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After watching their favorite team drop a brutal Game 6 effort against the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks fans were not particularly happy with Karl-Anthony Towns.
Once expected to be the missing piece of an NBA Finals-winning roster, KAT was instead a big reason why the team came up short, so much so that multiple personalities were already mocking him in trades for the offseason.
And to make matters worse for the KAT camp, James L. Edwards III and Fred Katz of The Athletic dropped a massive article on what went wrong with the Knicks' playoff run that painted the stretch big in a not-so-pleasant light.
“Publicly, Knicks players made veiled comments all season about poor communication causing their inconsistencies,” Edwards III and Katz wrote. “Behind the scenes, they and coaches expressed frustration with Towns' defensive habits — less concerned with his talent level and more with his process on that end. Too often, Towns executed incorrect coverages without communicating why he did it. After it became a theme, players worried Towns didn't grasp the importance of the matter.”
While Towns wasn't exactly known for his ability to play solid defense during his run with the Timberwolves, he was targeted often during the Knicks' playoff run, to the point where games often came down to how many shots he made versus how many he gave up. While some hurt feelings could ease with time, one has to wonder if the Knicks and KAT can continue together without some serious changes.
PJ Tucker weighs in on the Knicks' dysfunction
Elsewhere in The Athletic's breakdown, PJ Tucker commented on the Knicks' issues, noting that communication between teammates is key to executing a successful offense and defense.
“They all talk to me. But they didn't talk to each other in real-time, in those situations,” Tucker told The Athletic.
“The situations to get stops, to have help, you know what I'm saying? That, to me, we have talent, but that's 80 percent of everything else – being able to communicate, be able to get stops, to be on the same page on offense, and be able to read each other. We needed to do those things instead of putting our hands up and looking at each other. It's changed. Do I think it needs to get better? One hundred percent. But it's come a long way since I've got here, for sure.”
While these comments might not have read as an indictment on KAT's play at the time, there's a reason why Edwards III and Katz included it during their story immediately after commenting on his lack of defensive effort. If the Knicks are going to blast past the Eastern Conference Finals and return to the NBA Finals for the first time this century, it will need to be addressed one way or another.
