Carmelo Anthony Tyson Chandler, Via Ian Begley at ESPN:
Carmelo Anthony said Monday he will talk to Tyson Chandler privately
about comments the New York Knicks center made a day earlier,
insinuating that the team was playing selfishly on offense.
“I really don’t want to go back and forth about that because I really
don’t know exactly what he was talking about. But if he feels that way,
we’re about to get together right now. We’ll discuss that amongst
ourselves and figure that out,” Anthony said after practice.
Anthony said he hopes to “get (Chandler’s) take, get his perspective
on that comment and we’ll handle that internally and figure it out
amongst ourselves.”
Chandler was critical of the Knicks’ offense after they scored 71 points in a Game 3 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
“I watched the tape myself and there’s open looks,” Chandler said
Sunday. “We have to be willing passers. You have to sacrifice yourself
sometimes for the betterment of the team, for the betterment of your
teammates. So when you drive in the paint, you draw, you kick it. We
need to do a better job of allowing the game to dictate who takes the
shots and not the individuals.
“I’m not saying that anybody is doing it maliciously. I think it’s
moreso a situation, you want to take over the game or you want to make a
big shot, where you have to just stick to the game plan. Good teams win
basketball games. Unless you’re a great, great, great individual, and
we’ve only had a few of those come through.”
Chandler did not call out any of his teammates by name. But Anthony
and J.R. Smith are the players who most frequently operate in isolation
to create their own shot.
Anthony appeared a bit put off by Chandler’s comments. However,
before he addressed the issue with reporters, he insisted that the
Knicks were on the “same page.”
“We’re good. As far as mentally and everybody being on the same page
and everybody staying confident, everybody is where we should be,”
Anthony said.