The New York Knicks have spent all season thinking that the veteran players should play more than the young talent. They thought the amazing combo of Sasha Vujacic and José Calderón was the way to go. That partnership would work wonders.
You don’t have to be a Knicks fanatic to know that the partnership was trash. It only took until Carmelo Anthony to plead for the young players to get minutes, and the Knicks to be knocked out of Playoff contention, for Kurt Rambis and the Knicks to let Jerian Grant and Langston Galloway loose.
Langston Galloway, looking “relaxed” for the first time probably since a Knicks-Nets game meant something, led the Knicks with 18 points and hit four 3-pointers — as did Derrick Williams (16 points starting for Porzingis). The Knicks went 14-of-23 on 3s.
“We brought a lot of energy,” Galloway said. “We just wanted to go out and beat Brooklyn. We’ve been struggling against them.”Rookie Jerian Grant, in for Calderon, had 14 points and four assists in his first pro start.
Interim coach Kurt Rambis reiterated the recent request by veterans that he cut their minutes and give them to the younger guys.
“If things are going well with the young guys, we’ll keep extending their minutes, giving them as much time as possible,” Rambis said. “And [the veterans] were all OK with that.”
I’m sorry, but why do you need the veterans permission? You’re out of the Playoffs, why keep the youngins on the bench to gather dust? You need to let them cook, let them struggle so they’re better next year.
We saw that with Kristaps. He took a dip during the season, why not give Jerian the chance?
