Karl critical of Melo's commitment to winning title

Carmelo Anthony took about two weeks off after the Knicks lost to the Heat in the first round of the playoffs but is back in the gym, working on his body and his game.

Anthony is preparing for the Summer Olympics in London but also has his eyes on next season. "I'm just trying to get better," he said. "I want to be on TV at this time next year."

Anthony has taken heat for not being able to carry his team to playoff series wins. His teams have advanced past the first round of the playoffs once in his nine-year career and he has won only one postseason game in two trips with the Knicks.

His former coach, George Karl, said in a radio interview on ESPN's "Mike and Mike" Monday morning that Anthony won't win a title until he commits to more than just scoring.

"I definitely think Carmelo Anthony is talented enough to win a championship and I've always said once he gets that being the goal, winning a championship being the only goal on his plate, he will figure out how to get it done," Karl said. "He can do every aspect of the game. It's when is he going to commit to doing them every night?"

Anthony, who along with Knicks assistant GM Allan Houston was at a USA Basketball event in Manhattan Monday, said: "I don't really know how to take that. I don't know the tone of his voice when he said that. I don't really know the question, so I can't answer that."

But his current coach, Mike Woodson, defended Anthony in a radio interview with ESPN New York Monday, saying his star is committed to winning. "I think he proved that when we were six games under .500 and we had to make a major push to help us get back into the thick of things," Woodson said. "I think Carmelo is a beautiful piece to a team and a big piece in a way that he can help you win a title. But it just can't be Carmelo."

Anthony lifted his overall game after Woodson replaced Mike D'Antoni. It was most noticeable defensively, where Anthony tried harder than perhaps ever before in his career.

The Knicks will need Anthony to not only commit on that end but help his team when he's not scoring. Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire haven't proved they can win together, and whether he and Jeremy Lin, a restricted free agent, can coexist still is up for debate. But Anthony doesn't want to see many changes with the roster.

"We've got to build some consistency up here in New York," he said. "Over the past 10 years, there hasn't been consistency. It's one team in, one team out, one team in, one team out. You can't win like that. You can't win with a new basketball team every year."

When the U.S. team holds training camp in Las Vegas in July, Anthony and Tyson Chandler again will be coached by D'Antoni, an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski. It's been reported that philosophical differences between Anthony and D'Antoni contributed to D'Antoni's resignation.

"It's going to be good just to reunite with him," Anthony said. "When he left, there wasn't bad blood between me and him.''

In the radio interview, Woodson said of Lin, "Right now, he is our starting point guard without a doubt." The Knicks are expected to pursue a veteran point guard in free agency or through trades.With Chris Mascaro