Latest news with #No.11
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Knicks vs. Pacers: Can Jalen Brunson stand his ground against Indiana's hunting with the season on the line?
INDIANAPOLIS — Ask any basketball coach to explain to you, minutes after a heated game wraps up, what exactly just happened out there and why it did, and they're probably going to tell you that they won't know for sure until they go back and watch the film. Until then, all they can do is offer broad generalizations. (Also, spoiler alert: Even after they watch the film, they're not going to tell you what they saw.) So it was that, as Rick Carlisle sat down at the podium in the interview room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse shortly after Sunday's final buzzer and fielded a question about why his Indiana Pacers had scored only 42 points in the second half of a fall-from-ahead 106-100 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals, the venerable head coach's first draft of an explanation tended toward big-picture analysis. Advertisement 'Well, they had a lot of their better defenders in the game in the second half,' Carlisle said. 'That makes it harder.' Left unsaid, of course: They didn't have one of their worst defenders in there as often. The one who wears No. 11, who just made All-NBA for the second straight season — and the one who gives the Pacers a bullseye to try to target whenever they've got the ball. 'When teams hunt me … I mean, it is what it is,' Brunson said during New York's Monday media availability, between Games 3 and 4. 'Obviously, I'm going to give my effort. I'm gonna give everything I have. I've just got to be smart and not foul, and I think if I just keep my body in the right position and contest shots, and foul or not foul — or not [do something the referees] perceive as a foul — I'll put my team in a better chance to win.' Advertisement Through four games of these Eastern Conference finals, though, the effort and execution that Brunson — and the teammates responsible for the gap help and back-side rotations behind him — has mustered on the defensive end has been nowhere near good enough. A Pacers offense led by Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam — an attack predicated on speed, spacing, ball and body movement, and forcing opponents to make decisions and, eventually, mistakes — has absolutely carved up the Knicks' defense en route to a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven set. When the series resumes at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, Indiana will be playing for its first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years. New York will be playing to stay alive just one more day. 'Haliburton is a great player, and you don't guard great players in this league individually,' New York head coach Tom Thibodeau said after the 130-121 Pacers win in Game 4 that pressed the Knicks' backs firmly against the wall. 'It's your entire team. If one guy is not doing their job, everyone is going to look bad. There's a combination of things, whether we're talking transition, isolation game, pick-and-roll game, whatever it might be — it's everyone being tied together and moving in unison and reading the ball correctly.' (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports Illustration) That's right, and there are plenty of factors contributing to New York's coverages frequently looking scrambled and disheveled. Mikal Bridges, whose on-ball defensive playmaking won two games against the Celtics, has hardly seemed to make an impact on Haliburton, who's averaging a breezy 24.3 points and 11 assists in the conference finals. The versatile Siakam has performed well against former teammate OG Anunoby and largely pummeled every other Knick defender he's drawn on a switch or cross-match; that includes Josh Hart, who, for all his energy and effervescence, has been victimized multiple times off the ball by an Indiana attack adept at back-cutting sleeping defenders. Advertisement Karl-Anthony Towns' difficulties with holding up on switches and executing coverages helped lead Thibodeau to insert fellow 7-footer Mitchell Robinson into the starting lineup. After brief bouts of struggle against it early on, Indiana has grown comfortable attacking it; Towns and Robinson are now minus-4 in 40 minutes in the series, with New York scoring and defending at bottom-five levels in their shared floor time. So, OK, yes: bad scene, everyone's fault. The most common cause of breakdowns for the Knicks, though — and it's one we saw repeatedly throughout Game 4 — has been the Pacers working to put Brunson into the action. To force him to defend, and to force the rest of the Knicks to fly around behind him, rotating to cover up openings and put out fires. It's really, really hard to do that. Most advanced metrics peg Brunson — listed at 6-foot-1 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan, lacking elite foot speed or feel for screen navigation — as a below-average defender. Some, like estimated plus-minus, put him near, or at, the very bottom of the league. Advertisement Over the course of the regular season, the Knicks allowed 8.1 more points per 100 possessions with Brunson on the court than off of it. In the postseason, that's up to 17.9 more points-per-100. Against Indiana, after the Pacers' dominant offensive performance in Game 4? An eye-popping 30.7 points-per-100, as Carlisle and Haliburton have repeatedly sought Brunson out to emphasize his defensive weaknesses in hopes of mitigating his overwhelming offensive strengths: Through four games, the Pacers' primary perimeter players — Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith — have combined to score 49 points on 18-for-29 shooting (62.1%) when guarded by Brunson, according to NBA Advanced Stats' matchup data, with eight free-throw attempts, 10 assists and two turnovers. Overall, Indiana is shooting 57.1% when Brunson's the closest defender, and has scored a blistering 129 points-per-100 when he's on the court — a 'greatest offense of all time' level of scoring efficiency. The Pacers have scored 36 points in 33 possessions