Pass the ball!
That was the bold suggestion from the Twitter account of Knicks legend Bernard King for what Carmelo Anthony needs to do to lead the Knicks past the Pacers and into the Eastern Conference Finals, especially if his left shoulder can be blamed for his shooting woes in the playoffs.
"If Carmelo's shoulder is hurting that bad - work the paint- drive and dish - become a facilitator - it's a TEAM game," read the post on King's Twitter account, @30BernardKing. "The Knicks MUST move the ball more and take the open shots - must stop heaving up bad shots because the shot clock is running out."
A Knicks official told The Post last night an unnamed King friend and co-worker writes on the account and King "disagrees with the sentiment." King, who now lives in Atlanta and has worked for MSG Network on its post-game show in the postseason, was unhappy with the friend and shut the account down.
Anthony, the NBA regular-season scoring champion, has struggled in the postseason, despite his 28.9 points per game average. He's averaging 26 field-goal attempts in seven playoff games, making an average of 10. He was 10-for-28 in Sunday's 102-95 Game 1 loss to the Pacers and missed 25 shots — more than LeBron James missed the entire first round — in a Game 4 loss to the Celtics.
KNICKS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
PHOTOS: BEST PLAYOFF MOMENTS
Anthony's field-goal percentage during the regular season was just under 45 percent, which is why he was considered for league MVP. In the playoffs, that has dipped down to 38 percent.
Anthony has just 12 assists in the playoffs, an average of 1.7 per game, nearly a full assist less than he produced during the regular season.
"I was always taught - Take High Percentage shots - don't force it - don't be a one man show - don't over dribble - ball movement," the friend wrote on King's Twitter page.
When reached by the Post's Steve Serby, the Hall of Famer reiterated he didn't post the comments, and said of Anthony: "He's handled the pressure very well in New York City. He's a more complete player than I ever was."
zbraziller@nypost.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment