NEW YORK -- Kiki Vandeweghe, the player the New York Knicks coveted all year, this season will play sparsely, if at all, Coach Rick Pitino said Sunday.
New York acquired Vandeweghe from the Portland Trail Blazers hours before the trading deadline Thursday. He appeared in just 18 games with Portland this year, due in part to a running feud with management and in part to a bad back.
The 6-foot-8 forward passed a physical Friday and practiced with the team Saturday.
However, Coach Rick Pitino decided against having the eight-year veteran suit up for Sunday's 122-110 victory over the Boston Celtics. Team officials said Vandeweghe is not in shape to play the Knicks all-out pressing defense and his viewing the game in street clothes was not injury-related.
The Knicks wanted Vandeweghe, who has averaged 23.4 points in his career, for his outside shooting. An outside scoring threat, the thinking went, would open up the inside for Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley.
But Pitino has something of a problem on his hands. The Knicks are playing so well without Vandeweghe, how can you work him into the lineup? New York leads the Atlantic Division with a 37-18 record.
The second-year coach remembers what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers last year. The Cavaliers obtained forward Larry Nance the day of the trading deadline and promptly lost 10 of their next 12 games. This year, with a training camp under his belt, the Cavaliers own the best record in the NBA.
'In a sense it is like Larry Nance last year,' Pitino said. 'Kiki might not be until next year. He is a great scoring asset, but he has got to get into Knick condition and he has got to learn the system.'
Pitino demands much from his players with his pressing defense. It requires constant motion and running and has been a major reason New York won its club-record 21st straight home game Sunday.
'Our pressing defense is the best I have ever seen in basketball,' Pitino said. 'It is far better than what we had at Providence. They learned it last year, we have four different presses and now they play them instinctively.'
'The watchword is patience,' Vandeweghe said. 'I'm still observing. I ran up and down the court (Saturday) a bit. But their system is very, very complicated.'
