Carmelo Anthony shares the court with Kristaps Porzingis every day of the season. But, in some ways, Anthony's just like any other New York Knicks fan when it comes to processing what Porzingis does on the floor.
"I'm still in awe of kind of some of the things he does on the court. Like yesterday, he made a move and I'm like, 'Damn.' You know what I mean? I'm still like a fan of kind of his talent and his skill level," Anthony said after Monday's practice. "I always thought it would kind of take longer to get acclimated. He's doing a great job with just kind of taking it day by day, still getting a feel for the game and figuring it out on the fly."
Porzingis' early-season offensive numbers have been impressive. He's shooting 49.5 percent overall and 39 percent from beyond the arc, up from 42 and 33, respectively, last season. He's also scoring 20.2 points per game, six more than last season.
Anthony's early-season numbers are strong. His true shooting percentage is 57.5 percent, which is a career high. He's also averaging near a career low in field goal attempts per game (17.8, his lowest number as a Knick).
"Sometimes I just want to let guys get going, let other guys get going and get their confidence going," Anthony said. "Kind've just picking my spots on the court. Some nights or days like today calls for me to get it going early. My mindset was to just come out and get it going early. And other nights it's see what happens, see the flow of the game, what type of flow it is, and I'll pick my spots from there."
Anthony also had this to say about his true shooting percentage, a measure that includes 3-point shooting and free-throw shooting.
"I don't want to say it's anything different than I'm doing other than kind of playing off of guys now. I don't have to do so much with the ball in my hands the majority of the time," he said. "A lot of the time the ball is finding me with Derrick and Brandon. With KP playing well right now sometimes it's opening things up for myself."
Meeting helpful: Defense, not offense, is a bigger issue issue for the Knicks (6-7) right now. The club is ranked 27th in defensive efficiency. That's the biggest reason the Knicks are below .500 at the moment. And defense was one topic of conversation during the club's meeting on Saturday, which was attended by coaches, players and executives, including Phil Jackson.
"It was just more everybody got an opportunity to say what they had to say, say what they were feeling," Anthony said. "I think a lot of times it's good to get that out there. Sometimes you never know what guys are going through. Everybody has their own different situation that they're dealing with when it comes to their perspective on playing basketball. So it's always good to get that in a group setting and get it out, kind of hear where people are at."
Rose headed to Carmelo's for Thanksgiving: With his family in Chicago, Derrick Rose plans to head to Carmelo Anthony's for Thanksgiving.
"My mom and everybody, my son, will be back in Chicago. So yeah, I'm thankful I have somewhere to go," Rose said of heading to Anthony's for the holiday.
"I just asked where his family's (going) and asked if it was cool if I came over. He said yeah so I don't think I have to bring anything but an appetite. Yeah, that's the only thing I have to bring right now."
