by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
Despite having had to put up with a horrifically bad team over the last, oh, decade or so, Knicks fans aren’t exactly known for their patience. They demand a winner, and aren’t afraid to express this.
So, I can only imagine the look on their faces when they read this morning when Carmelo Anthony expects the team to get its act together.
Melo, not so unreasonably, believes New York might not fully jell until sometime next season.
The NY Daily News has the quotes:
Amar’e Stoudemire wants the Knicks to play together and Mike D’Antoni wants them to get through this “rough stretch” and firmly believes his offense can work for Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. But in the wake of the team’s worst first-quarter scoring output in 55 years and a second straight loss to a lottery-bound team, Anthony had a different message. Moments after the Knicks fell to the Milwaukee Bucks, 100-95, Sunday at the Bradley Center, an unsure Anthony said this team may never reach peak performance until next winter.
“For everyone to get 100% on the same page, it might take next season,” Anthony said. “But right now, in this short period of time, we’ve just got to come together as a unit. As far as everybody jelling and the chemistry and clicking to where we want to be at, it’s going to take some time.”
The Knicks are now just one game above .500, having lost two in a row in demoralizing fashion, and slipping in the Eastern Conference standings (they’re now the 7th seed, a half game behind the Philly Sixers.)
Things have not been easy for Melo since he strode heroically into Madison Square Garden, as New York has lost more than it has won with him (with pretty much the exact opposite taking place in Denver, his old home).
It’s understandable that Carmelo Anthony would ask for patience from fans and media. Whether he gets it or not, remains to be seen (hint: highly unlikely.)
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