Carmelo Anthony is certainly not getting the superstar treatment this season. As the New York Knicks work to place blame on their slow crawl to start the season, fingers are getting pointed away from the team and towards the referees. As effort begins to pick up, Anthony and head coach Mike Woodson are taking a look at how the officials are handling their games.
While interviewing with ESPN New York Radio, Woodson said that while other big-named players in the league often gets calls thrown their way, Anthony never gets the calls he deserves. He believes that Anthony takes more hits than others and yet never gets a whistle.
"Absolutely. And I'm not going to shy away from that, either. I think Melo gets hit more than ever," Woodson said. "I've been at this thing 30 years, and sometimes I'm starting to wonder what's a foul and what's not a foul."
The referees certainly played a large role in the Knicks' loss Wednesday night. Anthony attempted 11 free throws that night. Woodson believed there were several calls that should have been made in the fourth quarter that were not and then end result was an overtime loss.
"They can't see everything and I understand that, and sometimes they miss calls," Woodson said. "Yeah, I thought he got bumped on [a play late in overtime Wednesday], but hell, he didn't get the call, so we have to move on.
ESPN's Stats and Information team draws up a statistical comparison. Only 13 percent of Anthony's plays have ended in free throw attempts. Dwight Howard has 31.5 percent of his plays end in free throws, leading the league. The Knicks forward is done talking about how the referees appear to not be on his side anymore. He admits that it is frustrating knowing that others are getting calls that he should be receiving. But he notes that in the end, the team just needs to do more to win.
"You look at that and you see the way that some guys get their calls; me, I got to get cut, you've got to see blood for me to get a call down there," Anthony said. "That's where the frustration comes in."
The Knicks have seen a lot of things not go their way this season, leaving many to wonder about job security for the coaching staff. Woodson is certainly sitting on the hot seat as New York expects a championship this year with the upgraded roster. Despite sitting way below .500, owner James Dolan is giving everyone a vote of confidence.
"I have a lot of confidence in Woodson, and one thing I can say about Mike is he has the respect of all the players," Dolan said, via the New York Post. "They all respect him. And he treats them fairly and relatively equally, and that's part of where the respect emanates from. And those are hard things to get from a coach. When a coach loses a team ... that's when a coach is kind of done."
So, despite the 3-8 start everyone gets to keep their jobs. If the struggles continue, fans should not read too far into Dolan's words. The NBA is a business built on wins.
