Hand it to Carmelo Anthony—he’s never afraid.
Some people would be inclined to panic following the New York Knicks’ loss to the Charlotte Bobcats at home. While it’s still early in the season, the Knicks are 1-3, and 1-2 at Madison Square Garden. Not the kind of start you expect from a purported title contender. In fact, of the 62 teams who have started 1-3 or worse since the 2007-08 season, just 11 of them have gone on to make the playoffs.
In all likelihood, the Knicks are going to make the playoffs. Tyson Chandler is slated to miss 4-6 weeks, but they have Anthony. He’s led every team he’s ever played for to the playoffs. That’s what he does. Lose him, and the Knicks are done. With him, they have a glimmer of hope.
Still, the current situation doesn’t exactly bode well for the Knicks. J.R. Smith should be available when they take on the Spurs, but Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin are on ridiculous minutes caps. And Andrea Bargnani isn’t hitting his shots. Fact of the matter is, regardless of how good the Knicks can or are supposed to be, they’re 1-3.
But Anthony won’t let them hold their heads down. After an embarrassing loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, he preached patience and perseverance according to ESPN New York’s Ian Begley:
“I believe we’ll get out of this. We’ve got to remain positive. It’s easy to go into a dark place right now,” Anthony said after shooting 10-for-28 against the Bobcats. “It’s easy to listen to all that negativity that’s going to be coming our way, but we’ve got to stay together as a unit, as a team, remain positive and get through this.”
His optimism is admirable. And the leadership aspect of his words is encouraging. Avoiding that ‘dark place’ is easier said than done, though.
The Knicks are a team already being counted out of winning their division. A re-tooled Brooklyn Nets team—who has also been unimpressive—is favored by most to win more games and go further in the postseason. While I maintain the Knicks will ultimately win the Atlantic, I cannot fault those who believe otherwise.
New York has been bad. Really bad. The Knicks currently rank third in points allowed, but just 26 in points scored. For a team housing the reigning scoring champion, that’s a serious issue. Three-point weaponry continues to elude them as well. They’re shooting 29.9 percent from deep as a team. It was their long-ball prowess that won them 54 games last season and watching it fall apart is unnerving.
All the Knicks have going for them is that it’s early, though they cannot play that card for much longer. Chandler is down; this team has holes.
This team is in trouble.
“There’s no need to try and pinpoint this or pinpoint that, we’re just not getting it done,” Anthony said.
Now they must find a way to get it done without Chandler and avoid that dark place ‘Melo warned of. If that’s even possible.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
