Jalen Brunson’s telling answer is at crux of everything for flailing Knicks
NY Post
Jalen Brunson said a whole lot with just a few words.
“We just have to care a little more about what we’re doing,” Brunson said after practice on Tuesday. “It has to mean a little more to us.”
For a team that entered the season with NBA Finals-or-bust expectations, it should not be a question midway through the year if the players “care” or not. But a lack of “effort” was a concerning theme in the locker room after the Knicks’ 114-97 loss to the Mavericks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
It’s not so much talent or schematic issues that are plaguing the Knicks right now. It’s something at a more baseline level that is threatening to derail their season, having lost nine of their past 11 games and riding a four-game skid.
Josh Hart, after Monday’s game, made a pointed comparison between this year’s team and last year’s. A year ago, he said, the Knicks could overcome poor shooting or offensive showings with grit, physicality and defensive intensity. They could, to put it simply, outwork teams. But he has seen that trait dissipate this year.
Most of the personnel, other than some changes to the bench, is the same. So what explains the difference?
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Noah Laba’s “welcome to the NHL” moment hit him like a freight train.
A moving of the goal posts?
Jordi Fernandez was happy with Cam Thomas’ playmaking, and isn’t worried about his shotmaking.
CHICAGO — The snow had stopped, but not the delirium of Bears fans still in disbelief and their awe over another Cardiac Caleb Williams Miracle TD pass with 18 seconds left in regulation to force OT against the Rams.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mika Zibanejad is the only Ranger who has been with the organization every day between the first letter in February 2018 and the second that was released last week.
Former big league knuckleballer Wilbur Wood died on Saturday at the age of 84.
Many keyboards have been tapped to stress the struggles of Karl-Anthony Towns, whose transition to Mike Brown’s system has gone about as smoothly as a car ride on square wheels.
Robert Saleh has moved one step closer to becoming a head coach again.
To be fair, you might’ve had the same initial reaction as Peyton Manning to the Broncos’ devastating injury news.
It’s the existential question that will hover over the Knicks until proven otherwise.
Josh Allen fumbled away his clearest path to the Super Bowl.
CALGARY, Alberta — Go figure: after squeezing out a win in which they were badly outchanced in Edmonton, the Islanders went to Calgary, won the advanced stats competition and lost the game.
Forty-one down. Forty-one to go.