It's the end of the season, so of course it's time for the New York Knicks to answer the tough questions. Why did they look so meager against the Indiana Pacers? Is Carmelo Anthony truly elite? Most importantly, do the Knicks have the right players surrounding Anthony and a more recent question, did Mike Woodson give Tyson Chandler too much playing time?
Well, let's get one answer out of the way immediately, Anthony did it all for the Knicks and at one point in Game 6, single-handedly kept New York within striking distance. In fact, remove Anthony from the equation in the playoffs and the Knicks would have been swept by the Boston Celtics. People might complain about Anthony holding on to the ball too much and running too many isolation plays, but let's face it, he's all the Knicks have. Without Anthony, the Knicks are nothing and that might be the problem heading into the offseason.
Chandler, the Knicks center and last year's Defensive Player of the Year, is getting a lot of heat now that the season is over. If you saw the games, you understand what's going on. The Knicks didn't get enough production out of their big man as he seemed light years removed from his days as a defensive force. Roy Hibbert did as he pleased. If not scoring, Hibbert dominated Chandler on the boards.
To Chandler's defense, he said he didn't have his timing and didn't feel like he was 100 percent ready. "I wasn't where I wanted to be. I wish I could have got a couple games in before the playoffs started," said the big man. Chandler is referring to the six games he missed at the conclusion of the regular season. He was out from Apr. 7 until the 20th when the NBA Playofs began for the Knicks against the Celtics. The Knicks point guards and Chandler truly looked out of sync as they missed lobs or simply didn't look up to find him moving to the basket.
With Chandler's sluggish play, the question must be asked: "Did Mike Woodson misuse his players?"
Amar'e Stoudemire already expressed his displeasure with his head coach. Three-point specialist, Steve Novak, didn't hesitate to express his frustrations regarding playing time. Chris Copeland didn't express any anger toward his role because he was injected into the lineup late in the series against the Indiana Pacers and he made a huge difference as the Knicks decided to attack from the perimeter.
Chandler is being attacked and there are two players who have contributed heavily in the Knicks success in the previous two seasons. Is Woodson to blame for not shuffling guys and trying different things as Chandler was obviously getting punished in the paint?
It is too late to answer these questions now. All players, coaches and the media can do now is speculate. For now, the Knicks will probably try to surround Anthony with more playoff savvy players, but hopefully, for their sake, not injury prone guys who will be a non-factor in the postseason when the Knicks really need to excel. The Pacers were the better team as they were better organized and seemed to stick to a gameplan throughout the series.
