J.R. Smith on defense: 'Not my area of expertise'

The New York Knicks have the league's fourth worst defense this season, surrendering 106.1 points per 100 possessions (PPC).

Somehow, that numbers gets even worse when shooting guard J.R. Smith is on the floor, rising to 107.4 PPC. It's no secret that Smith is a lackadaisical and disengaged defender, but the degree to which the Knicks struggle to get stops when he's on the court - only Utah's defense is worse - is surprising since a largely similar Knicks team was league-average defensively last season.

A lot of the blame for the team's defensive struggles has fallen at the feet of head coach Mike Woodson, fair or not. If you ask Smith, however, it's on the players...not that he's an expert on the subject.

"That’s really not my area of expertise. I’m more of a scoring-type player. I’ll leave that to those guys. Whatever they want to do, it’s OK with me. Just let me know."
...
"The old stuff isn’t really getting it done. But at the end of the day, it’s going to come from the players. I don’t think it’s coach’s fault or the scheme’s fault. If you play hard and play smart it’s tough to lose games."

Just another typical J.R. Smith quote, or indicative of a larger problem with players admittedly performing below expectations on the defensive end?

Woodson has suggested the team could go to more zone looks given their problems switching against even moderately-complicated offensive schemes. They play Charlotte on Friday, as good a test run as any considering the Bobcats shoot fewer threes than almost anyone, hitting just 34.8 percent of them.