WANNA GETAWAY
Fish: Off-days can't hurt
For four days, the Knicks will know peace.
OK, maybe not peace, but at least they won’t know another loss.
The 535 Knicks, tied with the Magic and Suns for the most games played in the NBA — 40 — finally caught something of a scheduling break with no games scheduled until Thursday, when they face Jason Kidd and the Milwaukee Bucks in London. Carmelo Anthony, who has missed the last six games resting his sore left knee, has targeted the London game for a possible return.
“He’s got a situation that could exacerbate, could get difficult, could be better with the surgery, but he wants to really try it again and see where he’s going to be,” team president Phil Jackson said Saturday regarding Anthony, noting any decision for surgery has to be the player’s decision.
“After [some] time, we’ll assess that and we’ll sit down and talk to him about it. I know the AllStar Game is important for him down the road in February. I know this trip to London will be important for him to play. He sees possibilities of helping the team get back and be better. He questions his leadership role and his part in all this, I know.”
So with or without Anthony on the court, the Knicks will carry their franchise record 15game losing streak into the O2 Arena. The streak hit 15 with a — pick adjective of choice — (laughable, embarrassing, disgraceful, sensesnumbing, stinky) 11082 home defeat to Charlotte Saturday. Figure this is as good a time as any for the Knicks to leave the country and bond.
“It can be, if we make the most of it,” said coach Derek Fisher, who received emphatic support from Jackson. “It can be an opportunity for us to hunker down even more as a group and be away from as many external things that can rip your group apart or take your guys away from each other.
“Most importantly, it’s just your practice time or your time on the floor together which we haven’t had any of really in the last few weeks … just due to our games schedule or injuries. We’re out there trying to play games with no practice, with probably eight guys that were on our summer league team and then another guy or two that was on somebody else’s summer league team.
“If we can’t practice, it’s going to be hard for us to sustain what we need to do to compete in the games [so] just having some space to have some practice time, I think is going to help us.”
So much for frolicking away time at the Jack the Ripper Museum.
Jackson, in his address Saturday, stuck his neck out and claimed the mess is on him, while absolving Fisher.
“I’m very proud of the way Derek has held himself together during this,” Jackson said. “It’s not easy to go through what he’s gone through. He’s done a really terrific job of continuing to coach and teach and that’s what we’re looking for. And so we’re moving forward in that regard.
“He’s been consistent about his coaching. He’s patient with the players. He hasn’t lost his temperament that I think is very much a part of who he is. The resolve and the character is stable. The fact he is optimistic is really important.”
Fisher, who has heard chants from fans calling for his job, appreciated the support.
“It’s important these guys on this team understand that I’m here with them,” he said. “We’re going through this together. I’m not going to step back and say it’s on them. It’s on all of us.
“In terms of Phil saying what he said, of course it means a lot. He understands how I think about the way we’re trying to do this and how important it is to be very smart about the way we build this out and the type of people we want to have, not just in basketball players but in our entire culture.”