Knicks turn to Sochan’s Spurs intel as Finals near
knicks-turn-to-sochan-spurs-intel-finals
With the NBA Finals against San Antonio set to begin, the New York Knicks are banking on recently acquired forward Jeremy Sochan for inside information on his former team.
Sochan, drafted by the Spurs in 2022, was waived on February 14 and signed by New York two days later. Although he logged only 16 regular-season appearances and five brief playoff cameos with the Knicks, head coach Mike Brown expects the 23-year-old to serve as a de facto scout on the Spurs, particularly rookie star Victor Wembanyama.
“He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen, but he gets tired,” Sochan said of Wembanyama. “With the team we have, it’s important to give him different looks, be very physical and make him run. He’s going to have to take some plays off.”
The former lottery pick started most of his first three seasons in San Antonio before falling out of the rotation this year. Now, he says his primary task is to share every detail he remembers. “Whether I’m playing or not, it’s important to feed all the information I have,” Sochan explained. “I’m watching their games and seeing the old plays we ran. It’s pretty obvious.”
Brown’s Spurs roots
Brown, who spent three seasons as a Spurs assistant under Gregg Popovich early in his career, downplayed any sentimentality. “They definitely want to beat me, and I want to kick their ass,” he said. “You love ’em before and after, but at the end of the day you want to beat them.”
Anunoby pegged as Wembanyama stopper
Forward OG Anunoby is expected to draw the primary defensive assignment on Wembanyama. According to the Knicks, Anunoby has surrendered the fewest points per possession of any defender who has faced the 7-foot-4 center for at least 100 possessions this season. “Having a guy like that gives us a ton of versatility,” Brown said, citing Anunoby’s length, strength and ability to guard multiple positions.
Robinson’s status uncertain
Center Mitchell Robinson remains questionable for Game 1 while recovering from a fractured pinky finger. On Instagram, he thanked fans for their support, writing, “It makes everything I’m fighting for 100× easier to deal with.”
Source: Hoops Rumors
