Frank hits rookie wall
Ntilikina sits as Knicks finish preseason at 0-5
There’s a new babyface of the Knicks hovering over the Garden, but that player is still having problems getting on the court.
The construction of a giant billboard featuring Frank Ntilikina is underway on the side of a building at 35th & 8th, just two blocks from MSG, where the rookie missed his fourth straight preseason game Friday with a bruised knee.
The advertisement was bought by Nike, which would explain why Kristaps Porzingis — an Adidas endorser — was looked over. (Ntilikina is sponsored by Nike).
Still, it’s quite a statement to for a 19-yearold to hang in plain sight of the 650,000 daily commuters at Penn Station. In that respect, Ntilikina replaced Carmelo Anthony as the Knicks’ top Nike athlete.
“It’s pretty big,” Ntilkina said, adding that he was caught by surprise. “It’s crazy. I love it.”
This is all quite a change from his overseas career in France, where Ntilikina said his biggest billboard was at a bus stop. Whether or not he can handle the amplified exposure and expectations is uncertain. But Jeff Hornacek is confident in his softspoken rookie.
“So far what we’ve seen is that (getting caught up in expectations) is not going to be a problem,” Jeff Hornacek said. “He’s a very smart kid. He’s not swayed by the big lights. He just knows how to play basketball. We’ve said it from pickup games to training camp when he has played, the understanding of the game is there. He’s got the length.
“In this game there’s a lot of pick-and-rolls and he’s going to be make passes out of that (because of his height) a little better than a 6-foot point guard. And just talking. When he talks about players, talks about things, there’s no starry-eyed talk from him. He’s got great confidence in that regards. I think he knows that he can play in this league and do really well.”
The reviews have been good from practice, but frankly the point guard remains a mystery. After missing all of Summer League with a sore knee, Ntilkina totaled 18 minutes in preseason. In that lone appearance, the eighth overall pick banged knees with teammate Enes Kanter and sat out the final four games, including Friday’s preseason finale against the Wizards. Ntilikina said he was finally cleared to practice for Saturday, and the expectation is he debuts off the bench in the opener Thursday at OKC. In the meantime, his face will hover over MSG as an unknown savior of Knicks fans’ misery.
“I’m happy (that I’ve been cleared for contact practice),” Ntilikina said Friday, “and I’m finally ready to be back on the court.”
KNICKS WINLESS: If the preseason is any indication, the Knicks are heading into a long and painful six months.
A 110-103 defeat Friday to the Wizards ensured New York a winless 5-game preseason, defined by poor defense and nagging injuries.
The final defeat occurred without Kristaps Porzingis (sore calf) and Frank Ntilikina (sore knee), while the Wizards won without John Wall (rest). The Knicks allowed an average of 112.6 points per game.
“It’s not frustrating at all,” Tim Hardaway Jr. said. “There are just a lot of things we need to work on. The games matter in preseason, they definitely matter. And we take it to heart as ballplayers and as competitors. But at the same time we have to understand that our group has only been together for two weeks, roughly. And a lot of teams we’re playing, they’ve been building, they’ve had chemistry for two or three years already. So new team, new system. We’re not going to make any excuses. But at the same time we understand it’s a process.”
A big issue of the preseason was the lack of time together on the court for the core-3 of Hardaway Jr., Porzingis and Ntilikina.
The Knicks start the regular season on Thursday, with four of their first seven games against projected contenders (Thunder, Celtics, Cavs, Rockets). “I’m not going be too high on something happening really quickly,” Hardaway Jr. said. “Yeah, it’s going to be a process, it’s going to take time.”