The New York Knicks lost their fourth consecutive game on Monday and their ninth loss in the last 11, and that defeat led to a pretty damning quote from one of their core players.
The Knicks lost at home to the Dallas Mavericks 114-97 on Monday, continuing a string of very bad defensive showings. After the game, forward Josh Hart openly questioned the team’s effort in the loss, contrasting it with what they showed last year.
“I think last year no matter what we did, the effort was there. I haven’t seen this kind of effort that we had today, it was embarrassing,” Hart said, via Ian Begley of SNY.
Whenever effort starts being questioned, things are pretty bad. After a game in which the Knicks gave up 75 points in the first half, emotions were clearly high, especially since the Knicks never had a stretch like this last year.
This was the risk the Knicks were taking when they decided to fire Tom Thibodeau at the end of last season. He had molded the Knicks into a gritty, defensively sound unit, which is not the same style that his successor Mike Brown embraces. People have noticed, including perhaps Thibodeau himself.
The Knicks are still 25-18, so their season is by no means a lost cause. However, this might be a major wake-up call for the struggling team.
