Did not see this posted anywhere but I thought this was very big of Tyson. Hope for better things this coming season.
Knicks center Tyson Chandler admits he got his butt kicked by Roy Hibbert in NBA playoffs
Chandler was badly outplayed by Hibbert, who posted a double-double for the series, registering 13.3 points and 10.3 boards per game as the Indiana Pacers eliminated the Knicks.BY PETER BOTTE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013, 3:51 PM
HOWARD SIMMONS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tyson Chandler gets his shot blocked by Pacers center Roy Hibbert during the NBA playoffs.
Pacers center Roy Hibbert adds framed picture of his epic block of Carmelo Anthony to his man cave
Tyson Chandler says he wasn't 100 percent healthy for Knicks playoffs but gave team everything he had
In Tyson Chandler's own words, he got his "ass kicked" at both ends of the floor by Indiana's Roy Hibbert throughout the Knicks' six-game playoff elimination last spring against the Pacers.
If that doesn't motivate an All-Star player to improve his overall game – even one that was less than 100 percent healthy at the time -- nothing will.
"Obviously, I wasn't close to myself, but I can't even look at that. I have to look at it as motivation where I got my ass kicked, and next time I'm not going to let that happen," Chandler said after practice Friday in Greenburgh. "Honestly, my motivation this summer was the playoff exit. I vowed to myself that I would never let that happen again. I would never let my team down and be in that situation again. That's what I've been thriving off of. I will never allow that to happen. That's been my motivation.
"At the end of the season, I didn't look at my teammates. I looked at myself. I said, 'OK, where did you let your team down?' And that was one of the areas I felt I let my team down. So, I went back to the drawing board, and been working on it."
Chandler, the NBA's 2012 Defensive Player of the Year and a first-time All-Star last season, missed 16 of the final 20 regular-season games last season with a bulging disc in his neck, and he then was zapped by a virus during the first round against the Celtics.
Against Indiana, the 13-year NBA veteran averaged just 6.1 points and 6.0 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per game. He was badly outplayed by Hibbert, who posted a double-double for the series, registering 13.3 points and 10.3 boards per game.
"Yeah, absolutely, and I have to make sure that doesn't happen. He had a great series, but it's not about him, it's about me," Chandler said. "My job is to stop whoever is in front of me, and outplay them, no matter who it is.
DARRON CUMMINGS/AP
Tyson Chandler has no answers for the Pacers last season, but vows to use loss as motivation.
Walking away from that series, I couldn't look at this person or that person, what they did or didn't do. It's about me, to make sure that person can't succeed against me and I'll have the success the next time."
The 7-foot-1 Chandler has spent the summer and the beginning of training camp working on a mid-range jumper to complement his ability to score inside off the pick-and-roll. He estimated he's been taking "more than" 600 shots every day before, during and after practice.
"Honestly, I don't see a big guy being able to come out and guard me around the free-throw line. Because I feel like my first step is quicker than a lot of the big guys in the league," said Chandler, who shot on a side court while the Knicks went through a team scrimmage Friday. "If they have to come out, it will give me a direct line to the basket, as well as open it up for my teammates.
"If I knock them down, at some point the defense is going to have to honor it…But I have no expectations as far as numbers."
Asked how hard it is to alter his game at this stage of his career, the 31-year-old center added: "The thing is I'm an athlete. I've excelled defensively. There's no reason I can't excel offensively. It's just a mindset.
Defensively, my mindset is I'm going to lockdown every single possession. Now it just has to translate to 'Hey, I'm going to be aggressive every single possession no matter what the game is (dictating).' It's really all a mindset. If I can be creative defensively with my athleticism, there's no reason I can't do it offensively either. It's been in my head that I have to change."
SHUMP AROUND: Mike Woodson expects Iman Shumpert (shoulder) to return to practice Saturday... Chandler and Kenyon Martin practiced but didn't participate in the scrimmage.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/knicks-chandler-admits-hibbert-kicked-butt-playoffs-article-1.1476594#ixzz2h9lJhU2z
