When Will NY Knicks Learn Carmelo Anthony Hero Ball Doesn't Work in the Clutch?

When the television networks play highlights of the New York Knicks' 106-101 overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings, they will likely focus on star Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony's inability to hit a long, contested jumper at the end of regulation.

The shot would have won the game for New York, and it's the kind of big-time shot a franchise player like Anthony is supposed to make.

That kind of oversimplified thinking isn't fair to Anthony, the poor New York fans forced to suffer through Knicks games or team sports in general.

Every basketball observer in the Tri-State Area knew Knicks head coach Mike Woodson was simply going to isolate Melo, far from the basket, without a screen, decoy or anything else that might have relieved some of the pressure. Sure, the forward was visibly gassed after playing every minute of the second half and could have used some help from the other four teammates legally required to stand on the court, but that would have violated every principle these Knicks stand for.

Even before Melo's off-balance prayer clanged off the rim, Knicks fans were taking to Twitter to voice their disgust not with the player but with the coach who left him hanging out to dry.

The Knicks do indeed have a "Carmelo Anthony Hero Ball" problem, but it is no fault of Anthony. It is the fault of an organization and coaching staff who have over the past few years repeatedly ignored, especially in the waning moments of close games, the most basic tenets of team basketball.

After the game, Woodson quickly laid the blame on the players for not executing his play at the end of regulation, per The Wall Street Journal's Chris Herring:

Nobody's buying it. The "dump it off to Melo and get out of the way" last-minute offense has been a hallmark of Woodson's time in New York. And Anthony's clutch numbers have suffered as a result.

Since he has come to New York, Anthony has transformed from one of the most clutch scorers in the league to a player seemingly incapable of scoring a bucket in the closing minutes, per Bleacher Report's Dan Favale:

So what changed? has Melo morphed into a loser, a player incapable of rising to the occasion? Or is he simply the victim of the Knicks' outdated philosophy on how to win a game at the buzzer?

What Could the Knicks Have Done Differently?

Anything.

When a basketball team's last-second offense has invariably come down to the same player taking impossible shots and said player has hit precisely none of them during the season then literally any other option is preferable.

For example, the Knicks might have done well to run a play for Amar'e Stoudemire, who had shot an impressive 9-of-13 at that point in the game. Even if Woodson didn't want to utilize Stoudemire in the post with six seconds left, he and Melo have proven to be adept in the two-man game. At the very least, Stoudemire stood a better chance of drawing a foul.

Instead, Woodson kept Stoudemire in the game for defensive purposes (which makes no sense) while ignoring him on offense during that last fateful minute.

But the Knicks likely would have avoided the last-second tie altogether if he had stuck with Pablo Prigioni (their best remaining defensive guard) over Tim Hardaway (their worst defensive guard) during the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. Hardaway repeatedly lost Sacramento guard Jimmer Fredette, who scored nine of his career-high 24 points in the fourth.

Woodson's lineups were even more ludicrous than usual, as injuries to J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert gave him an excuse to experiment with his beloved "big" lineups. In overtime, Woodson fashioned his pièce de résistance: a lineup of Raymond Felton, Anthony, Stoudemire, Jeremy Tyler and Tyson Chandler. It was almost as if Woodson knew this was likely to be his final game as coach, and he wanted to go out with the biggest, craziest lineup imaginable.

After the game, Woodson tried to justify his big lineups, per ESPN New York's Ohm Youngmisuk:

But his explanation didn't jive with Woodson's lineup preferences this season, according to Herring:


Will the Knicks Learn Their Lesson?

Dogs can learn to roll over. Apes can learn sign language. But the Knicks? I'm not sure they will ever learn that basketball is a team sport.

This isn't just a Mike Woodson problem; it has been a hallmark of the Knicks since the dawn of the James Dolan era. This is why they blow endless draft picks on big names like Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry and Andrea Bargnani. It is why they traded a boatload of assets to acquire Anthony, despite the fact that they seemingly had all the leverage at the time.

To the Dolan Knicks, basketball is not a team sport; it is a game of competing stars. Role players are useless. Running plays is pointless. The team with the biggest star wins. And when the game is on the line, the star should be handed the ball and be allowed to "do his thing."

That is the Dolan basketball credo. He is the kind of basketball fan who watches clips of Michael Jordan's game-winners and willfully ignores the times Jordan passed to ball to the likes of Steve Kerr in the clutch. That's fine for a casual fan, but it's no way for an NBA owner to think, particularly one as hands-on as Dolan.

The owner found a willing disciple for his juvenile basketball philosophy in Mike Woodson, but the sheer volume of losses will ultimately doom the coach. After all, Dolan can't very well fire himself, can he?

If Dolan hires another like-minded coach, then the Knicks are likely to continue putting Carmelo Anthony in hero-ball situations with the game on the line. Anthony can either learn to endure the losing or take less money to ply his trade for a smarter franchise.

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JR Smith Says It's Hard to Tell If Knicks Players Support Mike Woodson

New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith gave embattled coach Mike Woodson a show of support following New York's 117-90 win over the Denver Nuggets. And he is almost certain his teammates feel the same way.Per ESPN New York's Ian Begley: "Yeah, I believe so. It’s kind of hard to tell. Of course, nobody wants to show their whole hand. I think guys really care about him. I think guys care about this team, care about winning."
Smith is definitely right about one thing: Guys care about winning. It's pretty important to just about every athlete, professional or otherwise.
But the Knicks haven't been doing much winning this season under Woodson—Friday's win raised their record to 20-30. Despite carrying one of the league's highest payrolls, New York is still 1.5 games behind the Charlotte Bobcats for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
As for the other part—caring about Woodson—it is almost guaranteed that there are a few Knicks who flat-out do not like him. Woodson has feuded with multiple players during the 2013-14 season.
His most public critic has been reserve point guard Beno Udrih, who laced into the coach after Woodson blamed him for the Knicks' troubles in late December, per NorthJersey.com's Steve Popper:

Beno doesn't sound thrilled with absorbing blame from Woodson: "Don't just be a coach, be a person."

