The New York Knicks are on the brink of elimination.
That, of course, has caused much chatter from the team, with plenty of talk about who deserves blame for the team’s demise.
Tyson Chandler somewhat started it all when he said the team wasn’t playing team basketball. Confronted by Carmelo Anthony about the statement, the center had to clarify his statement, from Al Iannazzone of Newsday:
“I wasn’t directing my comments at Carmelo Anthony,” Chandler said. “I was directing my comments at the New York Knicks. Any comment I ever make is for the team. It’s not about individuals. If I ever have a problem with Carmelo or anybody else on the team, I’m going to discuss that closed doors, in –house. “I was making a comment about my team, not about Carmelo Anthony. We win as a team, we lose as a team. But it can be taken how ever, when you throw a word out there.”
Chandler also refused to put any blame on J.R. Smith:
“We’re a team,” Chandler said. “When you lose, you can’t try to point fingers at individuals. Because when you win, one individual shouldn’t get all the credit. It’s a team game. It’s not golf or tennis or any other sport. “So it’s not JR’s fault. It’s JR’s and Tyson’s and Melo’s and Raymond’s and Kenyon’s and Amar’e’s and everybody else in this locker room. It’s the entire team. When we lose, we gotta lose together.”
Mike Woodson was on board with Chandler about not blaming Smith. He blamed himself instead, from Marc Berman of New York Post:
“It’s not about all of that. Again, I’m the head coach. Blame it on me. I don’t look at it in that light. The bottom line is we’re all trying to do the right things to win basketball games. If we don’t have the slippage to start the series, we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves. But right now our backs are against the wall and my job is to get us out of this hole.’’
Smith, with or without flu-like symptoms, has played horrendously in this series and went as far as to blame himself for the entire series:
“My frustration level with myself is extremely high,” said Smith, who is shooting 28% in the series. “I take the blame for this whole series.”
Needless to say, things are not looking up for the Knicks, who have struggled to come up with an answer against the defense of the Pacers. Still, Anthony remains confident that his team is better than the opposition, from Frank Isola of Daily News:
“I believe that we can do something special,” Anthony said after the Pacers’ 93-82 victory pushed the Knicks to the brink of elimination. “I’m very confident that we can do something special here. We gotta believe in ourselves because no one is going to believe in us and say we have a chance to win this series. I still believe we’re the better team.”
Remaining positive is important and all, but at this point, Anthony is very much in the minority about who the better team is. Either way, he’ll have at least one more game (Thursday night) to prove that his sentiments are true.
Onto other news from around the league:
- Cuttino Mobley may be looking to return to the NBA, according to Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld: “Cuttino Mobley hasn’t played in an NBA game since November 19, 2008. However, the 37-year-old is hoping to change that next season. Mobley is looking to attempt an NBA comeback after retiring nearly five years ago due to the heart ailment hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. On May 31, ASM Sports will be holding a pro-day for their draft prospects as well as their veteran free agents. Mobley will be one of the free agents participating in the veteran sessions, according to the agency. The free agent workouts will include drills and five-on-five.”