The New York Knicks finally introduced coach Jeff Hornacek at a press conference on Friday, and he sure sounded excited about working with Rookie of the Year runner-up Kristaps Porzingis. Like most people who follow the NBA, Hornacek watched Porzingis in his first season and was impressed by his size and skill set.
"You don't see a guy 7-3 that can do multiple things," Hornacek said. "And in our offense, you could see him in some high pick-and-rolls out of the sets we have, fading for 3s. At 7-3, I still believe you can get him on the post, and if a team wants to try to play him with a small guy and get up into him, then we can throw him down there and take advantage of his height in there.
"When you have a guy at 20 years old and see what he can do already, there's gonna be high expectations," Hornacek continued. "And we're gonna help to push him to get to those levels."
How high, exactly, are those expectations?
"Why can't he be a top-5 player in this league?" Hornacek said, via ESPN's Ian Begley. "Why can't he be the top player in this league?"
Whoa, slow down! Actually, don't. Porzingis seems like the kind of guy that can handle this sort of pressure. He certainly didn't seem bothered by the skepticism and then the hype in New York. It is not totally fair to presume he will grow into a franchise player, but it is obvious that he has that sort of potential. No one at his height has ever had his agility or and shooting touch. When you combine that with his toughness and work ethic, you have something extremely special.
Hornacek didn't have to say anything like this. Carmelo Anthony didn't have to say Porzingis would lead the Knicks long after Anthony retires, either. The young big man just seems to inspire confidence in people.
