Kanter focused on rebounding
Early in the third quarter Saturday, Knicks center Enes Kanter had a gimme layup. He missed. He rebounded and shot again. And missed again as the ball rolled off the rim. And no, the third time was not the charm. After another offensive rebound, Kanter bricked a baby hook.
Now given the Knicks lost, 121-112, to the Celtics, that sequence meant little. But given that Kanter finished with nine points and 12 rebounds, it meant Kanter’s impressive string of double-doubles ended at 10.
But he didn’t care. The points are nice, the rebounds are better.
“It’s a good thing because it’s helping my teammates. It’s giving them a lot of confidence to just shoot the ball,” said Kanter, averaging 10.7 rebounds — and 14.2 points. “They know whenever they shoot the ball, I’m down there to get the rebound. It’s a good thing and it’s not being selfish because it’s rebounding. I think it’s a real good thing.”
Kanter is ninth in overall rebounding, fourth in the league in offensive boards.
“Rebounds are really important. Rebounds bring championships. That’s what Pat Riley said: ‘Rebounds equal rings,’ ” Kanter said after practice Sunday in Tarrytown. “It’s a really important thing. Defensively, you don’t want to give extra possessions. Offensively it kills the other team because you play defense for 24 seconds and then you get the offensive rebound, it just kills the other team. That’s why I’m down there to try and get every rebound.”
Youth can mean mistakes. But it can also mean more energy and coach Jeff Hornacek speculated the increase in Knicks energy can be a result of more young guys playing.
“Maybe some of it is the younger guys. It’s something that we have to try to sustain,” said Hornacek, also pointing to another obvious cause: rest. “They had an All-Star break so they finally got some days off. That could’ve helped it.
“That’s something we want to continue. … It’s not easy to play that way. When you’re a super-talented team and you’ve got All-Stars and you’ve got all those guys on your team, you can have nights when you don’t have it all and can still win some games,” Hornacek said. “But [ Kristaps Porzingis] is out for us. We have to play that way. So far since the break I’ve been happy with the way they’ve played.”