The New York Knicks have not had much success this season. For as bad as they have been, Carmelo Anthony and company have been even worse when playing matinee games. Because of that, head coach Mike Woodson made his players stay in a hotel on Friday night and instituted a curfew for them.
“We’ve had those troubles,” Woodson said Thursday, via Newsday’s Al Iannazzone. “We’re going to all get together and huddle together. I’m not going to let them hang out. We’re going to be together. Put it that way.
“I don’t know why we’ve gotten off to such bad starts and hadn’t played well. I don’t think it’s anything of guys hanging out. I don’t know why that is. We’re going to do something a little different this time, see if it helps.”
The Knicks face the Memphis Grizzlies at 12:00 p.m EST on Saturday. They have played two games that started at noon this season, and they were their worst losses of the year. On Nov. 10, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Knicks by 31 points. The Boston Celtics beat New York by 41 on Dec. 9. When asked when the team is supposed to hit the sheets on Friday night, Anthony smiled.
“I think 10,” he said. “That’s what I’m hearing. … When you have them early-morning games, you start thinking too much. Should you go to sleep early? Should you get this amount of rest? I think it’s all mental. Besides it being an early game, I think it’s all mental at that point.”
A lot of New York’s issues have been mental this season, and they have yet to overcome them. The Knicks are 8-17 and have lost four of their last seven games. At some point, the team has to stop making crucial mistakes down the stretch and put together some sort of winning streak. If they can’t, they may miss the playoffs in a shockingly mediocre Eastern Conference.