on which Brunson guarded the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll, according to Synergy Sports tracking — 1.091 points per possession, a mark that would rank the Knicks near the very bottom of the league over the course of the full season. And that figure doesn't account for the countless trips on which Carlisle, Haliburton and Co. have also looked to attack Brunson in other ways: by taking advantage of him as a low man who won't pose much of a threat as a help defender on drives; by running early drag screens in transition to poke at the Knicks' hedge-and-recover strategy and see what lanes might open up behind the initial coverage; through multiple-screen possessions that force him to navigate the contact again and again, with the aim of getting him discombobulated and trailing the play, allowing one Pacer to pop free and forcing other Knicks to cover him up. Advertisement From there, Indiana's offense can turn into a game of Whac-a-Mole: knock one down, another pops up, and eventually you're taking the ball out of the basket. 'I think it's amplified now, especially against a team like this, where they put you in position to make mistakes,' Hart said before Game 3. 'And if you have one guy that messes up the coverage, one guy that is not communicating, one guy that doesn't step up, it breaks the whole defense down, and now you've got to try to combat that and cover for that. So, a team like this, that's incredibly talented offensively, you can't have any lapses. It just takes one domino to fall to just, you know, [make] everything go chaotic.' When two dominoes fall, the chaos gets compounded — one of the chief reasons why, for all their offensive talents, the Knicks have struggled more than many anticipated in the minutes shared by Brunson and Towns. According to PBP Stats' lineup data, the Knicks have outscored their opponents by 5.7 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs when Brunson plays without Towns, and by 10.8 points-per-100 when Towns plays without Brunson … but have been outscored by 4.6 points-per-100 with their two All-NBA mainstays on the floor together. Advertisement In a potentially related story: Brunson and Towns averaged 25.7 minutes together per game during the regular season. That's gone up to 27.4 throughout the playoffs. In Games 3 and 4, though: 22.3. The Knicks' lone win in the series, in Game 3, came when Thibodeau not only shuffled his starting five, but also reached deep into his bench, finding guards Landry Shamet (who'd played a total of 31 minutes in this postseason prior to Game 3) and Delon Wright (who'd logged just 3 1/2) at the back of the cupboard. To some degree, the referees' whistles forced Thibodeau's hand: With Brunson and Miles McBride both picking up multiple early fouls, the Knicks needed more backcourt options, especially with backup point guard Cameron Payne largely ineffective in this series. To some degree, though, Thibs rolled with those guards — including McBride, once he got back into the game in the second half — because they were giving New York precisely what it needed: more size, better communication ('Early, loud, continuous talk,' Shamet called it in the locker room), tighter rotations and a stronger overall defensive spine. 'The thing is, you go in with an idea of what you want the rotation to look like, and then the game unfolds,' Thibodeau said during his Monday media availability. 'And then, there's variables that go along with that, whether it be foul trouble or one group gets going, and maybe there's a need for something else. So you always prioritize winning. Put the team first.' Advertisement When winning means getting stops, though — and against this phenomenal Pacers attack, it does — that's proven much harder to do with both Brunson and Towns on the floor, playing the coverages that have been dialed up. 'The majority of the time, those guys are gonna finish together,' Thibodeau said. 'They've played a lot of minutes together, and that's the way we approach it.' Which brings us to the existential question that this series has posed, and that the Knicks now find themselves facing, both for Game 5 and beyond: Can that approach allow them to field a championship-level defense? Or are we learning that the foundation of what New York has spent all season — not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars and a half-decade's worth of draft picks — working to build is fundamentally flawed? Maybe it's too early for all that. Maybe this is a case of missing the forest for the trees — of looking at a 51-win conference finalist and seeing only what's wrong with it, of prematurely determining that a team that was put together on the eve of training camp has reached its conclusion after just one season together, with all of its core pieces under contract and a multi-year window just opening. Maybe, whenever this series ends, cooler heads will prevail and take a lesson from a Pacers team that's had New York's number for two straight springs: that in a league where rosters are built up and torn down in the blink of an eye, continuity and shared experience can become a force multiplier. Advertisement The key to cooler heads prevailing, though, is likely making sure that 'whenever this series ends' isn't Thursday. And for that to happen, Brunson's probably going to have to more effectively stand his ground against Indiana's hunting. He's proven at times to be capable of doing it — chiefly in Round 2 against Boston, battling and holding his own when switched onto bigger wings like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Another massive test is coming. The Knicks' season could depend on whether Brunson is ready to meet it. 'Not good enough,' Brunson said after Game 4 when asked to assess how he's handled Indiana's pick-and-roll targeting. 'I could sit here and be very detail-oriented with you about certain things, but obviously, not good enough. There has to be a difference on my part when it comes to that.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Knicks vs. Pacers: New York will need stops to even the series — can Jalen Brunson stand his ground?