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Flawed NY Knicks Still Paying Dearly for Carmelo Anthony's Original Sin

All around him, the foundation is crumbling, from the decaying roster to the besieged head coach to the befuddled front office. Carmelo Anthony can take every shot, break every scoring record and thrill the masses, but the New York Knicks remain on a ruinous course, barreling down a road to nowhere.
This season is already lost, whether the Knicks fire Mike Woodson or keep him, whether they sneak into the playoffs or just miss them. The infrastructure is broken, and everyone at Madison Square Garden knows it.
Blame is being cast in every direction, much of it anonymously, with players faulting the coach and Anthony’s backers indicting his teammates. At some point, before this woeful season ends, Anthony should consider how this all began and take the blame himself.
Three years ago, Anthony forced the Denver Nuggets to trade him to New York, rather than wait for free agency. It cost the Knicks a bounty in players and draft picks, creating a talent deficit they have never overcome.
“I knew we took a step backwards as an organization for me to get here,” Anthony acknowledged in December interview with NBATV. “So we had to rebuild.”
The honesty was laudable, but rebuilding was never the goal. The Knicks wanted a superstar to lead them to glory, immediately. They are no closer to a championship today than they were on Feb. 22, 2011, the day of the trade.
Anthony enjoyed a fruitful night against his former team Friday, scoring 31 points in a 117-90 rout. But this game, like Anthony’s record-breaking 62-point explosion two weeks ago, was only a temporary respite from the gloom.
The Knicks are 20-30, the 10th-best team in a dreadful Eastern Conference. The playoffs are reachable, but a title run the stated goal of owner James L. Dolan is hopeless fantasy.
As Anthony and the Nuggets met again, 15 days shy of the trade’s anniversary, it was worth remembering how the deal unfolded, and what it cost.
To get Anthony, the Knicks gave up four rotation players Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov all of them 26 or younger at the time. They also gave Denver their first-round pick in 2014, the right to swap first-round picks in 2016 and second-round picks in 2012 and 2013.
The trade itself pushed through by Dolan, over the concerns of team executives was wholly unnecessary.
Anthony wanted the Knicks. The Knicks wanted Anthony. Everyone in the league knew it. Anthony was set to become a free agent that summer. The Knicks were set to have $17 million in cap room, enough to sign him outright with a little maneuvering.
But Anthony wanted a simultaneous $65 million contract extension, fearing that a new labor deal would crimp his earnings. The trade was the only way to lock in his money before the NBA lockout began.
As a rival team executive said at the time, “The money was first, second and third” in driving Anthony’s agenda.
Prioritizing the paycheck was Anthony’s original sin the root of everything that now ails the Knicks.
Had Anthony signed as a free agent, it would have cost the Knicks just one significant player: Chandler, who would have been set free to create the cap room. They could have kept Gallinari, Felton, Mozgov and their draft picks.
Had the Knicks acquired only Anthony, the damage would have been minimized. But Denver also foisted the aging, overpriced Chauncey Billups on them, costing the Knicks more players.
The problems only multiplied from there.
Desperate for cap space, the Knicks used the “amnesty” provision to waive Billups so as to make room to sign Tyson Chandler. Had they never made the trade, the Knicks could have used the amnesty provision to erase Amar'e Stoudemire’s cap-clogging contract.
(Alternatively, the Knicks could have kept Billups, not signed Chandler and still used the amnesty on Stoudemire, potentially creating $32 million in cap room in 2013.)
Anthony once fantasized about a New York partnership with Chris Paul, his close friend and fellow All-Star, who following Anthony’s lead eventually forced his way out of New Orleans. But the Knicks did not have the trade assets to make a play for Paul, having sent them all to Denver.
Had Anthony waited for free agency, perhaps the Knicks would have landed Paul in December 2011. Or Dwight Howard in 2012. Or the next disgruntled star who wanted a piece of the Broadway spotlight.
Anthony’s insistence on the trade cost the Knicks depth and flexibility, pushing them to make ever more desperate moves: signing the volatile J.R. Smith or surrendering more draft picks for Andrea Bargnani. The result is a faulty, flaky roster, one they are stuck with through next season.
As it happens, the new labor deal was not nearly as radical as feared. Had Anthony signed with the Knicks outright, he would have earned just $3.5 million less over three years, according to one team executive’s calculations. And he would have joined a much stronger Knicks lineup.
With Anthony opting for free agency this summer, the question arises again: What does he value more? Winning or money?
If it’s the money, the decision is automatic. The Knicks can offer $33 million more than any other team, by rule. But that contract $129 million over five years will severely limit the Knicks’ ability to add talent in the future.
If Anthony values his legacy, if he wants to chase titles, then he is almost certainly better off leaving New York, to join a smarter, more stable franchise. Or, if he trusts the Knicks to build a contender, he could stay and take a pay cut to give them more flexibility.
But based on Anthony’s history, rival executives expect him to stay in New York and to demand the maximum contract.
Since acquiring Anthony, the Knicks have gone 124-92, for a modest .574 winning percentage. They have won one playoff series. If they fire Woodson, as expected, Anthony will be on his third coach in three years.
In the meantime, Anthony is facing the very real possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time in his career. For most losing teams, there is an upside: the chance for a high draft pick. But the Knicks sent that silver lining to Denver.

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