CLEVELAND – Jeremy Sochan’s transition to the Knicks hasn’t been smooth on the court as he tries to regain his playing fitness and get comfortable with his teammates.
But he is confident that the tide will turn.
“It’s a process. It’s my fourth match here,” Sochan said in an interview with The Post. “So we’ll figure it out. We’ll be good.”
Sochan managed just two tough minutes in the first half of Tuesday’s 109-94 loss to the Cavaliers, sitting on the bench until garbage time while finishing without any points.
Signed as a free agent during the All-Star break, Sochan had been given a rotation opportunity by coach Mike Brown, who said he wanted to give the forward a chance to determine his fit before the playoffs.
But Sochan’s third-quarter shift on Tuesday went to rookie Mohamed Diawara, who had been on a surge before Sochan’s signing but struggled in Cleveland while missing three of his four 3-point attempts.
“It’s the first time I’ve adapted to a different dynamic,” said Sochan, who spent his first three full seasons at Spurs. “So it will take some time to find out and obviously I haven’t been in much game shape. So all in all there will be [be] ups and downs. But I’m blessed and excited to be in this situation. And I really believe I can add something to this team.”
In four appearances, Sochan is averaging one point and one rebound in 7.5 minutes.
“I think it’s just learning how everyone wants to play. The atmosphere in the team and all that stuff,” Sochan said of his biggest adjustment. “And I think it’s pretty easy for me to learn the playbook. But now I’m getting to know everyone’s tendencies. What they like and don’t like. I’m just trying to figure out that part. That’s offense and defense, too.”
Fitness was also a hurdle after spending most of this season on the bench at Spurs.
“[Tuesday] I felt a little better than Chicago [on Sunday] and the other two games. There is nothing you can really do to get in game shape,” Sochan said. ‘That’s a completely different story. But it only takes a few games and then you start to feel better.”
Kenny Atkinson isn’t focused on beating the Knicks in the playoffs because he doesn’t want to make the same mistake he made last season, when his top-seeded Cavs prepared for a Celtics showdown only to be upset by the Pacers in the second round.
“You have to be careful. I know last year we were thinking ‘Boston, Boston, Boston,’ and we got Indiana,” Atkinson said Tuesday. “I thought, ‘We have to beat Boston.’ As a head coach, I keep an eye on what those teams are doing, the Knicks or Boston, teams that are in our wheelhouse. Detroit, I’ll keep an eye on it. But I think it’s a mistake to focus only on one team, because the roulette wheel can easily fall on another team.
“I’m more aware of what’s going on with those teams than, say, teams at the end of the rankings.”
The Knicks and Cavs entered the season as favorites in the East, but the Pistons and Celtics emerged as the surprise top two in late February.
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