Knicks admit they likely will the start season a ‘step slow’
Joakim Noah admittedly is a “step slow” since suffering recent hamstring and ankle injuries. Derrick Rose has practiced with the Knicks just twice since returning from his civil trial for rape in Los Angeles.
The time the team had to integrate its prized new additions is just about over, with the Knicks going the entire preseason without their starting lineup ever playing together. So, as eager as the team is to open the season Tuesday night against the defending champion Cavaliers, the Knicks already are tempering expectations.
“We’ve played a few games and practiced together but it’s gonna take us some time to actually figure this whole thing out,” Kristaps Porzingis said following Sunday’s practice. “It doesn’t happen in a week. It takes time. ... I don’t want to put too much pressure on us that we’re gonna be really good right away. It’s gonna take some time.”
Rose’s adjustment could take the longest, the point guard having spent more than two weeks away from the team. He didn’t play in the last five preseason games, but Por- zingis said he has been impressed with how quickly the former MVP has absorbed all he missed.
“I think it sucked that we didn’t have him for this whole time, but now that he’s here, he’s learning quick and we’re finally all together and we can get this thing going,” Porzingis said. “With a point guard like Derrick, he’ll try to find us, he’ll try to make plays for us and he’ll try to make the game easier for us. I think it’ll be pretty easy to connect with him.”
Though Rose potentially could elevate the offense to another level, Noah is expected to lift the de- fense, which struggled in the preseason, allowing 107 points per game.
“We’re not where we need to be in that department. That’s the truth,” Noah said. “We’re a work in progress. We got a lot of work to do.”
Noah acknowledged he needs to improve, too, still working his way back from a hamstring injury that forced him to sit out three preseason games and nearly two weeks of practice.
Last season, Noah was limited to 29 games after undergoing shoulder surgery. He played his most recent regular-season game Jan. 15.
“Numbers don’t lie, and right now I feel a step slow defensively,” Noah said. “I have to do better. I have to do better for this ballclub. We all do.
“I feel like I haven’t played in a long time. I just have to get my steps, get my first step back, and it will come. It will come.”
New coach Jeff Hornacek was just as confident the defensive anchor would soon be back to full speed, and soon resemble the star who won the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year award.
“Jo kind of just got back to practicing here again about a week ago, so he’s continuing to get in better shape,” Hornacek said. “He’s in pretty good shape as it is. His enthusiasm, his energy level, kind of inspires all of our guys when he’s out there.
“He’s usually all over the place. He was kind of like that in the first bit of training camp. Since he got hurt a little bit, he maybe took a little step back, but he’s getting it back. We want him to be the guy patrolling back there and not giving up — if somebody gets beat, he’s there protecting. I’m sure he’ll get there.”