SwishAndDish13 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:This thread is sad. I couldn't possibly read all 10 pages, but you're not going anywhere 1 guy. It's nice to know if somebody has a bad night we can still win these days. It's refreshing that if Melo doesn't have 30+ and shoot 60% we can still win. That was getting pretty ridiculous.

Thank God! Melo scoring 30+ is a losing formula unless he's Curry or Lebron and also dishes for 10 assists. Everyone just stares into the abyss or checks their twitter feed while out on the court on offense, when Melo does his thang.

Better to have team balance and ball movement. Have Melo score 15 or 16, KP for 20+, Afflalo for 15 or 16, Galloway for like 12-13, and so forth and so forth. That's the recipe for success.

I prefer balance, KP isn't ready to scope 20 a night yet, that is fine. Melo, KP, and Affalo have done a great job of sharing the load so far. Much better from praying things work out by giving the ball to Melo and clearing out.

It was almost impossible to register an assist under their prior offense. 3 guys hiding in the weak side corner. You could guard them with 1 guy. Terrible basketball.

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:This thread is sad. I couldn't possibly read all 10 pages, but you're not going anywhere 1 guy. It's nice to know if somebody has a bad night we can still win these days. It's refreshing that if Melo doesn't have 30+ and shoot 60% we can still win. That was getting pretty ridiculous.

Thank God! Melo scoring 30+ is a losing formula unless he's Curry or Lebron and also dishes for 10 assists. Everyone just stares into the abyss or checks their twitter feed while out on the court on offense, when Melo does his thang.

Better to have team balance and ball movement. Have Melo score 15 or 16, KP for 20+, Afflalo for 15 or 16, Galloway for like 12-13, and so forth and so forth. That's the recipe for success.

I prefer balance, KP isn't ready to scope 20 a night yet, that is fine. Melo, KP, and Affalo have done a great job of sharing the load so far. Much better from praying things work out by giving the ball to Melo and clearing out.

It was almost impossible to register an assist under their prior offense. 3 guys hiding in the weak side corner. You could guard them with 1 guy. Terrible basketball.

Where do you think Melo's adjustments have come from? Phil get into his head? Fisher? Age/maturity? Perspective? Melo's adjustments have impressed me. Strikes me as pretty rare for veteran guys. A lot of guys talk about making Paul Pierce adjustments. PP was 30 the year Boston added KG, so they are essentially the same age. Coincedentally PP led Bos in both scoring and assists that year, as Melo is for the Knicks.

On offense, I think it is a change in personnel/system more so then mindset. Obviously, mindset has something to do with it, but the roster construction and system have led to better spacing. In the past too many guards you could let open, not the case anymore.

Defensively, Melo was always a pretty good one on one defender but unwilling weakside help defender. He is simply putting in the effort there. This is a combination of mindset and everybody putting in the effort IMO. Having to carry to big a burden on offense def led him to slack a lil on def in the past.

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:This thread is sad. I couldn't possibly read all 10 pages, but you're not going anywhere 1 guy. It's nice to know if somebody has a bad night we can still win these days. It's refreshing that if Melo doesn't have 30+ and shoot 60% we can still win. That was getting pretty ridiculous.

Thank God! Melo scoring 30+ is a losing formula unless he's Curry or Lebron and also dishes for 10 assists. Everyone just stares into the abyss or checks their twitter feed while out on the court on offense, when Melo does his thang.

Better to have team balance and ball movement. Have Melo score 15 or 16, KP for 20+, Afflalo for 15 or 16, Galloway for like 12-13, and so forth and so forth. That's the recipe for success.

I prefer balance, KP isn't ready to scope 20 a night yet, that is fine. Melo, KP, and Affalo have done a great job of sharing the load so far. Much better from praying things work out by giving the ball to Melo and clearing out.

It was almost impossible to register an assist under their prior offense. 3 guys hiding in the weak side corner. You could guard them with 1 guy. Terrible basketball.

Where do you think Melo's adjustments have come from? Phil get into his head? Fisher? Age/maturity? Perspective? Melo's adjustments have impressed me. Strikes me as pretty rare for veteran guys. A lot of guys talk about making Paul Pierce adjustments. PP was 30 the year Boston added KG, so they are essentially the same age. Coincedentally PP led Bos in both scoring and assists that year, as Melo is for the Knicks.

On offense, I think it is a change in personnel/system more so then mindset. Obviously, mindset has something to do with it, but the roster construction and system have led to better spacing. In the past too many guards you could let open, not the case anymore.

