Obi Toppin, the Knicks rookie lottery, had good moments in the preseason, but more about his passing than his dunking. The 22-year-old from Dayton has a lot to figure out.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is not surprised. Toppin, a late bloomer from Brooklyn, could have used a summer league, but that was weakened by the pandemic.
“The passing part was really good,” Thibodeau said on the eve of Wednesday’s season opener in Indiana. “He’s probably getting a little offensive. That’s the part of his game, I’m not worried. That will come. He’s a gifted scorer. Don’t have a summer league and [voluntary] practices slowed him down a bit. He comes into practice and that is usually reflected in the games. “
The next step on Toppin’s rookie ride will be his regular season Knicks debut on Wednesday. The four preseason games become a footnote.
“I’ve always said this opportunity for me to be in this position has been a blessing,” said Toppin. ‘I wouldn’t change it for anything. I am super excited. “
Toppin’s Garden debut doesn’t hit the 76ers until Saturday, but there won’t be any fans – just as there won’t be a chance to enjoy the Manhattan spotlight. Most rookie lottery picks are nowhere near drinking age, like Toppin.
“I don’t think I’m missing anything,” Toppin said of the pandemic. ‘I’m in a position where people are praying to be in and I was praying to be in. I wouldn’t change this for the world. When I say that basketball is really all I do every day, I come to the gym, I come home. By the time I get home I don’t want to do anything. I just want to eat and go to sleep. I spend several hours in the gym doing my game to be great. “
Toppin, the national college player of the year, was a handful in the first half of his season debut against Detroit, but the Pistons made adjustments. Since then, Toppin struggled to take his own photos. But he cut well to the basket to receive lobs for dunks and layups. And Toppin didn’t force anything. He took steps to his friends – not all of them on target.
“I feel like the time I was at Dayton I had so much attention on me, if I got doubled or tripled in the post I had no choice but to pass,” said Toppin. “We worked on it in practice and training at Dayton. I’ve worked on it here too. I just feel comfortable finding the open man. I want to give up a good shot for a better shot. ”
The number 8 overall pick in the draft averaged 7.2 points in 25.4 minutes of preseason, but shot only 38 percent. This is mainly because he was adrift on shots with three points (1-for-11).
“I watched a movie with a few coaches,” said Toppin. “There are many things that I have done well and a few things that I have done badly. You can make a few mistakes and learn from them and be ready for when the real games come when [you need] as few errors as possible. ”
When he gets off the couch to spell Julius Randle, Toppin assimilates that he’s not the number 1 option like he was in Dayton.
“We would get the ball on the mail and do certain things,” Toppin said of his college days. Here it is like finding a flow in play. We do different things for different guys and you adapt to it. I am still adapting to it. ”
Frank Ntilikina, the lottery pick of the 2017 Knicks, was never in line for a rookie contract extension, but it went official Monday and he will be a limited free agent in 2021.
The bigger problem is that Ntilikina is no longer seen as a point guard and it is unclear if he will crack Thibodeau’s 10-man rotation.
Thibodeau said “what he likes about” Ntilikina is that he plays both point guard and shooting guard. That’s why Thibodeau aligns the Frenchman with another point guard. Ntilikina missed the last two games of the preseason with a painful Achilles.
“When you watch today’s NBA, you often see more than one point guard on the floor or you see two combo guards on the floor together,” Thibodeau said. “That’s what I like about our schedule.”
The Pacers have a scouting edge on the Knicks. Kaleb Canales, who was Knicks assistant under David Fizdale and Mike Miller from 2018 to 2020, is part of Indiana’s new staff. Canales knows the tendencies of several of the young Knicks guys. … Indiana should take advantage of it in the beginning as it has the most stable roster in the NBA. The best 13 players in minutes from last season all return.