INDIANAPOLIS — Ask any basketball coach to explain to you, minutes after a heated game wraps up, what exactly just happened out there and why it did, and they're probably going to tell you that they won't know for sure until they go back and watch the film. Until then, all they can do is offer broad generalizations. (Also, spoiler alert: Even after they watch the film, they're not going to tell you what they saw.) So it was that, as Rick Carlisle sat down at the podium in the interview room at Gainbridge Fieldhouse shortly after Sunday's final buzzer and fielded a question about why his Indiana Pacers had scored only 42 points in the second half of a fall-from-ahead 106-100 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals, the venerable head coach's first draft of an explanation trended toward big-picture analysis. Advertisement 'Well, they had a lot of their better defenders in the game in the second half,' Carlisle said. 'That makes it harder.' Left unsaid, of course: The Knicks didn't have one of their worse defenders in there as often. The one who wears No. 11, who just made All-NBA for the second straight season — and the one who gives the Pacers a bullseye to try to target whenever they've got the ball. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports Illustration) 'When teams hunt me … I mean, it is what it is,' Jalen Brunson said during New York's Monday media availability. 'Obviously, I'm going to give my effort. I'm gonna give everything I have. I've just got to be smart and not foul, and I think if I just keep my body in the right position and contest shots, and foul or not foul — or not [do something the referees] perceive as a foul — I'll put my team in a better chance to win.' Advertisement With his back against the wall, down 2-0 and heading on the road, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau not only shuffled his starting five — in went Mitchell Robinson, out went Josh Hart — but also reached deep into his bench, finding guards Landry Shamet (who'd played a total of 31 minutes in this postseason prior to Sunday) and Delon Wright (who'd logged just 3 1/2) at the back of the cupboard. To some degree, the referees' whistles forced Thibodeau's hand: With Brunson and Miles McBride both picking up multiple early fouls, the Knicks needed more backcourt options, especially with backup point guard Cameron Payne largely ineffective in this series. To some degree, though, Thibs rolled with those guards — including McBride, once he got back into the game in the second half — because they were giving New York precisely what it needed: more size, better communication ('Early, loud, continuous talk,' Shamet called it in the locker room), tighter rotations and a stronger overall defensive spine against a Pacers team that had been carving the Knicks up through two and a half games. 'They weren't getting any shots early in the clock,' Knicks forward OG Anunoby said Monday. 'We were making them work each possession and take shots [at the] end of clock, and just making them uncomfortable. … I think [the switching and rotations are] getting better and better each game. The Pacers, they play very fast, so sometimes it gets hard when a lot of things are going on, but the communication has picked up. I think it's getting better and better.' Advertisement The Knicks were down by 13 points when Brunson, toting four fouls, checked out with 1:39 to go in the third quarter. They'd clawed to within three when Brunson checked back in with 8:48 to go in the fourth, thanks to an explosive start to the last stanza from Karl-Anthony Towns and to superior defensive effort. Just a minute and 45 seconds later, Brunson picked up his fifth guarding Andrew Nembhard in transition, sending him back to the bench and bringing McBride back in … at which point the Knicks resumed grinding the Pacers down, with the quintet of Towns, McBride, Hart, Anunoby and Mikal Bridges holding the Pacers to 3-for-10 shooting over the next 5 1/2 minutes before Brunson checked back in with 97 seconds to go. That Thibodeau kept Brunson on the bench for so long in a must-win one-possession game, even with five fouls, arched some eyebrows. He'd later say Brunson's extended absence owed partly to a lack of feel for how the referees were calling the game, and a sense that he couldn't risk a sixth foul given how much he'd need Brunson down the stretch — a feeling confirmed when Brunson checked back in and promptly hit what would prove to be the game-winning runner. Advertisement 'Time and score, you know?' Thibodeau said after the Game 3 win. 