Knicks shaken after horrible loss to Bucks
MILWAUKEE - David Lee considered the fact that the Knicks will practice Sunday after yet another stunningly horrid performance in a 102-87 loss to the Bucks last night at the Bradley Center.
Lee then wondered, "Where do you begin?"
What's abundantly clear is there isn't a need for another closed-door, players-only meeting, which was called after Thursday's practice after an alarming loss to the undermanned Indiana Pacers. Though Lee was quick to carefully insist there isn't an issue of chemistry among the players, there does appear to be somewhat of a philosophical divide between the designated captains - Lee and Chris Duhon - and veteran players Al Harrington and Larry Hughes.
It was the latter two, not the captains, who called the meeting to fill the air with the usual rhetoric that had very little impact, as evidenced by consecutive games in which the team yielded a 40-point first quarter. On Friday it was a 40-21 deficit to LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Last night it was 40-22 to the Bucks, who may have an impressive rookie/draft-pick-that-got-away in Brandon Jennings, but they don't have a LeBron.
"We got outplayed so badly in the first quarter," Lee said, "it really didn't matter what happened after that."
The Bucks (3-2) went ahead by as many as 36 points. Andrew Bogut led Milwaukee with 22 points and Jennings, whom the Knicks passed on in the draft, added 17 points. Another rookie, second-round pick Jodie Meeks, had 19 points and shot 5-for-7 from three-point range.
"I think we're all stunned," Mike D'Antoni said. "I've taken a lickin' before, but I don't know worse than that."
Much of it was self-inflicted. For instance, there was an open three by Charlie Bell that caused D'Antoni to yank Duhon from the game just 2:23 into the second half. Duhon had failed to close out on Bell's trey after he already had missed backdoor coverage on the previous possession.
Duhon, who was one of the first veterans to speak up after he ripped the team's poor preparation after the second game of the season, said D'Antoni "had every right" to pull him from the game.
"Those are effort plays," Duhon said, "and I didn't make the effort."
Duhon hasn't made much of anything this season. He finished the game with one point and was 0-for-4 from the field after going 0-for-6 in Friday's loss to the Cavaliers. In six games, Duhon is shooting 25.4 percent (15-for-59).
The Knicks, who are owned by Cablevision, which also owns Newsday, clearly missed the energy of Nate Robinson, who missed the last four games with a right ankle sprain.
D'Antoni had no explanation for Duhon's terribly ineffective play this season. "You'd have to ask him," D'Antoni said. "But he's not the only guy."
Harrington, the team's leading scorer, also looked lost on both ends of the floor, as he had five points and shot 1-for-7 from the floor in 21:55. Wilson Chandler's struggles also continued with 1-for-10 shooting and three points.
Lee led the Knicks with 18 points and rookie Toney Douglas had 16 points off the bench as D'Antoni spent most of the fourth quarter playing those with contracts that extend beyond this season. Danilo Gallinari, who started off with a hot hand but again stopped getting the ball, had 15 points and shot 5-for-7 from the field.