Defensively, Melo was always a pretty good one on one defender but unwilling weakside help defender. He is simply putting in the effort there. This is a combination of mindset and everybody putting in the effort IMO. Having to carry to big a burden on offense def led him to slack a lil on def in the past.

So you think its mostly just easier to play better when you have more talent around you so its sort of cause and effect? Not baiting you, just wondering what people think Melo's biggest motivation to change has been.

I think the players around you have a lot to do with it. Not just from a x's and o's perspective but also in terms of environment. They had a lot of guys who weren't on the same page or simply wouldn't put in the effort in the past. Not to absolve Melo of blame, but it's a group process. Everybody has to buy-in for it to work.

I did also mention the system and I think that is important. Watch the movement away from the ball now vs a year or 2 ago. That makes a big diff and makes passing out of doubles/finding the open man easier for Melo.

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:This thread is sad. I couldn't possibly read all 10 pages, but you're not going anywhere 1 guy. It's nice to know if somebody has a bad night we can still win these days. It's refreshing that if Melo doesn't have 30+ and shoot 60% we can still win. That was getting pretty ridiculous.

Thank God! Melo scoring 30+ is a losing formula unless he's Curry or Lebron and also dishes for 10 assists. Everyone just stares into the abyss or checks their twitter feed while out on the court on offense, when Melo does his thang.

Better to have team balance and ball movement. Have Melo score 15 or 16, KP for 20+, Afflalo for 15 or 16, Galloway for like 12-13, and so forth and so forth. That's the recipe for success.

I prefer balance, KP isn't ready to scope 20 a night yet, that is fine. Melo, KP, and Affalo have done a great job of sharing the load so far. Much better from praying things work out by giving the ball to Melo and clearing out.

It was almost impossible to register an assist under their prior offense. 3 guys hiding in the weak side corner. You could guard them with 1 guy. Terrible basketball.

Where do you think Melo's adjustments have come from? Phil get into his head? Fisher? Age/maturity? Perspective? Melo's adjustments have impressed me. Strikes me as pretty rare for veteran guys. A lot of guys talk about making Paul Pierce adjustments. PP was 30 the year Boston added KG, so they are essentially the same age. Coincedentally PP led Bos in both scoring and assists that year, as Melo is for the Knicks.

On offense, I think it is a change in personnel/system more so then mindset. Obviously, mindset has something to do with it, but the roster construction and system have led to better spacing. In the past too many guards you could let open, not the case anymore.

Defensively, Melo was always a pretty good one on one defender but unwilling weakside help defender. He is simply putting in the effort there. This is a combination of mindset and everybody putting in the effort IMO. Having to carry to big a burden on offense def led him to slack a lil on def in the past.

So you think its mostly just easier to play better when you have more talent around you so its sort of cause and effect? Not baiting you, just wondering what people think Melo's biggest motivation to change has been.

I keep talking about the Puerto Rico gathering, which I hope becomes an annual thing while Anthony is a Knick. Opening his gym to players and playing 1/1 with KP, and being more helpful with him. None of this type of thing ever happened before...Am I wrong about this?

Maybe there is a pro-athlete "mid-life" reflection going on with him, where he sees that if he's going to be a Knick for the rest of his career his legacy will be about how he adapted his came for the good of the team, and that winning in the playoffs will do more for his rep than winning a scoring title.

I can guarantee you that if the Knicks do some damage over the next few years, and Anthony is not simply a ball dominant scorer, his legacy will ultimately be enhanced because if he plays the right way observers are going to see that he gave up a part of his game in order to win, and this is something people are always impressed by.

So we got our:
Paul Pierce - Melo
Rondo - KP

Now we got to get our KG & Allen to have a chance to win ONE measles championship at winning it all. Easier said then done since Melo is paid like KG. You have to resort to paying a role player like Lopez $14mil per. It's certainly possible to build a Mavs like team if everything breaks right

martin wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:This thread is sad. I couldn't possibly read all 10 pages, but you're not going anywhere 1 guy. It's nice to know if somebody has a bad night we can still win these days. It's refreshing that if Melo doesn't have 30+ and shoot 60% we can still win. That was getting pretty ridiculous.

Thank God! Melo scoring 30+ is a losing formula unless he's Curry or Lebron and also dishes for 10 assists. Everyone just stares into the abyss or checks their twitter feed while out on the court on offense, when Melo does his thang.

