Carmelo: Knicks over 'bad energy'

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The New York Knicks finished last season with just 37 wins thanks in part to "bad energy," according to star forward Carmelo Anthony.

The energy is different this season, Anthony said. And that is one reason the team is off to a 2-1 start.

"I think just overall, not pointing anything out, but just overall from day one last year the energy was just not right," Anthony said after practice on Monday. "This year, you could just feel the total difference stepping into this gym, talking to guys, talking to the staff, talking to the players. Everybody has a newfound energy so it's just a lot different now."

Phil Jackson took over as team president in March and overhauled the roster in the offseason, trading away Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton. The move was designed, in part, to "change some of the chemistry" of the Knicks, Jackson said.

Jackson also fired coach Mike Woodson and hired Derek Fisher. Anthony's assertion that the "energy was not right" from the first day of training camp last season may have been a reference to owner James Dolan's decision to fire general manager Glen Grunwald days before training camp.

Anthony did not want to talk about specific reasons for the team's culture change. But, when he was asked directly about Chandler, Anthony made it clear that he wasn't singling out the former Defensive Player of the Year.

"I'm not talking about no players, I'm just talking about as a whole, as a whole," Anthony said. "As an organization, as a whole, the energy was just different last year from day one. It ain't have nothing to do with the players. When we walked in here from day one from training camp, media day the energy was just different."

So why did the Knicks have "bad energy" last season?

"I won't go into details. It's deeper than us going out and losing basketball games," Anthony said. "For whatever reason, it happened. We looked at that. The organization looked at that. And they made some great changes."

The Knicks are off to a surprising 2-1 start. After a blowout loss to Chicago to open the season, New York upset Cleveland in LeBron James' first game of the season and beat upstart Charlotte at home on Sunday night.

The Knicks face the Washington Wizards at home on Tuesday night.

"We want to build on what we started the last couple of games," Anthony said.