Rookie big man Kristaps Porzingis’ meteoric rise has made practically everyone in New York happy, but given the Knicks’ current three-game losing streak, Carmelo Anthony finds himself in a foul mood.
Melo says refs aren’t blowing the whistle often enough when he’s hacked—the perennial All-Star thinks part of the problem is that he won’t sell out and flop his way to the free-throw line.
Knicks perennially play at one of NBAs slowest paces. Melo's increasingly become more of a jumpshooter. Lack of calls. Its several things.
— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) December 9, 2015
Anthony, 31, is attempting 5.7 freebies a night.
Per the NY Daily News:
Two days after he picked up a technical for arguing about a non-call from Lauren Holtkamp, Anthony vented about the circumstances while revealing the common explanation from officials, “that I’m the most difficult player to referee in the NBA.” […] “I always get fouled. That’s what frustrating me. You play so hard, work so hard, then you don’t benefit from that. Then you kind of look at other guys and you touch them, you look at them wrong, you get fouls,” Anthony said Wednesday before the Knicks’ 106-85 loss to the Jazz. “So that’s the frustrating thing for me as a guy who likes to go to the basket, as a guy who likes to go to the paint and be physical and play physical.
“I don’t know. It’s really nothing I can say about that but I’m human. Those frustrations kick in at times. Especially when you’re down there banging and you know you’re getting banged on. I don’t know what else I can do. I don’t know how to play any other way.”
Part of the problem, Anthony said, is that he won’t sell the foul. […] “I don’t know how to flop. I think that’s the thing. Nowadays players know how to flop, they put their head back. I don’t know how to do that,” said Anthony, who is in his 13th year in the NBA with eight All-Star appearances. “A lot of times I get hit and I continue to get to my spots just because I’m big and strong. A lot of guys get hit and they stop and I’m not saying they’re flopping. But they’re lighter than I am. So I can take a lot.”
