Jarran Reed Jersey from SADASD's blog

The Knicks lacked talent, and needed a player with the flexibility to play in multiple spots.

Kevin Knox checked off those boxes. And so the decision-makers were comfortable using the ninth pick Thursday night on the 18-year-old forward.

”We were set,” Mills said at the team’s training facility. He called Knox a ”perfect fit for how we want to play.”

Knox played one season at Kentucky, where he led the Wildcats in scoring at 15.8 points per game and 3-pointers with 57. Mills said the Knicks held ”two or three different conversations” with John Calipari, Knox’s coach at Kentucky.

The Knicks ”did our research,” Mills said. ”(We) did our due diligence.”

Knox shared the SEC’s Freshman of the Year award with Alabama guard Collin Sexton, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and was also an AP Honorable Mention on the All-America team.

At 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, Knox shot .445 from the field, and .341 from 3-point range.

”He fits what we’re going to be about,” Knicks GM Scott Perry said. ”He’s long, he’s athletic Doug Flutie Jersey , he can play multiple positions, we think he has tremendous upside. He’s coming from a program in Kentucky that’s produced a lot of great pros.

”We thought Kevin was an excellent fit for what we’re trying to get done here.”

New York is coming off a 29-53 season as it tries to rebuild. The franchise’s cornerstone piece, Kristaps Porzingis, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in February and it isn’t known if he will play this season.

New York has only nine players under contract, after reserve center Kyle O’Quinn opted out of the last year of his $4.3 million contract Wednesday, although starting center Enes Kanter could opt out of his $18.6 million contract on June 29. Joakim Noah, who was banished from the team following an incident with then-coach Jeff Hornacek during a practice in Denver, is still under contract and is slated to earn $18.53 million next season.

While it is unlikely that the Knicks will be a playoff team next spring, Perry pushed back against the notion that the selection of Knox over Villanova’s Mikal Bridges and Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr. was a symbolic waiving of the white flag on the 2018-19 season.

”There’s a lot of talented young people in this draft,” Perry said of Knox, who is the youngest player the Knicks have drafted since Michael Sweetney in 2003. ”We just thought Kevin separated himself for us.”

The Knicks’ youth movement continued in the second round as the team used the 36th overall pick on Mitchell Robinson. The 20-year old is listed at 6-11 and 225 pounds Justin Evans Jersey , but did not play college basketball despite having committed to Western Kentucky University.

As a senior at Chalmette High School in Chalmette, Louisiana, Robinson averaged 19.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 7.9 blocks. He played in the 2017 McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand Classic games, which are showcases for the pre-eminent high school players in the country.

—

Earning a bye week gave the Philadelphia Eagles an opportunity to work even harder.

No mini-vacations. No golfing. No beach trips.

Instead, the Eagles (13-3) kicked off preparation for next Saturday’s divisional playoff game by holding their toughest practice since training camp.

Players put their pads on Wednesday and got after it on the indoor field as starters faced off like it was a hot day in August instead of a frigid January afternoon.

”The guys in this room aren’t afraid to work, grinding, enjoying the process, enjoying the small things a lot of people don’t like to do this time of year,” Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins said. ”We understand the significance of the situation we’re in and we want to take advantage of the time we have. Guys didn’t want to be off for the whole week. We want to get better.”

The Eagles are the NFC’s No. 1 seed but no longer are Super Bowl favorites after losing MVP candidate Carson Wentz in Week 14. Oddsmakers have three NFC teams listed ahead of Philadelphia.

Backup quarterback Nick Foles played well the first five quarters he filled in for Wentz, then struggled in the last five. He was 20 of 48 for 279 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions versus 23 of 49 for 202 yards with one TD and two picks. Foles and the rest of the starters sat out the final three quarters of a 6-0 loss to Dallas that prevented Philadelphia from setting a franchise record for regular-season wins.

The defense looked sharp in the last two games, but had a tough three-game stretch on the road to start December.

So Jerry Rice Jersey , members of the team’s players’ council told coach Doug Pederson they wanted to practice in pads instead of going through walkthroughs during their bye.

”It’s not a punishment thing; it’s not coming directly from me,” Pederson said. ”It’s what the players want. I listen to my guys. I think they understand that there is a sense of physicality that we have to get back to. So you get back into pads and it sort of refocuses the guys a little bit.”

Of course, there was no tackling at practice, but the intensity level was much higher.

”We were moving around, moving fast,” Foles said. ”Pads are different, and getting to move in pads, getting to throw in pads is a good thing.”

Even the receivers welcomed the change of pace.

”All gas and no brakes now,” Alshon Jeffery said. ”You have to keep working hard and we wanted to go out and compete against one another.”

The Eagles are in the postseason for the first time since a 26-24 home loss to New Orleans on Jan. 4, 2014. Foles rallied Philadelphia from a 20-7 deficit late in the third quarter and tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz for a 24-23 lead with 4:54 remaining, only to watch special teams allow a long kickoff return that helped set up a winning field goal.

The NFC East champions will host the Saints (11-5), Panthers (11-5) or Falcons (10-6) on Jan. 13. They’ll be seeking their first playoff win since advancing to the 2009 NFC championship game as the sixth seed.

Expectations outside the locker room are low. Many folks are predicting Philadelphia is the most likely team with a bye to be one and done. Panic-stricken fans even called for Pederson to bench Foles for second-year pro Nate Sudfeld Barkevious Mingo Jersey , who threw his first career pass against the Cowboys. Sudfeld was 19 of 23 for 134 yards. Pederson actually was asked by reporters to confirm that Foles was indeed the starter.

Obviously, he’s not benching Foles for a guy who just made his NFL debut.

”He’s the guy now,” Pederson said. ”But, he doesn’t have to feel the weight of the entire team. This is a team sport. We have to play great defense, obviously, and special teams has to own up to their jobs. Then offensively, we just have to be better all around. I want Nick to embrace it; he has embraced it. At the same time, the guys around him also need to own their jobs and their responsibilities going forward.”

—

AP NFL website: .tpClipInfo > * { display: none !important; } philadelphia-flyers/jakub-voracek-jersey">Adidas Jakub Voracek Jersey