Mike Woodson cries foul over refs' treatment of Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony and Mike Woodson look on during a game against the Charlotte Bobcats at Madison Square Garden. (Oct. 25, 2013) Credit: Jim McIsaac
Mike Woodson believes that Carmelo Anthony isn't getting the favorable whistles many superstars get from the referees.
"Absolutely not," Woodson said Thursday on ESPN Radio. "I'm not going to shy away from that either. I think Melo gets hit more than ever."
Woodson reiterated his feeling that Joey Crawford made the right call on Iman Shumpert when he tapped Paul George on the elbow as he attempted a three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in regulation of Wednesday's 103-96 overtime loss to Indiana. The Knicks were down by three and George hit all three free throws.
Woodson also reiterated that Shumpert didn't follow the coach's instructions.
But Woodson said he thought Anthony got hit by George on his shot in the lane in the closing seconds of regulation. There was contact, but no foul was called. Woodson also brought up a play in overtime when he said Anthony "got whacked coming across the middle" and didn't get a whistle.
"I've been at this thing 30 years," Woodson said. "Sometimes I'm starting to wonder what's a foul and what's not a foul. What are you going to do? They can't see everything and I understand that. Sometimes they miss calls. I thought he got bumped on it. Hell, he didn't get the call so we have to move on."
The tough loss was the Knicks' fourth straight and dropped them to 3-8. They hope to end their skid Saturday night when they open a four-game trip in Washington.
When Anthony was asked if there was contact from George on the last shot of regulation, he said, "Obviously not. They didn't call it. So I'm done speaking on the officials."
Anthony attempted 10 free throws Wednesday and 39 in the last four games. He's tied for fifth in the league, averaging 7.5 free throws per game, so he's getting to the line. But Anthony and Woodson think he should get there more.
In Tuesday's loss in Detroit, Anthony had a three-point play opportunity taken away from him. Woodson said official Danny Crawford "blew" that call.
"He is a gifted offensive player who has the knack to draw contact and get fouled," Woodson said. "The offense normally has the advantage when you're making plays at the rim. Melo draws a lot of contact, there's no doubt about that, but he comes up empty sometimes."
Woodson didn't come to Shumpert's defense the way he did with Anthony.
Woodson said he told Shumpert, who has been the subject of trade rumors, to foul George early on that fateful possession and met with him Thursday to discuss what happened.
"Iman didn't take the foul," Woodson said. "He thought that if he got too close he would have pulled the trigger and he would have fouled him in the act of shooting, which he ended up doing anyway. But he felt the shot was too far back that he would challenge the shot. But he ended up nicking George's elbow and Joey made the call.
"He made a mistake. The positive behind it was he was competitive the whole game. That is his nature. I just told him, 'Hey, you got to hang in there. You're going to possibly be in that situation again throughout your career and I'm sure you'll make the right decision when you're in that situation.' I'm not sitting here browbeating this young man because that's not the thing to do."
