This is the Kevin Knox the Knicks pictured when they drafted him in the first round back in June.
Over his last six games, Knox has seen double digits in the points column on the stat sheet in every contest, averaging 19.6 points per game with three 20-point performances as well. He also seems to have more confidence in his jumper, pulling from beyond the arc with success (42.8 percent).
Head coach David Fizdale knows Knox was going to struggle being a rookie, and that will likely happen again later on in the season. For now, though, he's seeing that hard work pay off.
"He'll hit some more pitfalls this year," Fizdale said after practice on Thursday. "That's just part of the deal. But the one thing that's encouraging is he's starting to see things a lot more clear and do things that can be determined as big time."
Since coming in from Kentucky, Fizdale noticed immediately that Knox was an easy player to coach. It is an aspect of his game that Fizdale believes has been developed ever since he was a kid.
"He's so easy to coach," he said. "I mean, this kid is a 'Yes sir, no sir' guy. I think his father had a lot to do with him understanding regiment and work. I think the guys at Kentucky did a great job with him, teaching him how to work as a pro."
Knox, who is averaging 17 points per game in December thus far, also knew that hard work would pay off.
"I just think being more aggressive, mentally strong. Me just coming into practice ready to work every single day, I knew it was going to click. I put in a lot of hard work in, so I knew it was going to come sooner than later."