New York Knicks

Melo on Porzingis: 'We didn't think that this kind of the jelling...so far would be there'

Published Nov. 25, 2015 3:20 p.m. ET

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Carmelo Anthony was a Kristaps Porzingis supporter from the very beginning, taking the rookie under his wing over the summer and helping him ease into his time in New York. But even Melo didn't think the rookie would get off to this fast a start by his side.

Even Porzingis' staunchest supporters figured it would take another year or two before the 7-foot-3 power forward and center hit the level he's at right now. And one of the surprising parts of the Zinger's game is the chemistry he's developed with the Knicks best player. Melo got to talking about that recently, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:

Porzingis is averaging 13.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per game so far this season. He's brought his three-point percentage, which was low for the first few games of the year, all the way up to a respectable 34 percent.

At some point, you have to imagine the Knicks are going to go to more pick-and-rolls and pick-and-pops with Anthony as the ball-handler and KP6 as the screen-setter. That play has to be a staple in New York moving forward, and given the early chemistry between the two, it'd be best to start developing that right away.

“This early we didn’t think that this kind of the jelling and the chemistry we have so far would be there. We all thought this would take some time to kind of figure out,” Anthony said. “But anytime you can play with a stretch 4, it makes the game a little bit easier. And it’s easier to figure that out. When you have a stretch-4 guy who can play the wing, and he’s 7-3, you know where he’s at, you know what he can do. So that makes the game easier. It makes the chemistry process that much easier.”