Knicks News: Kristaps Porzingis To Skip Olympic Qualifying
Recent New York Knicks news will make some people happy while disappointing some, as power forward Kristaps Porzingis announced he will not be competing with Latvia in international play this summer.
Recent New York Knicks news may disappoint some people from Latvia, but will make everyone within the organization smile a little bit. On Monday it was announced that prized power forward Kristaps Porzingis would sit out Olympic qualifying for his native Latvia this summer.
It is something that the Knicks hoped would happen, as they would rather Porzingis train with the team and not play competitively this summer. Add in the fact that he is currently rehabbing from a shoulder injury that knocked him out the final seven games of the season, so the last thing the Knicks wanted was for him to re-aggravate that injury during international play and jeopardize him in any way for the NBA schedule.
The announcement was made by Porzingis today in Latvia, and it was definitely not an easy one for the 20-year old to make. He had spoken during the season how important it was to him to represent his country on a stage such as the Olympics, but also showed how mature of a kid he is by taking a big picture approach instead of just living in the moment.
“My heart is saying you should go and play for your country, you should represent your country. At the same time, with my head, I’m understanding this is a big offseason for me and I really want to work individually,” Porzingis said last month.
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And an important offseason it is. The Knicks and Porzingis have a plan laid out that will help further his development after a strong rookie season. One goal that he has is to continue adding strength and size to his slight frame. His goal is to add another 12 pounds to get up to about 245, something that would be tough if he was competing for Latvia and away from the Knicks.
“Not only putting on weight and being big, but being more athletic, quicker, being able to guard smaller guys when we switch,” Porzingis said last month. “I want to be the guy who can be last quarter on the court as the 5-man and be able to guard everybody and switch with everybody. That’s how basketball is these days.”
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While Porzingis flashed during his rookie season the potential that he has, it is clear that he needs to add a little size as he was moved too easily by opponents at times last season. His length is already difficult enough to handle, as he stands 7-feet-3 inches tall, but the added weight will only help.
“They have the idea pretty clear on what they want me to work on,” Porzingis said last month of the Knicks’ staff. “So it will be a big offseason for me.”
The weight will also help him offensively, where we saw him sometimes struggle to get to his spot on the floor. Opponents were sometimes able to move him off his spot, putting him in more difficult positions to score the basketball. He also expects to put more work into his post game, which has the potential to be devastating with a little more work.
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Porzingis is the future cornerstone of this franchise, so putting in the work now makes sense. He should have plenty of more opportunities to compete for Latvia during international competition given how young that he is.