SACRAMENTO – Jeff Van Gundy talked about Charlie Ward moving into the NBA’s Top 15 of point guards before the season started. Considering the Knicks had just shelled out $26 million to Ward, those expectations were not exactly outrageous.
Eight weeks into the season, though, Ward is producing nowhere near the Top 15 and, in fact, he went into last night’s game against the slumping Kings at ARCO Arena and slumping rookie point guard Jason Williams with the worst assist to turnover ratio of any pure point guard in the NBA.
Ward entered last night’s action with 150 assists and 84 turnovers, one turnover to every 1.8 assists. In addition, he is 1-for-11 from the field the last two games and for the season has seven more turnovers than field goals.
There are lots of reasons for the 15-12 Knicks’ stumbling play, but count Ward’s lack of production right near the top. The Knicks have lost six of seven on the road and two of the last three at the Garden, including Monday’s 80-71 loss to the Hawks in which the Knicks were booed off the floor.
Van Gundy, who chooses his words carefully, said of Ward, one of his favorites, “I think he hasn’t been shooting the ball well recently and I think he’s been hesitant to shoot. If he misses, it’s up to me to take him out. I thought last year he had the right mixture of being aggressive, particularly on the break, trying to make plays, but not being careless. In that way he needs to get back on top of that.
“I think the decisions haven’t been up to where they were last year and I’m not exactly sure why the turnovers are up, but we need to get that back on track.”
Ward does not like to address the media. One week before Dennis Scott was cut, Ward complimented Scott on avoiding giving straight answers concerning Scott’s lack of playing time in a game in Detroit and then gave Scott pointers on how to answer questions.
So when Ward was asked about his individual struggles yesterday, as is his habit when he doesn’t like a question he grunted, “Hmmmm?” The question was repeated. Ward then said, “There are a lot of things you can pinpoint, but you just have to remain focused on what we want to do, compete and play hard. That’s when you build character when things aren’t going as well as things should be going. You can cave in or get stronger. This team is going to get stronger.”
Asked again about his individual problems, he said, “Like I said, we just all have to stick together … We’re working together, that’s something we have to do. Individually, as a team. Everybody wants to make an excuse for something. But you just have to continue to work and work at it. I have faith we’re going to continue to do that.”
As for working in new players into the offense, Ward said, “Like I said, no excuses. Being in New York that’s all you hear. You always want excuses why you’re not playing well or producing. What we have to look at is, we’re 15-12, that’s not the record we would like to have, but it’s something to build on. We’re not in the cellar. We also have goals and aspirations of doing something big so we just have to put it together. Hopefully tonight we can get started.”
Van Gundy said Ward has been tentative shooting the ball.
After Monday’s loss to the Hawks, Ward was asked how the team would get out of its slump and he said, “God’s going to favor us because of our faith.”
Ward did allow yesterday, “I haven’t played the way I should be playing, but my life is not dependent on how well I play. It’s understanding my mistakes. I’m growing and I’m going to continue to grow.”
The Knicks had better grow some wins quickly, especially on this three-game West Coast swing that began against the 11-16 Kings and continues with a stop tomorrow in Phoenix and Sunday in LA against Dennis Rodman’s Lakers. Ward also has to face Jason Kidd and his mentor Derek Harper.
As for Williams’ play, Ward said, “I haven’t seen much of it. He has a lot of highlights. But I’m sure he has other parts of the game that they don’t show.”
Williams took the NBA by storm the first few weeks, but has struggled recently.
“I’ve been a little tired, but I’m learning how to take care of my body,” he said. “Lately, I’ve just been missing shots. I’m still going to go out and help my team and take my shots when I’ve got them.”
He has been compared to Pete Maravich because of his flamboyant style. “This has been really exciting for me,” he said. “The way we play is get out and run and have fun. I just play and whatever happens, happens. I’m liable to kick one up into the third row one time. It’s hard to tell what I do. When you start thinking about what you’re doing, you’re going to play like a robot and you’re going to hurt yourself and your team.”