Better to have team balance and ball movement. Have Melo score 15 or 16, KP for 20+, Afflalo for 15 or 16, Galloway for like 12-13, and so forth and so forth. That's the recipe for success.

I prefer balance, KP isn't ready to scope 20 a night yet, that is fine. Melo, KP, and Affalo have done a great job of sharing the load so far. Much better from praying things work out by giving the ball to Melo and clearing out.

It was almost impossible to register an assist under their prior offense. 3 guys hiding in the weak side corner. You could guard them with 1 guy. Terrible basketball.

Where do you think Melo's adjustments have come from? Phil get into his head? Fisher? Age/maturity? Perspective? Melo's adjustments have impressed me. Strikes me as pretty rare for veteran guys. A lot of guys talk about making Paul Pierce adjustments. PP was 30 the year Boston added KG, so they are essentially the same age. Coincedentally PP led Bos in both scoring and assists that year, as Melo is for the Knicks.

This is very true but the reason people are hard on Melo is that he is paid like a Duncan/KG not Paul Pierce. Celtics don't get both KG & Allen if Pierce was inexplicably maxed out. Celtics would have kept winning less than 30 games and Boston fans would be on Pierce and expect more from him because of his contract. Some fans do have unreasonable expectations of players. Maybe we should've eased up on Melo and blame Dolan. Ultimately he signs the checks. Dolan sees dollar signs with Melo and has no problem making him one of he highest paid players in the game. There isn't a GM strong willed enough to pay him for what he's worth. Not even Phil evidently.

But I guess we'll just keep blaming passionoite diehard Knick fans who superseded Melo

There have only been a few rare instances where franchise players that are qualified to sign for the max take less to stay with their own team. 99% of the players in the league sign for as much as they can all the time. 99% of you and me and our neighbors do the same when we can.

Yea absolutely true. Players and workers have every right to demand top dollar but it's not always a positive thing for the team or company.

The MVP of the company may have to be let go of take a pay cut. Then the company's stock drops or in the Knicks case they have laughingstock seasons.

But yea players have every right to get paid. There isn't nothing fans can do to change anything but complain and hope that the player outperforms his talents. Especially at the Garden when they will just fill the seats with a tourist passing through 7th Ave.

What's crazy is coaches and GM's are fired on a whim but you can't get rid of players with albatross contracts cos they are guaranteed in the NBA. Only in sports does that happen because in the real world, the workplace, your performance if not up to snuff you are quickly replaced by someone ready to give everything they have to the company for a fraction of the cost

WaltLongmire wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:This thread is sad. I couldn't possibly read all 10 pages, but you're not going anywhere 1 guy. It's nice to know if somebody has a bad night we can still win these days. It's refreshing that if Melo doesn't have 30+ and shoot 60% we can still win. That was getting pretty ridiculous.

Thank God! Melo scoring 30+ is a losing formula unless he's Curry or Lebron and also dishes for 10 assists. Everyone just stares into the abyss or checks their twitter feed while out on the court on offense, when Melo does his thang.

Better to have team balance and ball movement. Have Melo score 15 or 16, KP for 20+, Afflalo for 15 or 16, Galloway for like 12-13, and so forth and so forth. That's the recipe for success.

I prefer balance, KP isn't ready to scope 20 a night yet, that is fine. Melo, KP, and Affalo have done a great job of sharing the load so far. Much better from praying things work out by giving the ball to Melo and clearing out.

It was almost impossible to register an assist under their prior offense. 3 guys hiding in the weak side corner. You could guard them with 1 guy. Terrible basketball.

Where do you think Melo's adjustments have come from? Phil get into his head? Fisher? Age/maturity? Perspective? Melo's adjustments have impressed me. Strikes me as pretty rare for veteran guys. A lot of guys talk about making Paul Pierce adjustments. PP was 30 the year Boston added KG, so they are essentially the same age. Coincedentally PP led Bos in both scoring and assists that year, as Melo is for the Knicks.

On offense, I think it is a change in personnel/system more so then mindset. Obviously, mindset has something to do with it, but the roster construction and system have led to better spacing. In the past too many guards you could let open, not the case anymore.

Defensively, Melo was always a pretty good one on one defender but unwilling weakside help defender. He is simply putting in the effort there. This is a combination of mindset and everybody putting in the effort IMO. Having to carry to big a burden on offense def led him to slack a lil on def in the past.

