s that defense that is keeping his minutes more on the sporadic side.

New York is already a terrible defensive team, so they can’t afford another liability on that end. There’s more to like about Kuz than not to like. We didn’t have any idea what he would be, and now we know he’s a three-point bomber.

Despite being a little-used bench player for a majority of the season, Kuzminskas still managed to put up 96 shots from beyond the arc in 38 appearances. He’s making them at a 36.5 percent clip so why stop?

Justin Holiday

When Phil Jackson traded for Derrick Rose, Justin Holiday was supposed to be a throw-in. With half the season in the books, it’s more likely that Holiday will be in New York next year than Rose.

The 27-year-old has appeared in every game, started in two, and is converting on 37.1 percent of his attempts from three-point range. The New York bench was supposed to be a weakness, but Holiday’s surprising play has negated that.

Per NBA.com, Holiday’s in the 84th percentile of efficiency on spot up plays (1.18 points per possession).

He’s also one of only two Knicks rotation players (Hernangomez being the other) with a positive net rating, which might say more about his teammates than him.

Holiday’s salary for 2016-17 is just over $1 million. He has a serious raise coming to him this summer.

Even in a disappointing season like this one you can find hope. For the first time in what feels like forever, there’s actually something for New York basketball fans to be proud of.

• All of my stats come from Basketball-Reference unless otherwise noted.