County Center D-League Crowd Gets a Look at Some NBA Knicks
in last Saturday’s game.
By Monica D’Ippolito – New York Knicks head coach Derek Fisher, general manager Steve Mills, and players Amar’e Stoudemire, Quincy Acy and Langston Galloway sat courtside as the D-League Westchester Knicks took on the Sioux Falls Skyforce Saturday night at the Westchester County Center.
Westchester, playing its second game of a back-to-back series with the Miam Heat affiliate, was looking to end its six-game losing streak but couldn’t maintain the energy and effort needed for the full 48 minutes and wound up dropping to 8-20 this season.
“When we’re on a losing streak, guys are frustrated on how the games are going and worrying about things that they need to do on the court,” Knicks forward Darnell Jackson said after the 105-80 loss. “Especially me, I was frustrated. I think if we stick together as a team and we keep sharing the ball it’ll all work out, but we all have to stay on the same page.”
The Knicks led 23-19 after the first quarter, but Sioux Falls’ Henry Walker started heating up from the perimeter. The former Kansas State Wildcat made seven of 10 shots from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers to accumulate 18 points in the second period.
Walker finished with 24 points, while hitting four of eight from 3-point land. As a team, the Skyforce ended up draining 12 from behind the arc and made 41 percent of their 3-point attempts.
“They started making shots and we didn’t do a good job of running them off,” Westchester coach Kevin Whitted said. “We made a conscious effort to make our guys aware of it. It takes the extra effort to do that because you have to travel the extra foot and a half to really get to a guy, versus, you know, a guy who is not a capable 3-point shooter. So those things affect you over the 48 minutes. We just didn’t do a good job of it.”
Westchester trailed 59-45 entering halftime and also lost its electrifying young prospect, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, after the second quarter due to an illness. The rookie forward started vomiting mid-way through the second quarter and needed an IV to get more fluids in his body and ultimately could not return.
“He could not sustain what was in his system, so we had to let him sit,” Whitted said. “We needed him in the third and fourth quarter. In terms of his intensity, what he brings defensively, and just his overall play. So those things were missing tonight.”
Also out for the Knicks was veteran point guard Andre Barrett, who sustained a bruised tailbone in Friday’s 109-99 loss to the Skyforce.
While missing two of its starters, Westchester did have Cleanthony Early in uniform. The 34th pick of the 2014 NBA draft was on a brief assignment from the New York Knicks. Friday night, the former Wichita State Shocker dropped 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. In Saturday’s rematch, the 23-year-old finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, but also had four lazy turnovers while bringing the ball up the court.
“I felt at times we had our moments where we were trying to make that run, but we just couldn’t get over that hump,” Whitted said. “Once I started to see shots go up where we started forcing things, not allowing the offense to dictate what we can get from them, in terms of ball reversals, post touches, I saw the game kind of get out of control and they (the Skyforce) were just able to come out and capitalize on our errors.”
The Knicks tried fighting back in the fourth quarter, but the closest they came was within 10 when Early knocked down a 3-pointer with just over six minutes left. Westchester couldn’t get stops at the other end of the floor. Whitted tried going full-court press, but Sioux Falls easily beat the pressure and ended up with easy baskets in transition.
“As a coach, you try to figure out what can you do to get your team going,” said Whitted. “Do we need to go some zone? Do we need to go full-court pressure? Do we need to do anything different to enhance the game to bring the energy level up?”
Jackson, the veteran forward who made nine of his 15 shots from the field, led Westchester with 22 points and grabbed five rebounds.
“Paying attention to detail, that was the biggest thing for us,” Jackson said. “We played those guys yesterday, we knew what they were capable of, and I think we just slacked on the defensive end.”
Jackson, a former Kansas Jayhawk, had NBA stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings. As a player who’s played professionally, he continues giving advice to the younger guys on the roster.
“This man (Early), T.A (Antetokounmpo), Orlando (Sanchez), I see these guys in the NBA,” Jackson said. “I tell Orlando and T.A every day, “Hey, all you guys got to do is stay focused, keep playing the way you’re playing and get better. One day, you’re not going to be in the D-League. You’re going to be in the NBA on a team where you’re going to be pressured every day to bring your ‘A’ game every day. There’s no off days.””
Jackson is impressed with the energy the younger players bring and believes it will help ignite the team down the stretch in trying to start a winning streak in the month of February.
“I wish I was 22, 25 again,” he said. “Like I’m 29, and I be seeing these guys, Early, running through there, dunking the ball, like I wish I was back at Kansas. I get excited when I see those guys fly through the air like that. They change momentum of the game. When these guys get going like that, it helps us.”
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