Knicks once devoid of JR and Shump seemed to play a better brand of ball with basically d-leaguers. With Melo, 5-5? and he was hurt.

"PorzinGod"!!!

It's okay, Melo will come home later and tuck you into your bed in your favorite onesie.

There's a reason Phil kept Melo. When you have one of the top players it makes your team capable of competing as long as it's constructed properly. This team isn't perfect but it makes sense. The players fit and Phil addressed some key needs. We've got rebounding and D, which we didn't have last year. We've got more post scoring and actually some solid perimeter shooting. I think Melo can trust this group to hold up their end. Melo can be very effective when he has a solid roster behind him.

Strange...what I get out of the article is that Gallo, Thomas, and Amundson made Anthony better.

His "argument" about how Anthony "helps" other players mirrors the article by some young kid that was posted here about a month ago- basically saying that a high volume shooter/scorer somehow makes others better, and they should somehow get credit for it...

The whole "does Melo make his teammates better" argument, which will continue to rage on for the rest of eternity, misses the point. What he does is lessen the burden on his other teammates. Scoring enough points against NBA defenses is incredibly difficult. A healthy, effective Carmelo Anthony mitigates much of that difficulty -- he gets tons of buckets at a fairly efficient rate, with minimal help from others. He throws the defense out of whack, which leads to open shots for others. All that he needs to build an above-average NBA offense is a group of guys who hit open shots, know where to stand and cut, and who aren't actively tripping over their own dicks for 48 minutes.

For the most part this kind of play leads to guys standing around...especially if the scorer does not go to the basket much or create for others. James is a superior player because he creates situations for others to score by design.

If any of you have played ball with a "chucker," you know how frustrating it is if your efforts to get open for a shot are not rewarded- kills you motivation.

I'm feeling pretty good about how Anthony is taking more of a leadership role (getting guys together) at this time...something I don't think he's done in the past (am I mistaken in this?)...

...but its ironic...the revisionist threads bring back past issues that some have criticized the Contra-Melo folks for harping on- makes little sense, and doesn't seem to contribute anything to a pre-season period of healing.

jrodmc wrote:Nice piece that actually states that actually mentions Melo and efficient offense in the same sentence!
http://www.postingandtoasting.com/2015/9/8/9274539/the-anti-matt-harvey-what-can-we-learn-from-carmelo-anthonys-bizarre

There is a storm of controversy and hot fiery takes rampaging through the Tri-State Area at the moment, centered around the New York Mets and their ace pitcher, Matt Harvey. Once you get past all the hysterics, however, you might notice that all of the players involved are acting fairly rationally. The front office wants their best pitchers on the mound for the stretch drive and the playoffs, while Harvey (and his agent) are concerned about re-injuring his arm after Tommy John surgery. This isn't even the zaniest "will he/won't he play" drama to hit the Big Apple in the past calendar year; not by a long shot.

Remember Carmelo Anthony? Good player, seemed a bit off during the first few months of the 2014-15 NBA season. We would later find out that he injured his knee in the second game of the season, and that he would require season-ending surgery. With the Knicks already dead in the water, there seemed absolutely no reason whatsoever for him to continue playing.

But play he did. This bizarre (even for the Knicks) moment in franchise history will likely go down as "the time that selfish idiot Melo put off surgery just so he could play in the All-Star Game," but the reality is slightly more complex. Melo returned in mid-January, following a two-week absence in which the Knicks remade the roster by trading away J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert and releasing Samuel Dalembert, and played an inexplicable 10 of 12 games leading up to the All-Star Break. The Knicks' record in those 10 games: 5-5. That's right, they racked up nearly 30 percent of their season total during a 10-game period when an injured Melo was just kind of dicking around with whoever was left on the roster. If you're looking for the No. 1 reason the Knicks didn't finish with the league's worst record, there it is.

But let us not wallow in the mire tanking opportunities gone by -- New York ended up with the PorzinGod, after all. That fateful, tank-busting few weeks might actually provide a glimmer of hope for the 2015-16, as most of the key contributors are still on the roster. In nine of those games -- including all five wins -- Derek Fisher started a lineup of Melo, Jose Calderon, Langston Galloway, Lou Amundson and Jason Smith. That quintet outscored opponents by 7.0 points per 100 possessions over 158.9 minutes of playing time. Remove Smith from the equation, and toss in Lance Thomas, and the four-man lineups are quite impressive:

MP PTS per 100 poss.
Calderon/Galloway/Anthony/Amundson 185.7 +7.8
Calderon/Galloway/Anthony/Thomas 45.1 +14.4

The sample sizes may be small, but once Galloway, Thomas and Amundson were added to the roster (along with a healthy Calderon), an injured Melo managed to drag the worst club in franchise history all the way to mediocrity for a time.

