In case everything collapses in May, the Knicks showed Giannis what New York\u2019s about on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Greek Freak watched from the sidelines as his current and future teams faced each other in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what was said before and after the affair.<\/p>\n
On choosing Diawara over Sochan:<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, I said, those guys are like the ninth and 10th guy [in the rotation], 10th and ninth guy, however, you want to call it and I\u2019ll make the call as we go along. But everybody has to make sure that they keep themselves ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
On keeping the backup forward spot fluid:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be Jeremy tonight. It could be Mo tomorrow night. Mo has played well. He\u2019s gotten better. Jeremy just hasn\u2019t had an opportunity to. And the biggest thing is, obviously between the two guys is Jeremy is in his fourth season, and he\u2019s a little bigger. He\u2019s a little stronger and he knows the league a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the Knicks\u2019 offense clicking against Milwaukee:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is how we played offensively throughout most of the year. So for us to be able to space the ball correctly, make quick decisions with the basketball while touching the paint, playing off two feet, was huge. We got a lot of mileage just from playing the game the right way. So I applaud our guys for playing the way they did on both sides of the ball tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the team\u2019s improved physicality and pace:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur physicality offensively was there because we set screens the right way and then we played fast. So it takes all of us to do it and when you do it and have one of those guys [like Brunson], he\u2019s going to be able to break loose. That was good to see tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the improved ball movement and shot-making:<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably just ball movement and then shoot with confidence. we made shots today. That\u2019s how it goes: Sometimes you miss some shots. Next thing you know, you make them. That\u2019s how it goes, but just taking the right shots [and] moving the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
On responding to Milwaukee\u2019s second-half push:<\/p>\n
\u201cJust knowing they\u2019re a great team coming out. Trying to get stops and just play fast and play in transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the significance of the win before heading home for a Sunday matinee:<\/p>\n
\u201cAny game you win is big time. Winning in the NBA is very hard so we never take it for granted but the momentum going back home to protect home court. It\u2019s cool but we play again on Sunday, so I\u2019m just ready for the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n
On staying ready despite the Jeremy Sochan-led rotation changes:<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody [has been telling me to stay ready]. Everybody, for real: the players, the staff. \u2026 First year, I\u2019m a rookie, so everything is not going to be great. So I just have to stay ready and wait until my name gets called.\u201d<\/p>\n
On tuning out trade speculation and outside noise:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to have to change how I live and how I approach work, how I approach life because of one instance. That\u2019s just a bump in the road. I continue to be myself regardless of what people say, what the noise is. I\u2019m going to work on my game. I\u2019m going to continue to be who I am as a person. I\u2019m going to approach life the way I approach it. It\u2019s gotten me this far. It\u2019s gotten me a beautiful fianc\u00e9e, a great family that\u2019s all healthy and happy. I mean, it\u2019s done well. It doesn\u2019t always need to just be about basketball. It\u2019s gotten me well in life. It\u2019s kept me centered. It\u2019s kept me focused. It\u2019s kept me engaged and motivated to continue to attack every day with the same competition and competitive spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
On focusing on the process over the results:<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not be results-based. Let\u2019s be process-based. And the process wasn\u2019t there (against Cleveland).\u201d<\/p>\n
On his recovery being a slow process:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a process coming back. I\u2019m feeling the love from the whole organization. They want me back but they want me back right. So that\u2019s the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
On whether he\u2019ll return during the regular season:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s always the goal, for sure. But right now there\u2019s no exact timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the early stages of his rehab:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really a slow process. So I\u2019m starting to do some form shooting (shooting without jumping). And I\u2019m starting to do a few strengthening exercises for the area I was injured.\u201d<\/p>\n
On traveling with the team during the healing process:<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to be with the guys. A lot of the time you can be in an isolation mindset being alone. So I feel like being around the guys, and them uplifting me, and me being able to see things from the sideline and do what I do for them. Help them out in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a potential pairing with Jose Alvarado:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always prided myself on being a spark, being an energy guy. Just to have another guy to go out there and battle with is going to be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
On teaming up with McBride in the backcourt:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be in a better rhythm when he comes back so hopefully when we get together, we make some noise.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In case everything collapses in May, the Knicks showed Giannis what New York\u2019s about on Friday. The Greek…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,304,2964,6,1136,191,3810,3806],"class_list":{"0":"post-631801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-knicks","10":"tag-knicks-news","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-knicks","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkknicks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116152546310271943","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}