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[h1]Melo: Maybe I'm shooting too much[/h1]
January, 22, 2012
Jan 22
1:40
AM ET
By Ian Begley
After the Knicks' double-overtime loss to Denver on Saturday, Carmelo Anthony sat in silence at his locker, in full uniform, for about 15 minutes, thinking about the events of the past week.
The Knicks (6-9) had lost four home games in the past six days, two to teams with 4-9 records at the time.
In those four games, Anthony shot a combined 35-of-105 (33 percent).
"Maybe I need to not take so many shots. I don't know," he said. "There's just a bunch of stuff that goes through my mind. Just [trying to figure] out ways to make other guys better. Should I pass it more?"
In the midst of questioning everything, Anthony accepted blame for the Knicks' six-game losing streak.
"The coaches do run the offense through me so I'll take it. I'l take that blame," Anthony said.
He went 10-for-30 against Denver, missing 13 of his first 16 attempts.
But Anthony had his moments.
He hit his final four shots of regulation, including a 22-foot jumper with 1.7 seconds to play that sent the game to overtime.
But he couldn't muster enough in the two subsequent overtimes to get the Knicks over the hump.
Mike D'Antoni said after the game that his struggling team has a gorilla on it's back right now.
It also has a star who isn't making shots.
"The shots that I've been taking, I'll take those shots every night," Anthony said after going 3-for-9 in both overtimes. "Those are shots that I work on in the gym. They're just not falling for me right now."
Anthony hasn't been the same since returning from right ankle and left wrist injuries last Monday against the Magic. The Knicks are off on Sunday. Anthony said he will meet with the team's medical staff on Monday to determine whether he should sit out Tuesday's game -- and possibly more -- to allow the injuries to heal.
"I'm kind of hard-headed sometimes [when trainers tell] me to sit out games. I don't really know how to take that. But maybe it's time to re-evaluate that," he said.
Making matters worse for Anthony, with their win on Saturday the Nuggets improved to 31-16 since the trade that sent Anthony to the Knicks. New York fell to 20-28 since the trade. Saturday's game was the teams' first since the blockbuster deal last February.
And one of the key pieces in the trade -- former Knick Danilo Gallinari -- torched his former club career-high 37 points.
Gallinari got to 37 by taking 11 fewer shots than Anthony, who right now is a star who can't shoot straight.
"When you're missing shots and they're right there, you say, 'Maybe the next one, maybe the next one.' That's kind of the mentality you have. Maybe I need to stop shooting a lot. I don't know," Anthony said. "There's just a bunch of stuff that goes through my mind. Obviously, that's the case when the shot's are not falling."