The whole "does Melo make his teammates better" argument, which will continue to rage on for the rest of eternity, misses the point. What he does is lessen the burden on his other teammates. Scoring enough points against NBA defenses is incredibly difficult. A healthy, effective Carmelo Anthony mitigates much of that difficulty -- he gets tons of buckets at a fairly efficient rate, with minimal help from others. He throws the defense out of whack, which leads to open shots for others. All that he needs to build an above-average NBA offense is a group of guys who hit open shots, know where to stand and cut, and who aren't actively tripping over their own dicks for 48 minutes.

Sadly, that hasn't been the case for much of the past two years. It should come as no surprise that Anthony thrived, even for a few weeks, next to guys like Amundson and Galloway -- certainly not the most talented of players, but guys who know what to do and when to do it. When I look around at the new faces on the 2015-16 roster I see players with far more talent than that late-January crew, but I also see a core of veterans and youngsters who will most likely play their roles to the best of their respective abilities. Combine that with a healthy Carmelo Anthony, and this crew might surprise a few people. Stranger things have happened.

Here hater hater hater...

the article is basically incoherent and devoid of any meaning or value. snappy prose but basically a wankfest.

jrodmc wrote:And they say I'm defensive...

1. Superhero costume boy posts his pic.
2. Liar liar pants on fire response to the standard overgeneralization about anyone who tests Melo positive.
3. "Wankfest"

Classic...

you are here to bait others and not talk Xs and Os.

jrodmc wrote:And they say I'm defensive...

1. Superhero costume boy posts his pic.
2. Liar liar pants on fire response to the standard overgeneralization about anyone who tests Melo positive.
3. "Wankfest"

Classic...

Don't worry, he'll be home later I promise.

dk7th wrote:

jrodmc wrote:And they say I'm defensive...

1. Superhero costume boy posts his pic.
2. Liar liar pants on fire response to the standard overgeneralization about anyone who tests Melo positive.
3. "Wankfest"

Classic...

you are here to bait others and not talk Xs and Os.

Riiiiiiiiiight, once again, the BBIQ "Russelite" genius speaks again...

Flynn wrote this:

The whole "does Melo make his teammates better" argument, which will continue to rage on for the rest of eternity, misses the point. What he does is lessen the burden on his other teammates. Scoring enough points against NBA defenses is incredibly difficult. A healthy, effective Carmelo Anthony mitigates much of that difficulty -- he gets tons of buckets at a fairly efficient rate, with minimal help from others. He throws the defense out of whack, which leads to open shots for others. All that he needs to build an above-average NBA offense is a group of guys who hit open shots, know where to stand and cut, and who aren't actively tripping over their own dicks for 48 minutes.
Sadly, that hasn't been the case for much of the past two years. It should come as no surprise that Anthony thrived, even for a few weeks, next to guys like Amundson and Galloway -- certainly not the most talented of players, but guys who know what to do and when to do it.

And your carefully thought out, analytical X and O's-based response was this:

snappy prose but basically a wankfest.

Not even an attempt to try and validate the likes of 2 weeks of Lin, or JR SMOTY, or ShumpBrick, or even the offensive gifts of Tyson Chicken, SammyD or Amare Dribble Off My Feet Standinmire.

bait Melo masterhaters? who needs bait?

nixluva wrote:

dk7th wrote:

nixluva wrote:It just underscores why I believe this team can make the playoffs. Rarely has Melo not made the playoffs unless his team really underperformed as it did in 2013-14 and of course last year. This roster is FAR better than what he had after the trade last year. IMO this roster has been constructed to provide a solid support for Melo.

There's a reason Phil kept Melo. When you have one of the top players it makes your team capable of competing as long as it's constructed properly. This team isn't perfect but it makes sense. The players fit and Phil addressed some key needs. We've got rebounding and D, which we didn't have last year. We've got more post scoring and actually some solid perimeter shooting. I think Melo can trust this group to hold up their end. Melo can be very effective when he has a solid roster behind him.

on the one hand you talk triangle but on the other you are talking about a iverson-76er type squad..

Not saying that at all really. Even tho the Triangle is an equal opportunity system, it has never meant you won't have a top scorer like MJ or Kobe. We've got Melo in that role and we do have Afflalo as the current #2 scorer so it's not exactly an Iverson type situation. Aside from them you will have KP, Jerian and DWill as possible scorers based on their talents. KP is a skilled offensive player as is Jerian and DWill is a powerful finisher. Neither KP, Jerian nor DWill are currently Primary scorers like Melo is. Hopefully KP can eventually become a top scorer for this team but right now he has to develop his game. It's gonna be interesting to watch this team come together.

both jordan and bryant's usage remained in the low-to-mid 30s but then they also shared the rock to the tune of around around 25 percent in assist rate, yielding a ratio that was around 1.35 to 1. so though they dominated the ball they also managed to share the ball just enough to keep the triangle offense effective.

melo's usage is also in the low to mid 30s but his assist rate is closer to 15-18%, which is a huge difference, and if it remains that way then the triangle will not be effective.

i may be objecting to your language, as it seems clear that you see melo as being "supported" rather than adjusting his game to be more "supporTIVE." that simply will not fly.

then there's his defense, which is simply not even close... it's a two-way game.