Carmelo Anthony: New Look, Same Old Knicks As Pacers Dominate New York

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Carmelo Anthony Hasn't Made A Bit Of Difference For This Knicks Team

When Carmelo Anthony was acquired from Denver by the New York Knicks last month, fans and analysts felt like the Knicks would be better as a result. After last night's 106-93 loss to the Pacers, there aren't so many people who believe in the Knicks.

Don't be fooled by that 13-point margin of defeat. The Pacers were all over them in this game. Carmelo Anthony did his part with 25 points, but the problem with the Knicks was never on the offensive side of the ball.

The Knicks rank 29th in the NBA in points allowed per game (105.8). Nothing that they did at the trade deadline was going to fix that because the problem isn't with the players they have now or the players they had before the trade was made. The problem is Mike D'Antoni's coaching style.

D'Antoni coaches a fun, up-and-down style that leads to a lot of high scoring games, but it has never been conducive to serious winning. He won a lot of games in Phoenix with the style, but he never got past the Western Conference Finals because no one ever played defense.

If this team wants to win (or at least contend for) a championship sometime in the near future, they have to get someone on the coaching staff that teaches defense...or get rid of Mike D'Antoni, which won't happen for at least another year when the shine wears off this Anthony trade.

The Knicks are 6-5 with their new lineup with Anthony, Chauncey Billups and A'mare Stoudemire. Before the trade they were 28-26. I said it before, but it has to be said again: The problem was not with the players they had on the team; it is the system that this team runs.

Related Story: What The Knicks Need To Be True Contenders

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