Pablo Prigioni filling in for the New York Knicks effectively: NBA News
Pablo Prigioni, the oldest ever NBA rookie at the age of 35, has stepped up his game for the New York Knicks just when they needed him the most. When Prigioni signed for the Knicks this season he said he will play when the coach
Woodson will want him on the court and won’t mind sitting on the bench for longer periods of time. Now that he has got the opportunity to play regular minutes he is not letting his team down.
With Jason Kidd out with back spasms, and Raymond Felton running the offence for the Knicks in his absence, the Knicks needed a backup point guard to take some load off Felton and they looked to the Argentinean who stepped up to
the challenge as asked. In his last two games, he has shot 7 out of 9; and is averaging 9.5 points per game due to the increasing minutes he has been receiving. This increase in minutes is not just due to the injury to Kidd, but also due to his impressive
play for the Knicks.
He is no newcomer however and has had a great international career with the Argentina’s National Basketball team. Pablo has also won 8 titles in the Spanish league. However, despite being a superstar in the Europe he was not well
known in the USA. He played alongside Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola in the 2012 London Olympics, and his two national teammates urged Prigioni to come to NBA and prove his mettle. So far he is doing just fine.
The Knicks fans got the first good look of him in their game against the Milwaukee Bucks, when he came off the bench to add 11 points and dish out career high 7 assists.
His coach was definitely pleased with his backup guard.
“Pablo can play,” Woodson said. “He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do here in New York. He was great, positive minutes. I was very proud of how he played.”
Though language barrier might be an issue but he has adjusted well to the Knicks. His team mate Veteran Rasheed Wallace was all praise for the guard recently.
"Pablo is a great point guard. We saw that with Argentina’s national team. He’s done it in practice. He’s a good point guard that went through a bad stretch.”
Despite the immense response by the fans and media, Pablo is remaining grounded;
“We have great point guards in Raymond and Jason,” he said. “I just try to learn from them”.
The Knicks are currently 12-4, but there is still a lot of distance to be covered. If they are make a deep playoff run this season, Prigioni and other bench players will have to keep delivering.
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