On Dec. 22, the New York Knicks were 16-13 and in good position to make a run for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Just a few weeks later (Jan. 6 to be exact), they were 16-19 and never seriously contended for the postseason again. According to former Knicks guard Brandon Jennings — who was waived earlier this season and signed with the Washington Wizards — the talk of Carmelo Anthony being dealt fractured those playoff hopes. Ian Begley of ESPN.com has more:
If you’re looking for reasons why the New York Knicks performed so far below expectations this season, there are plenty to choose from. The roster didn’t fit well, they never figured out how to defend as a unit and players never got comfortable running the triangle portions of Jeff Hornacek’s offense.
“We were trying to learn an offense that guys didn’t really know,” ex-Knick Brandon Jennings said Thursday night, after his Wizards handed the Knicks their 49th loss of the season.
Jennings also offered another interesting theory as to why this Knicks team fell so far short of its goals this season: the Carmelo Anthony trade rumors fueled by Phil Jackson in late January and February.
“It definitely took a toll, I think, on the team. Because it wasn’t even about basketball anymore, it was more about what was going on with Melo,” Jennings said, adding that it was one of the wildest situations he has been in during his eight seasons in the league.
Jennings said it was “cool” playing with Anthony, but noted that Anthony had “a lot of pressure on him dealing with stuff with Phil.”
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“I think it was just a roller coaster, an emotional roller coaster for him this year with everything he had to deal with, which isn’t fair,” Jennings said. “For a player to wake up every day and you’re hearing trade rumors and you might be gone and this and that. It was like a two-week span where everybody was hitting your phone, (reading reports) about Melo leaving.”
