Knicks cite defensive effort, but it's defensive talent they're missing

Oh, how the not-so-mighty have fallen.

Three weeks ago, the 16-13 Knicks sat fourth-place in a compact Eastern Conference. Since then, they've lost 10-of-12, with their last two defeats coming in especially embarrassing fashion. They blew a 17-point lead before being beaten at the buzzer by T.J. McConnell and the lowly 76ers on Wednesday, then dug a 38-point hole in Sunday's loss to the Raptors.

The Knicks don't do much well, but their defense, in particular, has become a trainwreck, posting a 25th-ranked rating of 107.9 that's worse than what the 17-win Knicks' defensive efficiency was two years ago (107.2).

The Knicks don't close out possessions with a rebound after getting a stop (No. 28 in defensive rebounding), don't turn the opposition over enough (No. 23 in opponent TOV percent), and put their opponents on the free-throw line far too often (No. 25 in opponent FTA rate).

Breakdowns on the perimeter, and the ripple effect of chaos those cause, can explain a lot of that, so how ironic was it to hear the team's starting point guard call attention to New York's porous D this weekend?

Derrick Rose said Saturday that he told Jeff Hornacek to hold the Knicks more accountable, which Hornacek brushed off before Sunday's loss in Toronto as a fairly standard post-practice discussion between player and coach.

The thing is, the Knicks aren't supposed to be a good defensive team. They replaced a capable defensive anchor in Robin Lopez with a slowing Joakim Noah, start one of the league's absolute worst defenders every night at point guard, and are led by an offensive star whose defensive reputation is cited only as a punchline. Heck, the team's best defender might already be 21-year-old sophomore Kristaps Porzingis.

Isn't it possible, then, that rather than an effort issue, the Knicks simply have a defensively incapable roster?

"No," Carmelo Anthony emphatically responded when asked that very question in the Air Canada Centre's visiting locker room. "Not with this team. Throughout the course of a game, there's spurts where we play great defense.

"Defense always comes down to effort. If you don't have five guys out there giving effort, you're not going to be successful."

There are physical and mental factors - natural strengths and shortcomings - that help and hinder a player's defensive ability, just as the same factors might affect a player's shooting and scoring potential. Unsurprisingly, however, Anthony's teammates share the same view he and many others do when it comes to defense.

"Lateral quickness is a big key - to be able to cut somebody off and slide and be able to recover - but I'd say that's the only talent you need (to be a good defender)," Courtney Lee told theScore. "Other than that, it's effort, understanding the defensive schemes, and where to be."

"Defense is effort," Brandon Jennings added. "You've got to care to want to stop (the offensive player)."

Hornacek, like any coach, would love to stop the ball at the point of attack, but perimeter players capable of achieving that are few and far between, which is why the execution of team schemes is more important than ever.

"You try to emphasize to your guys that they have to stay in front of their man when they have the ball, but the other guys have a responsibility, too," Hornacek said when asked if his roster might not be suited for the defensive end. "I don't think I was a great one-on-one defender, but in the team concept, you can do the right things, be in the right spots, and that eliminates a lot of stuff. That's what we're working on."

Rose, whose comments further exposed New York's biggest weakness to public criticism, was the one player who seemed more interested in the team concept.

"It's a team thing," Rose repeated when asked about the defense he's acknowledged needs work. When pressed again about whether he believes a lack of effort has hindered the Knicks, Rose responded, "I'm out there playing, so you'd be able to tell better than I could."

What you can tell when watching the Knicks is just how dysfunctional they are as a defensive unit. There's little communication, no connectivity, a comedy of errors that includes players turning their backs to the ball (Anthony was guilty of this during a 25-2 Toronto run to open the third quarter, leading to a Terrence Ross 3-pointer), and an endless array of hung heads and slumped shoulders.

Common knowledge says the Knicks aren't nearly adept to turn things around on the defensive end, but if Rose's teammates are to be believed that a more concerted effort can solve their woes, then they ought to start pushing themselves, because the first half of their season is already behind them, and the majority of the East is once again in front of them.

"It doesn't feel like the season's slipping away," Anthony said Sunday. "But it doesn't feel like an average slump, either, because we're much better than what we're putting out there on the court."

At what point will this team realize they're really not?