There’s a disconnect somewhere and if the Knicks don’t figure it out soon, this season could get ugly in a hurry.
If Sunday’s 120-89 loss to the Spurs — a game in which the Knicks were non-competitive from the opening tip — is the low-point of the season, then it will be quickly forgotten as part of a slow start.
But if it indicates the Knicks are a team that lacks chemistry, direction and drive, then changes may be in order before the holiday season gets into full swing. Those changes could be in players’ roles and it could be in coaches.
Certainly, something has to change because the Knicks were an eye-sore Sunday. They didn’t resemble a playoff team, much less one that will get even with the Spurs should they meet in the NBA Finals, as Metta World Peace suggested.
“If we see them in the Finals we’ll be ready,” he said.
That qualifies as wishful thinking. Games like the one the Knicks played Sunday don’t get you to the Finals, they get players benched and coaches fired.
Coach Mike Woodson was clearly frustrated and vowed to find answers for a 2-4 start.
“You have to keep pushing the guys until you find the right combination that works,” he said.
With Tony Parker zigzagging through a spacious Knicks defense and the Spurs making shots like it was an afternoon shoot-around, the game was never competitive. San Antonio led 10-0 at the start of the game, 61-45 at halftime and led by as much as 37 points in the second half.
“It was embarrassing,” Carmelo Anthony said.
Woodson called the performance “unacceptable,” which was the feeling of some in the crowd, who when they weren’t booing began chanting “fire Woodson.”
The Knicks thought they gained some confidence and momentum with a 101-91 win at Charlotte Friday night, but they were flat and passive against the Spurs, who chewed the Knicks up like red meat.
“We just do what we do,” said Parker, who scored 17 points, while Danny Green added 24 on including 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
Woodson had his finger on the pulse of his team last season when they started 6-0. He got the most out of his players and kept them motivated. These Knicks are a far more complicated challenge. Most troubling is their 1-3 record at home.
They keep saying they’re a young team that needs to find its rhythm. But their core players, Anthony, Raymond Felton, Andrea Bargnani, Pablo Prigioni and even Iman Shumpert have been around long enough to know you can’t sleep on the Spurs.
The Knicks will be without Tyson Chandler, their voice and energy on defense, for at least a month which adds to current concerns. J.R. Smith wasn’t an instant answer, scoring just five points in his debut after a serving a five-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
It was logical the Knicks might struggle early, having rested so many of their veteran players like Smith, Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin during the preseason. But this is ridiculous.
“The Spurs did everything they wanted to do out there,” Anthony said.
Despite the blowout, Anthony said he’s confident the Knicks will “figure it out,” and World Peace suggested 30-point losses “happen all the time.” But the Knicks are a troubled team right now.
“We have the pieces,” World Peace said. “I’m 100 percent sure we have them. But it’s not translating to victories right now. We have to translate pieces into victory.”
Woodson questioned his player’s pride, while World Peace questioned the team’s head more than its heart.
“Sometimes you can have pride and no smarts,” he said.
Maybe it’s the orange uniforms, which haven’t produced a victory this season. If only it were that simple.