'And just trying to get it to the point where you felt like, 'OK, what do we need in the game right now?' And the group was sort of in a good rhythm, so we probably went a little bit longer than normal.' Some of it, though, boiled down to a simple fact: The Knicks needed stops. And those tend to be easier to get with Brunson off the floor. Most advanced metrics peg Brunson — listed at 6-foot-1 with a 6-foot-4 wingspan, lacking elite foot speed or feel for screen navigation — as a below-average defender. Some, like estimated plus-minus, put him near, or at, the very bottom of the league. Over the course of the regular season, the Knicks allowed 8.1 more points per 100 possessions with Brunson on the court than off of it. In the postseason, that's up to 17.9 more points-per-100. Against Indiana? An eye-popping 25.9 points-per-100, as Carlisle and on-court avatar Tyrese Haliburton have repeatedly sought Brunson out to emphasize his defensive weaknesses in hopes of mitigating his overwhelming offensive strengths. Through three games the Knicks have allowed the Pacers to score 27 points in 23 possessions finished on which Brunson was guarding the pick-and-roll ball-handler, according to Synergy Sports tracking — 1.174 points per possession, a mark that would rank near the very bottom of the league over the course of the full season. And that figure doesn't account for the countless trips on which Carlisle, Haliburton and Co. have also looked to attack Brunson in other ways: by taking advantage of him as a low man who won't pose much of a threat as a help defender on drives; by running early drag screens in transition to poke at the Knicks' hedge-and-recover strategy and see what lanes might open up behind the initial coverage; through multiple-screen possessions that force him to navigate the contact again and again, with the aim of getting him discombobulated and trailing the play, allowing one Pacer to pop free and forcing other Knicks to cover him up. Advertisement From there, Indiana's offense can turn into a game of Whac-a-Mole: knock one down, another pops up, and eventually you're taking the ball out of the basket. 'I think it's amplified now, especially against a team like this, where they put you in position to make mistakes,' Hart said at the Knicks' Sunday shootaround before Game 3. 'And if you have one guy that messes up the coverage, one guy that is not communicating, one guy that doesn't step up, it breaks the whole defense down, and now you've got to try to combat that and cover for that. So, a team like this, that's incredibly talented offensively, you can't have any lapses. It just takes one domino to fall to just, you know, [make] everything go chaotic.' When two dominoes fall, the chaos gets compounded — one of the chief reasons why, for all their offensive talents, the Knicks have struggled more than many anticipated in the minutes shared by Brunson and Towns during their first season together: Brunson and Towns averaged 25.7 minutes together per game during the regular season. That's gone up to 27.5 throughout the playoffs. In Game 3, though: just 19. Advertisement Thibodeau chalked that up mostly to foul trouble: Towns went to the bench for the final 6:10 of the first half after a successful Indiana challenge reversed a Towns and-one on Haliburton into the All-Star big man's third foul, and Brunson battled whistles for the second time in three games. 'The thing is, you go in with an idea of what you want the rotation to look like, and then the game unfolds,' Thibodeau said during his Monday media availability. 'And then, there's variables that go along with that, whether it be foul trouble or one group gets going, and maybe there's a need for something else. So you always prioritize winning. Put the team first. But the majority of the time, those guys are gonna finish together. They've played a lot of minutes together, and that's the way we approach it.' Towns struggled mightily when the Pacers hunted him in Game 2, contributing to Thibodeau's decisions both to leave him on the bench for much of the fourth quarter and to shake up his starting five for Game 3, inserting Robinson to insulate Towns and ensure New York maintained paint protection even if Towns got out of position. Towns largely held his own when playing at the 5 in the fourth quarter of Game 3, though, staying poised, executing the coverage and not committing breakdowns that Indiana could exploit. The time will come, perhaps as soon as Tuesday's Game 4, where Brunson will have to stand his ground, too. He's proven at times to be capable of doing it — chiefly in Round 2 against Boston, battling and holding his own when switched onto bigger wings like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Expect the Pacers to show a renewed level of intention and aggression in forcing him to prove he can do it against them — especially after feeling like they too often let New York off the hook in Game 3. 