The latest excuse in the book has surfaced for the New York Knicks as Brandon Jennings is now claiming Carmelo Anthony rumors hurt them.
Ah, yes … finally, we’ve now heard the latest excuse in that large book titled the 2016-17 New York Knicks. You know this book, the one not even Steven King could conjure up in terms of sheer horror and morbidity.
The 30-49, 12th place Knickerbockers are playing out the string as current and former Knicks keep yapping away. The latest comes in the form of the team’s former backup point guard, Brandon Jennings.
B-Jennings offers up a not-so-unique perspective about how those pesky Carmelo Anthony trade rumors took a huge toll on the team, via Ian Begley of ESPN New York.
“It definitely took a toll, I think, on the team. Because it wasn’t even about basketball anymore, it was more about what was going on with Melo,” Jennings said, adding that it was one of the wildest situations he has been in during his eight seasons in the league.
Jennings said it was “cool” playing with Anthony, but noted that Anthony had “a lot of pressure on him dealing with stuff with Phil.”
“I think it was just a roller coaster, an emotional roller coaster for him this year with everything he had to deal with, which isn’t fair,” Jennings said. “For a player to wake up every day and you’re hearing trade rumors and you might be gone and this and that. It was like a two-week span where everybody was hitting your phone, (reading reports) about Melo leaving.”
Hey, listen, if you can’t blame the actual players on the court and coaches on the sideline, you might as well blame the noise that comes from the media.
Jennings also spoke about the triangle.
“We were trying to learn an offense that guys didn’t really know,” ex-Knick Brandon Jennings said Thursday night, after his Wizards handed the Knicks their 49th loss of the season.
Nobody over here is defending Phil Jackson. That much is certain. But it’s not 100 percent Phil’s fault that this team was horrid on the court. What other NBA team and head coach is forced to run a system placed upon them by the president?
No team and coach.
Still, the players need to take on fault too. Melo, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose have enough talent in those three bodies alone. That trio, regardless of outside distractions, should be able to come up with more than 30 wins.
