Knicks center Joakim Noah may be nearly recovered from the flu, but his other problems haven’t gone away, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Noah has been under fire for his lackluster performance after signing a four-year, $72MM contract this summer. He played just 12 minutes Saturday night and didn’t take a shot, posting his fourth scoreless game of the season. He was part of the starting unit that fell behind 15-2, and he sat out yet another fourth quarter. “Those are not things I can control,” Noah said of being held out at the end of games. “All I can control is my progress. I need to play better and I will. I just got stay working. I need to play better and I will.”
There’s more this morning out of New York:
- Point guard Derrick Rose, who was Noah’s teammate for eight years in Chicago, hasn’t lost faith in him, according to Newsday’s Al Iannazzone. “Of course it hurts when you want to be out there, you want to play,” Rose said. “It’s not up to him, it’s up to Coach. If it was vice versa where it was someone like myself, I would be hurt. At the same time, I want to win the game. He has a great attitude. He’s still in the game, up cheering us, telling us what he sees on the floor.”
- The addition of Rose and the development of second-year big man Kristaps Porzingis have taken some of the scoring burden off Carmelo Anthony, Iannazzone writes in a separate story. The 32-year-old forward, who has been the Knicks’ top scorer since he arrived in a 2011 trade, likes having teammates he can count on. “It’s an easy transition for me,” Anthony said. “I always wanted somebody or other guys who can do it for me. Sometimes you want to play the back end and do what you do from that aspect. You don’t always want to be in the driver’s seat.”
- For the first time in his NBA career, Brandon Jennings is being asked to concentrate more on passing than scoring, Berman notes in a separate piece. The backup guard, who accepted a one-year, $5MM deal to come to New York, doesn’t mind the transition. “My role has changed here,’’ Jennings said. “I don’t have to score a lot. I can set the table. Not that it means I still can’t score. I have to sacrifice my game for the team. I’m playing with some of the best scorers in the world. I definitely have to change my game and found other things I can bring to the table.”