'No, it was poor,' Carlisle said of Indiana's second-half offensive process during his Monday media availability at the Pacers' practice facility. 'I mean, it has to be a lot better. I'm not going to get into specifics about it, but it was not good.' Advertisement To a man, the Pacers attributed their underwhelming second half — just 42 points on 14-for-38 shooting, 2-for-12 from 3-point range, with as many turnovers as assists (eight) and zero fast-break points in the fourth — to an overall stagnation of their offensive approach. On one hand, more intentionally hunting Brunson could create more of the kinds of breakdowns that open up swing-swing passing sequences to generate open shots and inject some pace and life back into the Indiana attack. On the other, though, repeatedly mismatch-hunting to attack Brunson in isolation could further sap some of the verve from Indiana's offense — the Pacers are throwing 60 fewer passes per game against New York than they did through the first two rounds — and maybe even add to the overall sluggishness. 'I feel like if we try to matchup-hunt too much, our offense can get stagnant — I think it did a little bit [in Game 3],' Pacers reserve guard T.J. McConnell said Monday. 'We've just got to be who we are, both offensively and defensively, be more solid on both ends, and get out and run. Because the matchup hunting can make us a little stagnant.' Advertisement While the Pacers try to strike the right balance for their offense, the Knicks will try to strike theirs: how much to lean into better defensive personnel at the risk of minimizing Brunson versus how much to trust their offensive leader to stand up and be counted on the other end of the court. New York's point guard knows another massive test is coming; now, he and his teammates just have to be equal to the challenge. 'I mean, it's competition. It's the playoffs,' Brunson said Monday. 'In order to go through and do something special, you have to go through a lot of adversity. You have to go through a lot of questioning, mentally and internally, if we're going to do this. It can make or break teams when you're going through things like that, and I think obviously what we did [in Game 3] definitely helps us.'
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
New York Giants sign Abdul Carter to rookie contract
New York Giants sign Abdul Carter to rookie contract The New York Giants have officially signed first-round pick Abdul Carter to his rookie contract -- a four-year, fully guaranteed $45.3 million deal with a $29.5 million signing bonus. Carter, whom the Giants selected No. 3 overall in the 2025 NFL draft, becomes the fourth member of the team's class to sign. "He's a great kid, and he's an exceptional player. He's got great quickness, bend, he's hard to block. He played off the ball the year before, and he has some instincts in that area, as well, smart. Just had a really good meeting with him, and then he was up here -- fun guy to evaluate," head coach Brian Daboll said after Carter's selection. After attempting to unretire both No. 56 and No. 11, belonging to Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms, respectively, Carter settled on No. 51, last worn by Azeez Ojulari. In his new number, Carter will attempt to create his own legacy. "Abdul is one of those guys that as a true freshman jumped off the film. If you're just watching anybody against Penn State, he's playing off the ball, he's moving at a different speed than everybody else," general manager Joe Schoen said. Carter joins offensive lineman Marcus Mbow, tight end Thomas Fidone II, and cornerback Korie Black as members of the rookie class who have signed their contracts. Quarterback Jaxson Dart, running back Cam Skattebo, and defensive tackle Darius Alexander remain unsigned.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Yarmouth town meeting voters approve 34 articles. They got a town history lesson as well.
