J.R. Smith did the manly thing and said to blame him for the Knicks struggles against the Pacers. And certainly his shooting slump (exacerbated by the Pacers stout defense) isn’t helping matters.
But Mike Woodson is a stand up coach; he’s not going to let the Sixth Man of the Year throw himself under the bus. Woodson told the New York Post Knicks fans should throw him under the bus.
Woodson does deserve a lot of blame — he has tried to match the size of the Pacers, to match their physicality, rather than staying with the small ball (Carmelo Anthony at the four) that got them here. He has gone away from Pablo Prigioni and the ball movement of the Knicks has not coincidentally gone away, too. Oh, and there’s the odd fascination with playing Jason Kidd, too.
But really, there is enough blame to go around in New York that everyone should get their fill.