Watching the fourth quarter evolve with Melo whipping passes to open team mates on consecutive plays brought a tear to my eye. It was a beautiful thing.
It must feel empowering to trust a teammate to make a clutch shot with under two minutes to play. If Melo throws an interior pass two feet higher he winds up with ten assists. Ridiculous stuff from Mister Selfish himself. Does the joy of sharing makes him feel a part of something greater?
The post game interview felt more genuine, or maybe it is just The Answer Mans imagination, running away with him. There is something unique happening. A star veteran player reinvents his game to conform to the players around him and not the other way around.
Crazy stuff.
Derrick Wiliams is playing like a first round draft selection. Robin Lopez takes a running hook in the lane, and makes it. Aaron Aflalo smiles.
There is something fun about this team. It is only January. They are learning tendencies and learning to do more than play together. They are learning to trust as one.
Thank you Melo for leading the way.
I've long championed that Jordan achieved Goat under the triangle and had to learn to trust in it. Kobe too.
They never achieved in the NBA anyting close to the success without phil and his triangle.
I am not suggesting Melo can reach iconic status but he resigned here and commited to the team regardless of the money.
As did Phil to Melo.
We are seeing a healthy Melo with a fundamentally rounded roster (good, not great one) and what he is capable of. Trust, maturity, legacy all play into this.
Maybe now this is how he recruits? Veteran players at the end of their days want to go off on a good note and willing to take less than play for rebuilding team?
Bottom line is he trusts his coach, trusts the system and trusts his players more so than in the past. one can hope its trend that continues and gets better!
Nice post, AnswerMan.
Did you catch the one pass Mr. Selfish Douche made to KP at the top of the circle for the three? He just passed the ball and calmly walked the other way before the Wunderkid even finished letting the shot go.
Confidence. Trust. In Quality.
"Leadership reflects attitude, Captain."
jrodmc wrote:
"Leadership reflects attitude, Captain."
"Strong side..! Left side!"
"I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal, The A Team
jrodmc - thank you (and gustav) for the dappage. We both know that making the transition from 17 total wins to confident passing game is a quantum leap forward. These Knicks are playing a different brand of basketball and watching is a pleasure because we have an answer for just about anything.
Need to go big? We can go 6'9 plus with four quality young men. KP, Lopez, Melo and O'Quinn.
Williams and Thomas are brrsatile and bouncy. The five tap put back almost erased bitter memories of Charkes Smith.
Our guards may be a work in progres, however the sense here is that American Grants uncles will have him firing up 10 jillion jump shots a day this summer. For all the soap opera nonsense, Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis are getting the message across.
Winning is the best deodorant.
Melo seems to genuinely like his teammates, particularly KP. I've always liked Melo ok, but I've been surprised and impressed by the level of his transformation.
