GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The New York Knicks have lost six straight games, but first-year coach Derek Fisher has seen no finger-pointing so far.
Fisher says the Knicks might've looked to place blame elsewhere last season but feels the locker room is stronger this season.
"It actually is good," Fisher said when asked if he has seen any doubt creep in during the slide. "We continue to see more resolve as we have gone on. As we go through this process, we have more and more guys taking individual responsibility and accountability for what's going and how we each can help the team get better. And that is important to building a team and a culture -- owning what is happening with the team.
"I think in the past, there have been issues with more finger-pointing out as opposed to finger-pointing in. We are now having a locker room of guys that are pointing to themselves about how they can help us get better."
Last season, obviously, Fisher wasn't the coach. But he was aware of how Knicks players seemed splintered at times and how some questioned former coach Mike Woodson's schemes during a 37-45 season. The Knicks had losing streaks of nine and seven games in 2013-14.
The Knicks (2-7) hope to stop their slide on Friday when the Utah Jazz visit Madison Square Garden. The Knicks' latest loss, a 97-95 decision to the Magic, ended with J.R. Smith launching a contested 27-footer at the buzzer.
Smith said he didn't want to force the ball to Carmelo Anthony at the end or put the star in a position to take a very difficult shot -- what likely would have been a catch-and-turn fadeaway near the 3-point elbow.
"Forcing it to Carmelo [is] not necessarily the best decision either, so in terms of J.R.'s decision to get a shot up himself, I think as a coach you prefer getting a shot up as opposed to forcing the basketball to even your best player," Fisher said. "But at the same time, I think it's just a matter of understanding the time, the score, the situation, what options you have available to you once the ball comes inbounds with 3.5 seconds left.
"But we cleaned some of that up today in terms of understanding what we want on that sequence. And I think that will help, not just J.R. but all of our guys, the next time we're in that spot."
Fisher also said Anthony doesn't always have to take the last shot with a game on the line.
"It's a team game, so I don't think that the franchise guy or the superstar guy has to win the game for you every time," Fisher said. "Michael [Jordan] passing to Steve Kerr, you know, Michael passing it to Scottie [Pippen], passing it to Horace [Grant], passing it to [John] Paxson on the wing in Phoenix, Kobe passing it to Robert Horry, Shaq passing it to Derek Fisher.
"So I don't think you force Carmelo into taking a bad shot just to say we got the ball to Carmelo. I think it's just about us understanding how to execute in those situations so that whoever gets the shot, it's a good shot."