There is trouble in the Kingdom of Melo. After the Knicks' Game 3 loss at Indiana on Saturday, Tyson Chandler told reporters that the big problem for the Knicks is that they aren't sharing the ball enough. From the New York Daily News:
“Honestly, we’re doing it to ourselves,” Chandler said on Sunday. “I watched the tape myself and there are open looks. We have to be willing passers. You have to sacrifice yourself sometimes for the betterment of the team and for the betterment of your teammates. So when you drive in the paint and you draw, you kick it. I think we need to do a better job of allowing the game to dictate who takes the shots and not the individuals.”
“I’m not saying anyone is doing it maliciously," Chandler said on Sunday. “I think it is more so you get into a situation where you want to take over the game or you want to make a big shot where you (should) stick to the game plan. A good team wins basketball games. Unless you’re a great, great, great, great individual … and we only have a few of those come through.”
via Carmelo to address selfish comments with Chandler | New York Daily News.
Interestingly, the Knicks ran fewer isolation plays in Game 3 than they did in the previous two games, according to Synergy Sports. They mostly ran post-up plays, though, and the Pacers were often able to snuff out those opportunities. Chandler himself probably shouldn't be the one leading the criticism, even when prompted, because Roy Hibbert has eaten him alive in this series.
So what does Melo, who most of the time is the guy most often accused of ball-stopping and being too selfish, think about this? Melo said Monday he planned to talk to Chandler about the issues. Again, from the Daily News:
"When asked about Chandler’s comment on Monday, Anthony told reporters: “I really don’t want to go back and forth about that because I really don’t know exactly what he’s talking about. But if he feels that way…we’re about to get together right now and discuss that amongst ourselves and figure that out. Just get his take his perspective on that comment. And we’ll handle that internally and figure that out amongst ourselves."
via Carmelo to address selfish comments with Chandler | New York Daily News.
So there's a little bit of unrest with the Knicks as they enter Game 4 on Tuesday. The Knicks have run the most isolation per game of any team in the playoffs by a considerable margin, and their problems vs. the Pacers are definitely offensive. The Knicks don't seem capable of creating space for themselves to produce open looks and, most of the time, look disinterested in trying. They tend to want to create off the dribble for themselves. Their success in the regular season was predicated on ball movement and making the extra pass.
They've played right into the Pacers' strengths defensively. The problems were all over for the Knicks, though. And either, as Chandler said, the great individual players will have to step up, the team will have to share the ball more, or the Knicks are going to be staring down the barrell of a 3-1 series deficit.
