The Phoenix Suns took it to the New York Knicks last week. It’s official, the Suns have their number. Their coach, former Knick, Monty Williams had some nice words to say about the team and organization following the game.
Following their easy victory, Williams said the Knicks are “a really good organization” and a “first-class place”, according to SI’s Jonathan Marci. While some may agree, most will disagree at the moment. Folks running the organization are part of the problem the team is currently in. And the way they have handled certain situations, Charles Oakley for one, has been anything but “first-class.”
Williams did leave Knicks fans with this gem, “We’re not doing anything different than them. Everybody can appreciate the Knicks because it’s New York, it’s the mecca of basketball and at some point if they continue to do what they are doing right now, they play hard every night, they play in the paint, they have good guys on their team, I think they are going to figure it out. We’re no different than the Knicks.”
Thanks for the kind words Monty but unfortunately most of those statements are inaccurate.
Whatever it is that he thinks that Knicks are “doing right now” isn’t working. There’s too many problems to begin with. It could start with having more than 5 new additions to the roster and learning to play together. Or the coaching change mid-season. Or the lack of offensive schemes and defensive accountability, etc.
The Knicks don’t play hard every night. One night they beat one of the best teams in the East, Miami Heat, and the next they’re down by 29 to the Suns at home. The Knicks show signs of progression but then revert back to one-on-one basketball with several players standing around the perimeter looking on, not moving. at blink of an eye.
They sort of play in the paint. The Knicks do become aggressive and take their man to the rim, but that’s all, again, in one-on-one situations. There’s no offensive plays were they get into the paint with ease except for a lob to Mitchell Robinson.
The Knicks do have good players on their team but they might not be the right ones. There’s talent and they’ve shown it but it’s not consistent which is the most frustrating part. Plus, they don’t play like a team. No matter what they say.
While it was nice to hear those from someone other than a Knicks fan, we have to be real and know that Monty Williams was just being nice.