When I saw Shane Larkin in College, I was reasonably impressed, I thought he was fast, agile and if he could control that speed while developing on the rest of his game, he could be a decent point guard.
Unfortunately, injuries held him back. On top of that he had to join the Knicks into learning the triangle. Which for Larkin, stopped growth as a player. But now, with Larkin now on the other side of New York, he can finally get his career on the right track.
“It feels good,’’ said Larkin. “It’s not just been a tough week, it’s been a tough year. There’s been a bunch of games I think we should’ve pulled out that we didn’t. We’re way better than 9-and-whatever? 22? So it’s been frustrating not to be able to pull out wins late, games like this. It feels good to be able to pull this one out and hopefully it gets us in a rhythm and just keeps going.’’
“I’m in a pick-and-roll system my third year,’’ said Larkin. “My first year I was in a pick-and-roll system, but I was coming off a broken ankle, so I missed time with that, didn’t get a preseason, so I was just kind of learning on the fly.
“Last year wasn’t the best system for me, that year went however it went. And this year I feel like I’m growing every single game and being more comfortable out there and just playing my game. I feel like it’s a good fit.’’
Larkin is showing great improvement from previous years, recently helping the Nets beat the Miami Heat in overtime. It’s surprising that he’s flourishing under a team that has been a sinking ship for over 4 years but hey, at least he feels comfortable. Guess we’ll see how long that’ll last.
