Is Carmelo Anthony the New York Knicks worst defender?

Now riding a five-game losing streak Carmelo Anthony‘s New York Knicks are showcasing humiliating defense. Who, though, is the worst?

When the New York Knicks had the doors blown off Madison Square Garden by the extremely average Orlando Magic on Monday night, not only did Jeff Hornacek‘s squad lose a rough one on their home court, they fell in defeat for the fifth consecutive time.

The Knickerbockers are now out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture with a mark of 16-18. More importantly, this team continues its horrid defensive play.

As we speak, Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, and John Starks are shaking their heads in amazement (Mason, from a spot in peace). Never did they, or any diehard 1990s fan ever believe the beloved organization who once put together a “Go, New York, Go New York, Go” performance could ever fall to such a soft level.

Forget Charmin-soft, these Knicks have the feel of a freshly fluffed pillow. Then, when the pillow is turned over, it’s not just cool, it’s ice-cold.

Stuart Scott could never spout off his most famous, “As cool as the other side of the pillow” line with these 15 players. These guys are ice-cold, playing dead when the opposition has the basketball.

Defense is never an individual endeavor. For a unit to work functionally, all five players must be on the same page with awareness in their minds and toughness in their hearts. Having said that, most of the individuals who call their NBA home Manhattan, straight up stink on the defensive end of the floor.

Today, we call out the worst.

Here are the worst New York Knicks defenders during the NBA season of 2016-17:

5. Brandon Jennings

First of all, we all love the guy. In no way, shape or form is this a spot intended to crush Brandon Jennings.

As a backup point guard, the New York Knicks couldn’t have asked for more.

The 27-year-old is averaging 8.3 and 5.3 a night. He’s instant energy off the bench and runs well with a second unit that loves to fly up and down the court. Knicks fans love the guy because he can impact a game on offense without taking a single shot.

That doesn’t mean he plays solid defense.

He’s not awful on the defensive end of the floor. His mobility and agility serve him well, but far too often he’ll get lost away from the ball or let his guard down for a brief moment that’ll crush the unit.

At times, B-Jennings will turn momentum around with one of his “out-of-nowhere” steals. But even those can’t make up for his overall defensive game.

4. Willy Hernangomez

When Phil Jackson snagged this foreign delight from Philly after they drafted him in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft, fans weren’t aware of the complete skillset. Even when Jax inked him this past offseason, making it official that he’d come to the states, the diehards just hoped he can add depth to a suspect bench.

Two months into the season and we’re all realizing the bench isn’t the issue, partly thanks to Willy Hernangomez.

While he’s usually part of the regular rotation, Hernangomez’s offensive attributes are easy to spot. He’s a kid who can post, pass, and nail the 15-footer.

Defensively, however, is where is international tag hits home.

Standing at 6-foot-10, the center is showcasing a line of 1.7 blocks per 48 minutes. It’s not a terrible number. He does, at times, find himself right in the mix in terms of the dirty area in the paint.

The will is there, but the overall awareness isn’t. Only seasoning will help his cause.

3. Mindaugas Kuzminskas

Much like Willy, Mindaugas Kuzminskas is another foreign treat who’s stolen the hearts of many New Yorkers. Much like Willy, Kooz (as he’s affectionately known as), has provided depth on a roster that was thought to have very little of heading into the season.

Anything the Knicks picked up from both Hernangomez and Kuzminskas was going to be considered icing on the cake.

Defensively, another story is told.

While Kooz seems to be unflappable in even the grittiest of moments, he often gets bullied by fours (and even threes). The fundamentals are there, even defensively. He looks to box out, plays ball-you-man — he even keeps his motor near 100 percent during every minute played.

His defensive mind simply can’t compete at this level yet.

Like Hernangomez, only seasoning at this level can help on the defensive end of the floor.

2. Carmelo Anthony

Based on the title alone, you’d think New York Knicks captain Carmelo Anthony would finish as the Knickerbockers worst defender.

You’d be wrong. But don’t think it wasn’t close.

Part of his No. 2 ranking isn’t his fault. Standing at 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, the 32-year old simply can’t keep up with the quicker threes in the Association. 

This past offseason, and much of his presidential career with the Knicks, Jackson had made the mistake of cultivating his personnel to show and play big. The way the starting lineup has been handed to Jeff Hornacek, Melo is forced to play the small forward spot.

He’s much better served as the four.

Anthony, for all of his deficiencies on the defensive end of the floor, is a sound and vicious rebounder. The one thing you can’t say about Melo is that he’s soft. He’s anything but. It’s part of the reason he doesn’t get calls on a nightly basis, much like the flopping and acting James Harden.

Nobody’s trying to knock Anthony here. The problem many fans face when evaluating Melo’s talents comes thanks to the media hyping up offensive basketball. Instead of treating defense as 50 percent of the game, SportsCenter builds these stars up based purely on the fact they can put the ball in the hole.

Melo isn’t LeBron James. He’s a dynamite scorer and, at one point, one of the toughest one-on-one matchups in the history of the game.

He’s not even an average defender.

While his infamous “swat block” picks up highlights at times, he’s, far too often, getting beat to the basket by quicker guys which forces the entire defensive integrity of the Knicks to break down.

If you’re going to allow any stat to speak to you, allow Melo’s -79 +/- stat to hit home. This means the opponent has outscored the Knicks by 79 points when Anthony is on the floor. Only Lance Thomas and Brandon Jennings have lesser numbers while Kristaps Porzingis‘s number of -11 leads the squad (among the top minute guys).

1. Derrick Rose

As much as many would love to ride Carmelo Anthony as the Knicks worst defender, he simply isn’t. While it’s a close call, Derrick Rose ranks No. 1 in this horrid category. 

It’s amazing to think Tom Thibodeau built one of the better defenses in recent memory in Chicago around this guy running the point. It definitely helped that D-Rose was younger, thus more agile and nimble, blending in easier with Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah, and the rest of those boys on the Bulls.

Now, in New York, even with Rose still attacking the basket with vengeance, opposing point guards are eating the Knicks for breakfast.

Absolutely not: it’s nowhere near as bad as it was a season ago with Jose Calderon at the point. Rose, at least, can move. But while he can move, he still doesn’t possess the defensive awareness needed to function in a top-flight defense.

His pick and roll defense is spotty. Whether the team is switching, showing hard, or flying underneath, opposing teams attack D-Rose with the pick and roll on a nightly basis. They also find penetration extremely easy, thus forcing help and wide open kick outs with closing out hard a rarity in the Big Apple.

Final Thoughts

If things don’t change for this group, the current mark of 108.5 points allowed per game (25th in the NBA) will balloon to 110. 

On a positive note, the team does rank in the middle of the pack in terms of defensive field goal percentage (.505, 13th) and 3-point percentage (.354, 13th). Perhaps the law of averages will allow things to turn for the better.

Or, perhaps not.

The reality that this team will never play solid defense is a sound notion. Only Courtney Lee and Justin Holiday are studs on the defensive end of the floor. Joakim Noah, while he isn’t the Defensive Player of the Year he once was, still brings immense intangibles to the party. Kristaps Porzingis, while he’s overrated defensively thanks to his highlight-reel blocks, plays an amazing weakside brand of ball.

Aside from those guys, there isn’t much.

Hopefully, something magical happens that’ll make one or two of these guys top-flight defensive studs. Having said that, I wouldn’t bet on it.