Things couldn’t have gone much uglier for the New York Knicks in the first month of the season.
They lost defensive anchor Tyson Chandler to a leg injury, J.R. Smith has been awful since coming back from a 5-game suspension, Amare Stoudemire has been a shell of himself while playing limited minutes, Iman Shumpert’s name in trade rumors has been a distraction, and Andrea Bargnani is what most of us expected him to be – a scoring forward who can’t rebound or play team defense.
The end result? Tied for the second-worst record in the league at 3-13. The Knicks are officially a mess.
STORY OF THE DAY:
After another deflating loss to the New Orleans Pelicans at home, Carmelo Anthony believes his team lacks a winning mentality, from Ian Begley of ESPN New York:
“I think we’re playing to lose rather than playing to win right now,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ 103-99 loss to New Orleans on Sunday. “When you lose games the way we’ve been losing them at home, on the road, you start thinking a lot. You start playing a little tense. You start playing on your heels.”
“We just can’t seem to get it together,” Anthony said after scoring 23 points and getting 10 rebounds. “We can’t seem to figure it out.”
“I don’t know what we have to do as far as coming together as a group,” Anthony said. “I don’t know if we’ve got to sit here for hours and talk and get it all out, but we’ve got to do something.”
Prior to that game, Metta World Peace and Kenyon Martin – two guys you don’t want to mess with – went at each other intensely, according to Begley of ESPN New York:
Kenyon Martin and Metta World Peace got into a “heated” verbal argument during a Knicks workout prior to Sunday’s game against the Pelicans, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The two veteran forwards did not come to blows, but the back and forth was described as “intense” by one source with knowledge of the dust-up.
“There was no pushing or shoving, certainly no punches, but it was heated,” a source said. “They were jawing at each other and you’re talking about two guys who are pretty explosive, guys you wouldn’t want to mess with. It settled down, but nobody was too eager to jump in between them, let’s put it that way.”
And of course, there is still the situation with Iman Shumpert, who was benched for all of the fourth quarter after getting on Anthony’s case for a miscommunication play on the defensive end, from Marc Berman of New York Post:
A shouting match with Carmelo Anthony and rookie Tim Hardaway Jr.’s breakout game may have pushed Iman Shumpert closer to the door.
Hardaway is fighting for playing time with Shumpert, who got into a heated rant with Anthony on the Knicks bench during a third-quarter timeout. Anthony didn’t look at him as Shumpert raved. Shumpert, who was then benched for the fourth quarter of the 103-99 loss to the Pelicans, called his tiff with Anthony “a miscommunication’’ on defense.
“Of course I wanted to play,’’ Shumpert said. “Tim was making shots. J.R. [Smith] had it rolling. We were just trying to get a win.’’
Anthony declined to talk about Shumpert, who has been on the trading block since the middle of last month. Trades usually pick up Dec. 15, because free agents signed over the summer and draft picks can be dealt.
There is simply no quick fix for the mess that the Knicks are in right now. All they can hope for at this point is the return of Chandler and take things from there.
[UPDATE]: Mike Woodson’s time as the coach may be running out, according to Berman of the New York Post:
The expiration date on owner James Dolan’s recent vote of confidence for coach Mike Woodson is approaching, according to sources.
While Woodson will coach the Knicks when they play the Nets on Thursday, it is unclear how much longer Dolan will allow this losing streak to go on. It has reached nine straight defeats and the team’s mental instability has become an issue. Dolan is obsessed with the Brooklyn franchise and a blowout loss could trigger changes — whether via trade or a coaching move.
The Post has also learned that if Dolan eventually makes a move, old enemy and ex-Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy would not be ruled out as a future candidate — though such a hire seems more sensible in the offseason if Dolan goes with an interim coach.
NO LUCK FOR THE LAKERS:
Jordan Farmar suffered a serious hamstring injury on Sunday and will miss significant time, according to Adi Joseph of USA Today:
The Los Angeles Lakers are down another guard.
Point guard Jordan Farmar will miss about four weeks after tearing his left hamstring, the Lakers announced Monday afternoon.
Farmar was injured in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers also announced center Pau Gasol has a mild strain in his right ankle.
A two-time champion with the Lakers, Farmer was out of the NBA entirely and playing in Turkey last season. But he has emerged as a solid backup for Steve Blake, who himself is starting for injured point guard Steve Nash.
TWO GAME-WINNERS IN ONE NIGHT:
Tim Duncan and Jrue Holiday got it done for their respective teams with the game on the line, as you can see below in the Top 5 plays of the night:
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Trey Burke says encouraging words from Jeff Hornacek gave him confidence, from Jody Genessy of Deseret News: “The Suns coach stopped, greeted the Jazz’s rookie point guard, who’d scored 13 points in a loss, and offered three words of encouragement. “Hang in there.” The next night, Burke scored a career-high 20 points and made key plays in the fourth quarter to lead Utah to a 112-104 win against Hornacek’s squad at US Airways Center… Saturday’s performance was a bonus, but Burke was appreciative of Hornacek’s words. “Just to know a former Jazz player — a guy that played with (Karl) Malone, played with (John) Stockton — is telling me to keep my head up and push through it, that gives me confidence,” Burke said. “Those three words that he said to me, it may be little, but it gave me confidence.”
Mark Jackson says Andre Iguodala looks to be back soon, and that the team has missed him dearly. Matt Schwab of Contra Costa Times has details: “Warriors coach Mark Jackson said Sunday that injured Andre Iguodala, who did not make the trip for Sunday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, is getting “closer and closer” to returning. “We’ll stay true to the process as usual and look forward to having him back,” Jackson said of Iguodala, who suffered a strained left hamstring against the Lakers on Nov. 22, the latest setback for an injury-plagued Warriors squad… “It’s think it’s pretty obvious,” Jackson said before Sunday’s game of the impact of Iguodala’s absence. “He’s a bigtime playmaker on the offensive end. He’s another ball-handler for us. He’s a guy that has an extremely high IQ, understanding the offensive end and the defensive end. He helps out depth also, because now you bring Harrison off the bench. Now you have, I don’t want to say no nowhere to go with Harrison not on the bench, but that hurts us.”
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