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发帖数: 9501 | 1 Carmelo Anthony, arguably one of the most scrutinized star athletes in New
York, must win with Jeremy Lin, Mike D'Antoni and company
Knicks have an overall record of 30-35 since acquiring Melo on Feb. 22, 2011
BY FRANK ISOLA / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 10:02 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 9:59 AM
Carmelo Anthony's pose is familiar one to Knick fans. The forward is
stationary and that is unfortunatle on a team that has a motion offense with
Jeremy Lin.
TAKEOUR POLL
Are the Knicks better with Carmelo Anthony in the lineup?
No, he'll never fit into D'Antoni's offensive system
Maybe, but he needs to start adapting his game
Yes, he's one of the top pure scorer's in the NBA
As the media horde began peeling away one by one from Carmelo Anthony’s
locker late Monday night, the Knicks captain suddenly had an epiphany.
“There are a million of you guys,” Anthony said to one reporter. “I can’
t win.”
Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the Knicks’ blockbuster trade
for Anthony, one of the NBA’s greatest scorers and enigmas.
It was Garden chairman James Dolan who orchestrated the deal to bring
Anthony to New York and in turn bring hope to a desperate fan base.
The following day, Anthony was given a hero’s welcome at the Garden.
Remember the song — “Coming Home” — and the accompanying video? Within
days, the club announced that it was raising ticket prices. Fans’
expectations went through the roof. The Melo era was officially underway.
And yet, 12 months after that franchise-altering transaction, the one
question that was asked about Anthony on Feb. 22, 2011 remains unanswered
today. To paraphrase Melo himself, “Can he win?”
Anthony is arguably the most scrutinized star athlete in New York today.
He’s got the lucrative contract, the impressive stats and the All-Star
appearances. What he doesn’t have is a playoff resume. He’s been out of
the first round only once in his career and that includes last season’s
loss to the Boston Celtics in four games.
Since acquiring Anthony from the Denver Nuggets, the Knicks have an overall
record of 30-35, including a 16-17 mark this season.
Monday’s loss to the Nets was significant because it was Anthony’s first
game in two weeks and his first since Jeremy Lin became a household name.
The Knicks had won six of seven games without Anthony.
It’s unfair to blame the 100-92 loss on Anthony, who is recovering from a
strained groin and is clearly not in top form. Deron Williams, obviously
exhausted from hearing about Linsanity, scored 38 points and showed why he
is an elite point guard.
Lin led the Knicks with 21 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
He also attempted a team-high 18 shots. In fact, the case could be made that
Anthony (11 shots) didn’t shoot enough and that Lin shot too much. Or look
at it this way: What would the reaction have been to Toney Douglas taking
seven more shots than Anthony in a loss?
“Carmelo is one of the top 15 players in the league,” says one current NBA
coach. “I don’t know why he’s so worried about fitting in with Jeremy
Lin. Just play.”
The pressure to win in a city that hasn’t won a single playoff game in 10
years may be getting to Anthony.
Last season, he was dogged by questions about whether he could co-exist with
Amar’e Stoudemire, and now those same unanswered questions are being
raised about Anthony and Lin.
The problem, however, is that Anthony may not be a good fit with Mike D’
Antoni’s offense. Anthony prefers to go one-on-one and needs the ball in
his hands to make plays. Kobe Bryant is the same way.
But on Monday, Anthony tried to convince anyone who would listen that Lin,
who has nine career starts, should be in charge of the offense.
“I want Jeremy to have the ball,” Anthony said. “Hands down, I want him
to have the ball. I want him to create for me, create for Amar’e, create
for everybody and still be as aggressive as he’s been in the past two weeks.
“I want that. There’s going to be times I have the ball in the pick-and-
roll situation, being a distributor and trying to be aggressive. But for the
most part I want Jeremy to have the ball in his hands.”
The words sounded as if Anthony is desperate to prove once and for all that
he’s not a selfish player. The Garden also pursued on an image makeover by
leaking a story that it was Anthony who suggested to D’Antoni that Lin get
a chance.
However, D’Antoni denied that account on Monday, which undoubtedly is not
sitting well with Dolan and perhaps also with Anthony. It’s like that old
Godfather line: “Don’t ever take sides against the (Cablevision) family.”
For D’Antoni to go off script like that was telling and speaks to a larger
issue of mistrust between the coach and Dolan, which probably started with
Donnie Walsh being fired. D’Antoni could have easily gone along with the
tale about Melo advocating Lin but chose not to.
It’s been a rough couple of days for Anthony. His current coach refuses to
recite the company line about Melo inventing Linsanity while his former
coach, George Karl, took a couple of subtle jabs by claiming that Anthony
wants to get “that monkey of losing off his back” and that “he just hasn
’t figured out” how to win yet.
And Anthony thought the media were tough on him.
Anthony would be better served just playing his game, ignoring what is being
written and said about him and competing on every possession.
Ultimately, there is one way for Anthony to silence his critics and coaches.
It’s something Dolan brought him here to do:
Win.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/carmelo-anthony-ny-knicks-mesh-jeremy-lin-article-1.1026590#ixzz1nMMaboml |
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