About 350 Yarmouth voters passed all 34 articles on the town meeting warrant with nearly unanimous votes but with plenty of discussion in just over three hours at the Dennis-Yarmouth Intermediate Middle School on Tuesday, April 29. However, before the voting started, the residents got some local and national history lessons in honor of the country's upcoming 250th anniversary. Town Moderator Ken Mudie reminded the residents that Yarmouth was a major home of the Sons of Liberty, who contributed more than 440 volunteers, ages 15 and over, for the Revolution. West Yarmouth resident Christine Greeley followed by reading the Declaration of Independence and President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The most discussed article was a request to OK a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion for $845,476 to hire four firefighters and a supervisor. Voters at the May 20 town election would also have to approve the debt exclusion. Financial watchdog resident Norman Holcomb asked why four firefighters were hired last year without an override. Town Administrator Robert Whritenour said the hiring is a two-year program to handle a staff shortage, but there isn't enough money to pay for it without the debt exclusion. Fire Chief Enrique Arrascue gave strong arguments for the extra staff, saying the department's calls have increased by 52% in two years and the extra work burden is leading to injuries to firefighters and hurting morale. Employees are going to other departments for better pay, he said. The chief explained that the impact of hiring five additional employees will be $54 a year for the average homeowner with a $680,000 house. 'The Fire Department is doing a really good job supporting itself,' Arrascue said, as it brought in $3 million in revenue the past year. 'We need to make sure we are not overworking and can respond to calls.' The article passed without dissent. Another challenged article was for a treatment system for perfluoro alkoxy alkanes, known as PFAS, in two wells that have exceeded maximum contaminant levels of the so-called 'forever chemicals' in drinking water. Well No. 10 off Forest Road was shut down about three years ago and a system design and construction is proposed for $5 million. Well No. 11 in the same area will remain open until 2028 when the Environmental Protection Agency regulations take effect. Elvio Rodrigues, who lives in that neighborhood, claimed that Well No. 11 shouldn't operate either because it contains high levels of PFAS and 'extremely high nitrogen' that can impact infant mortality. He also said wastewater from a proposed housing development on Forest Road could further contaminate the wells. 'All of us are drinking this water,' Rodrigues said. Another resident also recommended shutting down Well No. 11 and asked for further study on Well No. 10. Public Works Director Jeff Colby said the town doesn't have enough water to meet demand without bringing the two wells online. The article passed on a two-thirds majority vote with some opposed. An unexpected objection came late in the evening from resident Christopher George, who asked for reconsideration of an earlier vote to fund a Revolutionary War Monument that is to be placed at the Yarmouth Port playground in recognition of local soldiers. George did not explain the reason for his opposition to the project. The item was part of six of the Community Preservation Committee's recommended historical preservation projects totaling $872,133. A vote to reconsider was turned down quickly. An article to approve $200,000 for maintenance of the former Mattacheese Middle School drew a question on the building's current and future use. 'We need an explanation about the use,' resident Ann Goring said. Assistant Town Administrator William Scott said the building is being used extensively by the Recreation Department for youth and adult sports. A committee has been looking at future uses and will submit three proposals by January 2026, Scott said. Other approved funding articles at the meeting: $100,000 for a feasibility design study for a possible town common in the open area across from Town Hall on Route 28. $51.5 million for the municipal operating budget. $44.8 million for the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District budget with Yarmouth covering 70% of the assessment. $3.8 million for the town's share of the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School budget. $2 million for a new type of pumper fire truck. The town election is May 20. Susan Vaughn writes about transportation and other local community issues affecting Cape Cod residents and visitors. She can be reached at smharris@ This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Yarmouth town meeting: Treatment system for PFAS passed.
USA Today
19-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Rookie's dad compares son's game to legendary Patriots Hall of Famer
Rookie's dad compares son's game to legendary Patriots Hall of Famer New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams has been a highly-touted draft pick, with multiple NFL analysts singing his praises before he even takes his first snap at the next level. It should come as no surprise that his father, Stephen Williams, is his biggest supporter. He even went as far as seemingly comparing Kyle Williams' playing style to legendary wideout Julian Edelman, who is set to be inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame this year. 'I'll put it this way. If they loved No. 11, they'll love No. 18,' Stephen Williams said, via Boston Globe's Christopher Price. The Patriots have not had the best of luck at drafting wide receivers. However, they have had modest success in developing them. Edelman is a perfect example. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft and quickly became a staple of the Patriots' offense. Williams was one of the best pure separators in the 2025 NFL draft, and he has the ability to play in the slot and outside. He's a versatile receiving weapon with the tools to make an impact right away. In his final year at Washington State, he racked up 70 catches for 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns. A player with Edelman-like traits would be a welcome addition to a Patriots offense that has looked like one of the worst in the league over the last two seasons. Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
