NOT FEELING SO MELO
Source: Dolan as mad as Anthony after loss
CARMELO Anthony was still decompressing on Tuesday, politely informing reporters as he exited the practice court, “I’m off today.”
The normally affable and cooperative All-Star forward is clearly frustrated and that frustration, rightfully so, is shared by James Dolan. The MSG chairman, according to a source, was visibly agitated following the Knicks’ lackluster performance in a loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday.
It is unclear if Dolan addressed team president Phil Jackson, just as he did one week before Derek Fisher was fired. But Dolan is said to be just as angry as Anthony with the direction of the Knicks, who are 24-34 entering Wednesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
“We’re all frustrated. We can’t accept this,” said interim head coach Kurt Rambis. “For the organization, for our team, ourselves as individuals, the coaching staff. We can’t accept losing. I want players to be angry. I want players to be frustrated. That’s the right attitude to have.”
Dolan would have a more than a handful of reasons to be upset on Monday, starting with a loss to a team that owns the Knicks’ 2016 first-round pick. It was Dolan who approved the trade for Andrea Bargnani just like it was Dolan who months later would veto a deal to send another future first -round pick to the Raptors for Kyle Lowry,
who recorded a triple-double on Tuesday.
This is also the fifth anniversary of the Anthony deal, a trade that Dolan orchestrated with the Denver Nuggets. The Knicks have a losing record since making the deal, including last year’s franchiseworst 17-65 record.
No one is feeling the hurt more than Anthony, who is on the verge of missing the playoffs for a third straight season. Following Monday’s loss, he appeared as down as he’s been in more than two years when he addressed reporters, saying, “My mood? Yeah I need to go home and just relax. Decompress a little bit.
“Regardless of the record, just losing. Accepting that … it is hard to accept that. You can’t be satisfied with losing basketball games.”
The Knicks were 22-22 this season but have since imploded, including a 1-3 record under Rambis, who likely contributed to Dolan’s bad mood with his social media habits on Twitter, which became public on Monday.
Presumably, it also didn’t sit well with Dolan that the fans began chanting for newly signed Jimmer Fredette after Toronto had taken a 27-point lead. Dolan’s goal was to reach the playoffs this year, not become a punch line.
The fallout from the Toronto debacle was a loud and intense practice on Tuesday, a clear by-product of the sorry state of the club, as well as the number of high-ranking executives in attendance at the team’s training facility in Greenburgh.
Jackson and his top lieutenants, Steve Mills and Clarence Gaines Jr., were all here and while there was no sign of Dolan, the boss was here in spirit.
“We watched some tape with the players today and we showed them some really good things that they did,” Rambis said. “T hey were active, they were aggressive, they were engaged, all five guys were doing their responsible actions on the court.
“And then t here were times when multiple guys weren’t doing the right thing. So the players know that they’ve got to start holding each other accountable. They’ve got to start holding themselves accountable. We’ve just got to start doing the right things.”
The players looked more focused, but it is easy to manufacture anger and intensity for one training session. The key is to bring that level of intensity to each game.
Rambis hinted at a possible lineup change, adding “when you’re losing, you are considering a lot of things.” That could mean Jose Calderon being demoted from the starting lineup. Rambis and Jackson know they have to do something. Anthony and Dolan made certain of that.