Carmelo Anthony told reporters that it doesn't even look as if the Knicks are trying. "We ain't playing worth a s--- right now," Anthony said following a 110-90 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. (h/t ESPNNewYork.com's Ohm Youngmisuk):
Carmelo Anthony: ‘It’s like we aren’t even trying right now’
The New York Knicks have lost five straight at Madison Square Garden and are 3-6 through the team’s first nine games.
Maddie Meyer
“I am disappointed too in all of our effort. We are just not getting it done. It ain’t nothing that Coach [Mike] Woodson is doing [or not doing]. It ain’t got nothing to do with X’s and O’s out there on the basketball court. We are not getting it done from an effort standpoint. It’s like we are not even trying right now.”
More: Posting and Toasting
The Knicks, through nine games, are producing a slightly below average offense and the 28th-worst defense, according to Basketball-Reference. At -5.3, the team is 25th in the NBA in point differential.
Anthony, for his part, is scoring 26 points and is collecting nine rebounds per game. Andrea Bargnani, who has started in eight of nine games, is second in scoring at a hair over 15 points per game. Only Raymond Felton (11.1) is averaging in double digits.
Defense is often referred to effort, the missing factor that Anthony called out Saturday night, and no one on the roster has a defensive rating below 101, again per Basketball-Reference.
J.R. Smith wasn't shy about expressing his feelings:
JR Smith: 'Excuse my language, I'm playing like sh*t.'
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 17, 2013
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