OAKLAND – Not only did Jeff Van Gundy stick with Mark Jackson as his starting point guard for last night’s game vs. Golden State, but the Knicks coach came to his defense. He defended him a lot more fiercely than Jackson has done against opponents this season.
Van Gundy, who kept the same starting lineup but admitted some players are on a “short leash,” said his starting point guard has taken too much of the heat for the Knicks’ disgraceful defensive performances on the road in which they have permitted 98 points per game in going 0-6.
“When Mark makes a mistake defensively, everyone says, ‘Oh, man, he can’t guard anybody,'” VG said. “When others make mistakes defensively, it’s more overlooked. I would say Mark would be better off with more size behind him to make up for his little deficiencies but so would other guys who are given a free pass defensively.”
Jackson is one of the better passing point guards to ever play for the Knicks but indeed his reputation has always been being a step slow defensively.
“Bottom line is individually and collectively, we have to get the job done,” Jackson said. “It’s easy when a guy has a rap being a bad defender or not being as good as the next man. It’s easy to throw it on him. I understand that. If we have passing woes, I could be the one causing them all but nobody will say it’s my fault.”
The 4-7 Knicks are amidst a point-guard mess in which none of their expensive trio that combines to make more than $14 million this season has played well.
Charlie Ward is currently out of the rotation but Howard Eisley suddenly can’t hit a shot, and Van Gundy did not rule out bringing Ward back from the banished last night if things were not going well vs. the Warriors.
Ward, who lost his backup job to Eisley a week ago in the third quarter of the Portland victory, is the best defender of the three point guards – all of whom are shooting well under 40 percent from the field.
In preseason, Van Gundy vowed he would not continually “flip-flop” the point-guard rotation. But when asked if there was a chance of Ward getting in, Van Gundy said, “I don’t go in there with that mindset but like the other day in the Portland game I didn’t go in with that mindset either [of bringing in Eisley]. I’ll flip-flop and flop flop if it helps us win.”
Indeed, Van Gundy is searching for answers for a team in danger of not making the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.
“We’ve all earned a short leash,” Van Gundy said. “That means I don’t want them looking over their shoulder after a mistake. Losing makes you re-
evaluate. That’s the nature of it.
“We have to be more determined [defensively],” he said. “A lot of breakdowns occur in the final seconds of the shot clock. If that doesn’t work, we have to get the best defensive players out there for more minutes.”
That likely means Shandon Anderson, a swingman who has been a tougher, grittier defender than either Allan Houston or Latrell Sprewell and is making 48 percent his shots because he goes to the basket and runs the floor on the break.
Jackson, meanwhile, matched up against the taller, converted point guard Larry Hughes last night. Though he was a shooting guard, he’s an excellent penetrator in both directions. Tonight in Phoenix, Jackson faces fellow New York point guard Stephon Marbury, who grew up idolizing the Brooklyn-born Jackson.
Jackson has taken a special interest in the Coney Islander and their mothers have grown very close from working together with charities.
“The way he plays the game the way he carries himself, his approach, he’s always been respectful and we hit it off from the beginning,” Jackson said of Marbury. “You watch people pass the torch on and what a great guy to carry it. He’s as good as it gets.”
