The New York Knicks are in desperation mode as they prepare to face the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night. Sitting at 3-6 on the season, the team has no identity. They are struggling in shooting slump and are no longer looking dominant on defense. As the team heads on the road with Mike Woodson on the hot seat, players are speaking out about the need to change things around.
Since beating Milwaukee in their season opener, the Knicks have dropped six of their last eight games. They are allowing an average of 99.7 points per game. As a whole, the team is shooting just 42 percent from the field and a disappointing 33 percent from behind the arc. Right now, their dreams of postseason play look as realistic as the Brooklyn Nets' hopes.
"We keep digging ourselves deeper and deeper -- I know it's early in the season, you've got to take it day by day -- but at the rate this is going, we're going to be in too deep of a hole to dig out," Carmelo Anthony said, via ESPNNewYork.com. "It ain't got nothing to do with making shots or missing shots. We're just not doing it on the other end. We're not defending, we're not giving no effort. We're not playing right now."
Head coach Mike Woodson is fighting for his job right now and is considering shaking up the lineup prior to the game against the Pistons. Right now, JR Smith has been inserted as a starter after returning from suspension. He is posting just 9.8 points per game on 22.6 percent shooting. Last year, he averaged 18.1 points coming off the bench. Kenyon Martin could see a start Tuesday night.
Woodson is looking to go big in the lineup against the large Pistons' front line that features Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe. Martin has seen limited minutes all season, but his size is needed. Amar'e Stoudemire is in the same boat, but Woodson is looking to put him on the court more after playing a season-high 14 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks.
Anthony is hoping that the team could avoid falling into a "dark place" as the losses pile up. As fans frow restless, Anthony is concerned that confidence is becoming an issue for the team. While shooting struggles are one thing, the forward believes self-confidence is the biggest problem.
"Last year we went through (a rough stretch) during the middle of the season but we had already established ourselves as a team. Our identity, our confidence was sky high so when we took that hit. We believed that we could get back out of that hole in the snap of a finger," Anthony said. "Now, it's happened to us early in the season and everybody's kind of shaken up a little bit, not knowing how to figure it out, not knowing what's going on. I don't know if it's a lot of distractions or things like that but I don't want to make excuses because we're just not putting forth the effort."
