Knicks STRIKE GOLD AGAIN... | Knicks News | The Knicks Recap Podcast

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**Troy Mahabir** (0:45)
Let's talk about the Knicks and their two rookies. When I'm telling you the Knicks strike gold in the second round, they continue to strike gold in the second round. Now, maybe these stats don't do it justice because, I mean, even though they played, Khalil didn't have a great game in terms of his offense, but I thought his court vision was great, I thought his defense was good, and on the other side of that, with Tyler Nickel, maybe he didn't put up that many shots, but clearly, when he has the ball in his hands, he is gonna make something happen. Only took 6 shots, all of them from 3-point range, and he made 3 of them. That's 50%, ladies and gentlemen. That's what he's shooting. Kayil had 4 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 personal fouls. While Tyler Nickel played 31 minutes, had 9 points, he had 9 points, he went 3 of 6 from the 3-point line, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 personal fouls. So that's what we're looking at right now for these 2 guys at this point in time.
And they, again, they played well in terms of what was asked of them. With Kayil, you obviously wanted to see him hit more shots, especially his shooting. Now I said it before, even before he played one game, the one concern I have with Jack Kayil is really his shooting ability. I knew he could play defense, I knew he was a floor enforcer, a floor general, so I knew he could pass the ball. And in today's game, you saw that. The court vision was there, it was clearly there. He had a great, excellent read of the court, passing that ball to a cutting Pacome Dadiet, driving right to the rack for a running dunk. I mean, this kid can pass. He's that good of a player. I love what I see out of this kid. Another player that I don't have a graphic of, but we should talk about, is Ozeah Sellers. He's fast, he's quick, he can get to the corners extremely well, but even more than that. In the open floor, he looks to dunk it, he looks to score it, and you need players like that. Players who have that confidence to go straight to the rack and show what they can do. So I like what I saw from him, even though he didn't have the greatest game in terms of offense. But if you're talking about the player of the game, if you're talking about a player that made his mark tonight, it was Jaden Akins. Jaden Akins was unbelievable tonight. And I created a video about this kid I don't even know when. Maybe, I want to say, maybe a week ago before Summer League even started, and I told everybody who would listen, Jaden Akins, he is such a great player. He is going to be a force in this league, if he's given a chance because he has the ability to score like that. And I mean, look at what he does tonight. Jaden Akins, 24 minutes, 21 points, 9 of 20 from the field, 3 of 8 from 3, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 5 personal fouls. If you want to talk about heart, dedication, what he was doing out there, how hard he was playing, all the effectiveness he had on defense and then on offense, he's bopping people, he's going by people, he's dribbling past people, he is putting it all on display. Isn't that what you want to see?
Honestly speaking, can I really say this? I think I should.
The way Jaden Akins played tonight, this is what I expected out of Pacome Dadiet.
Dadiet should have been playing like this. Dadiet should be delivering like this, but he isn't. And that's the real problem here. So if you want to talk about striking gold, the Knicks did that. In the second round once again with Tyler Nickel and Jack Kayil. And then they go out, they steal Jaden Akins from the Pistons G-League team, and then they sign Ozeah Sellers, an undrafted rookie. And they put him on the team, and he shows what he can do.