In ‘process’ report: Hornacek’s crew ahead of 76ers
With the Knicks set to host the 76ers on Christma s D a y, it is wo r t h remembering: The Process i s n’ t happening only in Philadelphia.
After shipping Carmelo Anthony to the Thunder in September, the Knicks committed to their own version of “Trust The Process” — building around a fledgling core and a blossoming superstar in Kristaps Porzingis.
An d so f a r, they are ahead of schedule, sitting at 17-15 and eighth in the Eastern Conference with a number of impressive wins — a ga i ns t B os ton, Cleveland and Toronto — under their belt.
“Yeah, we may be a little ahead,” coach Je ff Hornacek said. “We still have a lot of things that we need to get better at.”
The Si xe rs h ave b e e n “processing” for far long e r, going a c o mbi n e d 75-253 over the previous four seasons and accumulating several young pieces along the way. Though they have lost their past f ive g a me s , the Si xe rs enter Monday’s matchup not far behind the Knicks at 14-18, with two of their yo u n g cornerstones — Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons — playing phenomenal basketball.
In early October, Hornacek referenced Philadel- phia’s head coach, Brett Brown, in discussing the direction of his own team.
“It may be a slower process, b ut our g uys a re working hard to do the best we can,” Hornacek said. “You got to f ind the combination. Brett Brown has f i g ured out a good way to do that. It’s hard as a coach because you want to win. You understand the process you have to go through.”
The bigger picture notwit hsta ndi ng, Hornacek has to be pl e a s e d with what his guys have accomplished to this point. Porzi ngis has taken an ever bigger leap than mos t anticipated, ave ra g i n g 24.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks. The players around him — Tim Hardaway Jr., Enes Kanter, Courtney Lee, and others — are exceeding expectations. And rookie Frank Ntilikina has flashed serious potential in a reserve role.
Those factors h ave amounted to a surprisingly successful start to the process at the Garden.
“Beginning of the season, especially the f i rs t preseason game we played, e ve r y b o dy thought we were just going to get the No. 1 pick and be like the worst team in the NBA,” Kanter said. “But people don’t know how hard we work on this court every day. People don’t know how much sacrificing this team is doing, how much all these guys are willing to learn. We can’t really let this outside noise distract us.
“Only t h i n g we need to do is just worry about us. Don’ t wor r y a b o ut nobody else. I said to my teammates, ‘It’s us against the world. It’s New York Knicks against the whole world. This is our family, this is what we have, just go out there and play our game.’ ”
The playoffs, once a pipe dream, now seem a part of the Knicks’ regular vocabulary.
Kanter, who is averaging 1 3. 5 points and 10.0 rebounds, but has been banged up lately, was asked how healthy he feels after practice on Sunday.
“We’re 32 games in, 50 regular-season games left. Then the playoffs. Then I might be in the hospital a couple days resting,” he said, then flashing a smile.
And whi l e the l o o ming head-to-head matchup between Ntilikina and Simmons — a 6-foot-10 point guard — is one we could see for years to come, the Kn i c k s yo u n g s t e r isn’t thinking ahead.
“I don’t think that much about [the future],” Ntilikina said. “Honestly I just think about the game and what will happen [Monday].”
The winning shouldn’t
serve as a complete distraction, however. The bigger process is still very much ongoing.
“[A lot of teams] are making strides, but we ’ r e quite a ways f ro m t r ying to get to the Clevelands, the Golden States and the way Boston has played t hi s year,” Hornacek said. “So again, it’s a work in process for all of us, and I think it will be a fun game [against the Sixers].”