Carmelo and D'Antoni don't mix, they're like oil and water. Anthony is the antithesis of D'Antoni.
D'Antoni wants ball movement, team ball, free flow. Anthony sees himself as the final destination for the basketball on offense, he is above the team. In Anthony's mind, this is the only way to play, so be it.
It will be easier to throw blame on D'Antoni and hire a new coach, keep the jersey sales going, than it would be to be rid of Carmelo.
That said, I will make clear that I don't think Carmelo Anthony is a terrible player.
He can win if he is the Sole Big Kahuna. This is his natural state. He is good at being the Sole Big Kahuna. But asking him to change his basketball philosophy is a waste of time. He doesn't have the interest to do this, for whatever reason.
You put Carmelo and a bunch of little people around him, and the team has a stronger chance of success.
Amar'e is a Big Kahuna also, but he will give you the 20, 25 points in the flow, off passes, off cuts, some slam dunks.
For Carmelo to give you the same 20, 25, he will have to hold the ball.
Amar'e gets you 25 by touching the ball, Carmelo gets you 25 by holding the ball. This is the difference.
Melo wants to win. Is there any doubt that he will not accept having the Knicks be a team that wins one playoff series and then loses. He also doesn't like compromising. But he will. He is trying to play more defense. He did work on his 3 point shooting.
If he has a choice between failing to make the Knicks a contender for the championship, or having to make a change, I bet Melo starts embracing more change. He is naked. If the Knicks are mediocre, he is the culprit. Watch and see how Melo embraces change as he becomes convinced that it is necessary.
Have you seen the team. Carmelo needs to be a ball stopper. Seriously he passes the ball and it just ends up as a turnover or comes back to him with 3 seconds left on the clock.
LOL Anubis, sad but true.
AnubisADL wrote:Have you seen the team. Carmelo needs to be a ball stopper. Seriously he passes the ball and it just ends up as a turnover or comes back to him with 3 seconds left on the clock.
LOL.
A contested shot by Melo is better than an open look for Fields... It is what it is.
AnubisADL wrote:Have you seen the team. Carmelo needs to be a ball stopper. Seriously he passes the ball and it just ends up as a turnover or comes back to him with 3 seconds left on the clock.
Pretty accurate. There was a play when Melo put the ball on the floor, collapsed the D and kicked it to Fields in the corner. As usual, Fields hesitated (a confident shooter would have let it fly as he had a window to shoot), kicked it to Douglas and swung it back Melo for a do over. Problem was, it was about 5 seconds left on the shot clock when he received it. This happened twice as far as I could remember as I was in and out of the game. Other than Melo, who are you confident in shooting the ball? Amare hangs out on the perimeter way too much, and Douglas is afraid to put a foot in the open lane as if the paint is shark infested.
We dont score in the paint and we give up too many points in the paint to the opposition. Recipe for disaster....
