Blame Carmelo Anthony all you want for New York’s Game 6 meltdown in Indiana and their somewhat surprising 4-2 loss in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. His former coach at Syracuse isn’t having any of it. Jim Boeheim recently ripped into ‘Melo’s teammates, saying it’s their fault New York’s season ended short of their goal.
Boeheim told The Post-Standard that he watched the Knicks closely this year, especially in the Indiana series, and doesn’t believe they’ll ever win a title unless major changes are in order.
The Syracuse legend didn’t stop there. Here are some excerpts of what he told The Post-Standard:
“Not on that team,” Boeheim said. “He did what he can do. He played very well the final game. Everybody’s killing him but Tyson Chandler just didn’t try to catch the ball. He threw him the ball and Tyson Chandler went like this (Boeheim dodged in a chair in his office in the Carmelo K. Anthony Center). He was wide open. He should have been looking for the ball right here. Kenyon Martin should have been looking for the ball. They both went like this (Boeheim dodged again). Carmelo gets turnovers and the announcers aren’t smart enough to even think, ‘Well, the guy should try to catch the ball.'”
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“Tyson Chandler claims he never gets the ball. He doesn’t try to get the ball,” said Boeheim, who coached Chandler when he was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team. “He had two points and Hibbert had (21). What was the difference in the series? Raymond Felton was 0-for-7. Lance Stephenson had (25) points. They’re going to blame it on Carmelo? I told him when he went to New York, they’re going to blame it on you.”
“They have no chance to win. (Knicks starter) Pablo Prigioni has never scored against (the U.S. team). We played Argentina six or seven times in different events. He hasn’t scored … against us. You have to have players to win in the NBA.”
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“Hibbert is really good,” Boeheim said of the former Georgetown star. “(Paul) George is really good. They’re all-stars, both of them. George Hill is really good. (David) West is a (former) all-star. That’s three all-stars. It’s not even close.”
On J.R. Smith and Raymond Felton, the next best offensive options in New York:
“Those guys weren’t great players where they were and now they’re asking them to be second and third options,” Boeheim said. “In Miami the second and third options are Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Your fourth option is Ray Allen, who is still in good shape. Your fifth option is Shane Battier, who is still a good player. The New York Knicks have who?”
On Mike Woodson‘s predictable offense:
“I said to my son, ‘He’s going to have to get 50 for them to win,'” Boeheim said. “That’s what he needed. Fifty. You’re not going to get that against Indiana. They run an isolation offense so he goes one-on-one all the time. It’s hard. It’s hard work. They need more of an offense where he can get something going. He has to work too hard. That’s not his fault. That’s how it’s set up.”
Tell ’em why you mad, son! All valid points, Jimmy B. Yet that won’t stop people from placing the blame on the team’s best player, the guy who played through a tough shoulder injury to average 28.5 points in the Indiana series, including 39 in the final game when he was literally the only one (outside of maybe Iman Shumpert) to show up.
Is Boeheim right?
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