some Knicks players expressed their displeasure over the offense

NEW YORK -- This is not the image New York Mets fans wanted to see: Jacob deGrom headed into the tunnel that leads to the home clubhouse at Citi Field, motioning for trainer Ray Ramirez to follow him.Given three days of extra rest after a pair of woeful starts, deGrom continued to struggle Thursday when he was reinserted into the rotation.Then, after laboring through his fifth and final inning as his fastball sagged to as low as 91 mph, deGrom made the seemingly ominous motion for the medical staff.The Mets ultimately lost to the Miami Marlins?6-4 at Citi Field to drop two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the National Leagues second wild-card spot.DeGrom initially said after the game that he didnt feel great, but later defined that statement to mean from a mechanical perspective and offered no clarity on why he summoned Ramirez.Everthings fine, deGrom said. I was frustrated with how I pitched. I didnt feel great out there tonight. I just wanted to talk to Ray. ... Im fine.Pressed on what didnt feel great meant, deGrom added: Just kind of out of sync out there. I waved him in to talk to him, but theres nothing wrong.Manager Terry Collins was caught unaware during his postgame interview when told that deGrom had called for the trainer, but pledged to investigate.I dont know what youre talking about, Collins said. I guess Ive got to go check. Ray didnt say anything to me. But I havent been in the training room, either. Thats news to me.Second baseman Neil Walker earlier in the day had become the latest Met to be lost for the season when he committed to undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back that had deprived him of the feeling in a toe.DeGrom allowed three runs on six hits and a season-high-matching four walks in a five-inning, 102-pitch outing against the Marlins.DeGrom had allowed 13 runs and 25 hits in 9 2/3 innings over his previous two outings. That had prompted Collins, citing suspected fatigue, to skip deGroms scheduled turn in Mondays series opener.Now, deGrom has allowed 40 baserunners and recorded 44 outs in his past three starts.Collins initially planned to slot deGrom back into the rotation on Friday against the Washington Nationals, but he was moved up a day when Steven Matz had continued difficulty with a rotator-cuff impingement and the Mets aborted having the southpaw return from the disabled list.I dont think rest was really the problem, deGrom said.In an unforeseen development considering how pitching-blessed they were to open the season, the Mets already are using rookies Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman in the rotation. Any absence for deGrom could prompt them also to consider Gabriel Ynoa, Rafael Montero or Logan Verrett.Montero had a spot start for deGrom on Monday against the Marlins and tossed five scoreless innings, although Montero also walked six batters and threw 100 pitches.Assuming deGrom does have some undisclosed issue, the only healthy established starting pitchers at the moment are Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon. Matt Harvey underwent season-ending surgery in July to address thoracic outlet syndrome. And Zack Wheeler is no longer expected back in 2016 after his latest setback in his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Wheeler was diagnosed two weeks ago with a flexor muscle strain.?Even Syndergaard is pitching with a bone spur in his elbow, although the Mets have suggested it will not need to be surgically removed.DeGrom insisted his issue is purely mechanical. He is falling off the mound to the first-base side, leaving him imbalanced and his fastball erratic.What did I walk, four guys? I cant throw the ball where I want right now, deGrom said. Ive got to figure that out. ... I think its mechanical. Like I said, I feel fine. I got tired toward the end. And Ive been falling off so hard to the first-base side. If you look back at film from last year, I could throw the ball and almost stand there on my landing leg. Theres no even close to doing that this year. Cubs Jerseys 2019 . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Chicago Cubs Pro Shop . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. https://www.cheapcubs.com/ . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Chicago Cubs Shirts .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Chicago Cubs Store . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. New York Knicks president Phil Jackson said Carmelo Anthony?can play the role that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant played in their teams triangle offenses, but he believes that Anthony sometimes breaks a team rule by holding on to the ball for too long.Carmelo a lot of times wants to hold the ball longer than -- we have a rule: If you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop, Jackson said in an interview with CBS Sports Network that aired Tuesday. That is one of the things we work with. But hes adjusted to [the triangle], he knows what he can do and hes willing to see its success.Jacksons comments were prompted by a question about whether Anthony can fit in the triangle offense. Jackson made it clear he believes Anthony can.He can play that role that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant played, Jackson said. Its a perfect spot for him to be in that isolated position on the weak side, because its an overload offense and theres a weakside man that always has an advantage if the ball is swung.Anthony is playing well through the first 21 games of the season, averaging 23.5 points (43.6 percent shooting), six rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He scored 35 points to help the Knicks beat the Miami Heat?114-103 on Tuesday night.At 12-9, New York is three games over .500 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.Were kind of a team thats learning who we are, Jackson said in the interview with CBS Sports Network, which aired before the clubs win over the Heat. ... Were just starting to get a groove into who we are.The Knicks play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, the first meeting between the two teams since LeBron James took offense to Jackson referring to his business associates as a posse.Jackson said that he regretted talking about another teams player when he made the comments about James in an interview with ESPN.coms Jackie MacMullan.We are not supposed to discuss other teams players in this position that I have here. So I violated one of the tenets of our thing, Jackson saidIn addition to addressing his comments about James, Jackson also shared his thoughts on the resistance to the triangle offense in the modern NBA. Jackson ran the triangle while winning an NBA-record 11 championships with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. The Knicks, though, have struggled with the offense, winning a total of 49 games over the past two seasons. That lack of success has led to public backlash oof the triangle.ddddddddddddI think there are two reasons, Jackson said of the resistance to the offense. One is its always a little bit of a pie-in-your-face type of thing to say that this [the triangle offense] has been the reason for winning. The reason for winning, obviously, is good players. And when good players want to play together and they join in a form or a format to play together, then really good things happen.I think the other thing is, simply, it becomes something to attack, Jackson added. And I think its easy to attack it because it doesnt promote basic basketball thats being played now in the NBA, which is an open floor. Keep the lane open, allow the opportunity of guard play, screen roll play ... big men rolling the lane, and then 3-point shooting. But theres a place for it. It doesnt matter. Its still basketball and theres still a place for it.The Knicks are running aspects of the triangle offense under first-year coach Jeff Hornacek, but scouts say that they are running it much less than the previous two seasons.Hornacek confirmed this, as well, saying late last month that the Knicks were running the triangle nowhere near 50 percent of the time.Some Knicks players expressed their displeasure over the offense earlier in the season, according to sources, because they felt it didnt suit their personnel, particularly point guard Derrick Rose, who has traditionally thrived when using pick-and-rolls.Triangle aside, Jackson also gushed over Kristaps Porzingis, the player who has emerged as a rising star after the Knicks drafted him in 2015.Hes a unicorn. Hes just a standout guy. You dont see people like this playing basketball with the grace, speed and athleticism that he has. And the ability to shoot the ball as well as he can shoot the ball, Jackson said.Porzingis is averaging 20.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game for New York. He was booed by some Knicks fans on the night Jackson and the teams brain trust selected him with the fourth overall pick.Kristaps turned out to be that unique player, that one that has things you just dont see on the basketball court, Jackson said. He does things that are unique almost in every game. His size is defining. Defensively, he changes the game a little bit. Hes still not a great strength player, post player. Offensively, he shoots 2-pointers, he can run the court; theres a lot of things hes still learning what he can do. ' ' '