The Knicks path to the Eastern Conference finals and beyond had some good defenses in its path — Kevin Garnett and the stout Celtics first, followed now by Indiana and the best defense the NBA had in the regular season.
What good defenses in the playoffs do is take away your first action, your preferred option on offense (that’s why Carmelo Anthony had three shots in the fourth quarter of Game 3). And really good defenses make your second option hard, too.
What we’ve learned about the Knicks these playoffs is when those options don’t work they often resort to Anthony or J.R. Smith in isolation. And good defenses will make that a difficult way to score.
The latest to lament the Knicks lack of ball movement is Tyson Chandler, who won a ring with the 2011 Mavericks that did move the ball well out of Dirk Nowitzki hands. Here is what Chandler said, via 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.”
I’m not even going to bring up how that’s what Bernard King got his twitter shut down for saying (oops, guess I did).
It’s also obviously true. Look back at the tapes from the Knicks 17-game winning streak and they shared the ball as well as any team in the league (the Heat and Spurs are the models there). But when they got to the playoffs and had some defenses punch them in the mouth, they reverted to bad habits.
Ones they need to fix by Game 4 or they are going to be in a lot of trouble this series.