So you think its mostly just easier to play better when you have more talent around you so its sort of cause and effect? Not baiting you, just wondering what people think Melo's biggest motivation to change has been.

Have said it before...don't overlook the possibility that the uproar around the draft and even some of Phil's comments have changed Anthony.

I keep talking about the Puerto Rico gathering, which I hope becomes an annual thing while Anthony is a Knick. Opening his gym to players and playing 1/1 with KP, and being more helpful with him. None of this type of thing ever happened before...Am I wrong about this?

Maybe there is a pro-athlete "mid-life" reflection going on with him, where he sees that if he's going to be a Knick for the rest of his career his legacy will be about how he adapted his came for the good of the team, and that winning in the playoffs will do more for his rep than winning a scoring title.

I can guarantee you that if the Knicks do some damage over the next few years, and Anthony is not simply a ball dominant scorer, his legacy will ultimately be enhanced because if he plays the right way observers are going to see that he gave up a part of his game in order to win, and this is something people are always impressed by.

I also think "mid-life reflection" might have something to do with it, namely that injury, hobbling around in the All-Star game in front of his peers, having his name attached to an all-time terrible Knicks squad. I think it might have given Melo some time to reflect on how he wants to finish his career, knowing the end of his career is closer now than the beginning. You can hear it in his (alleged) recent comments in today's "Big Brother" Post article:

"He’s [Porzingis] gonna lead this organization long after I’m retired. Hopefully we can hoist one or two [championship trophies] before that happens."

Time away from a sport he's been playing all his life might have given him some perspective. Sometimes you need to go away to realize what you love about it. And I'm sure KP's work ethic and manner is scores better for the locker room than what their previous number 2 scorer JR Smith was bringing to the table.

gunsnewing wrote:

martin wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:

fishmike wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

SwishAndDish13 wrote:This thread is sad. I couldn't possibly read all 10 pages, but you're not going anywhere 1 guy. It's nice to know if somebody has a bad night we can still win these days. It's refreshing that if Melo doesn't have 30+ and shoot 60% we can still win. That was getting pretty ridiculous.

Thank God! Melo scoring 30+ is a losing formula unless he's Curry or Lebron and also dishes for 10 assists. Everyone just stares into the abyss or checks their twitter feed while out on the court on offense, when Melo does his thang.

Better to have team balance and ball movement. Have Melo score 15 or 16, KP for 20+, Afflalo for 15 or 16, Galloway for like 12-13, and so forth and so forth. That's the recipe for success.

I prefer balance, KP isn't ready to scope 20 a night yet, that is fine. Melo, KP, and Affalo have done a great job of sharing the load so far. Much better from praying things work out by giving the ball to Melo and clearing out.

It was almost impossible to register an assist under their prior offense. 3 guys hiding in the weak side corner. You could guard them with 1 guy. Terrible basketball.

Where do you think Melo's adjustments have come from? Phil get into his head? Fisher? Age/maturity? Perspective? Melo's adjustments have impressed me. Strikes me as pretty rare for veteran guys. A lot of guys talk about making Paul Pierce adjustments. PP was 30 the year Boston added KG, so they are essentially the same age. Coincedentally PP led Bos in both scoring and assists that year, as Melo is for the Knicks.

This is very true but the reason people are hard on Melo is that he is paid like a Duncan/KG not Paul Pierce. Celtics don't get both KG & Allen if Pierce was inexplicably maxed out. Celtics would have kept winning less than 30 games and Boston fans would be on Pierce and expect more from him because of his contract. Some fans do have unreasonable expectations of players. Maybe we should've eased up on Melo and blame Dolan. Ultimately he signs the checks. Dolan sees dollar signs with Melo and has no problem making him one of he highest paid players in the game. There isn't a GM strong willed enough to pay him for what he's worth. Not even Phil evidently.

But I guess we'll just keep blaming passionoite diehard Knick fans who superseded Melo

There have only been a few rare instances where franchise players that are qualified to sign for the max take less to stay with their own team. 99% of the players in the league sign for as much as they can all the time. 99% of you and me and our neighbors do the same when we can.

Yea absolutely true. Players and workers have every right to demand top dollar but it's not always a positive thing for the team or company.

The MVP of the company may have to be let go of take a pay cut. Then the company's stock drops or in the Knicks case they have laughingstock seasons.

But yea players have every right to get paid. There isn't nothing fans can do to change anything but complain and hope that the player outperforms his talents. Especially at the Garden when they will just fill the seats with a tourist passing through 7th Ave.

What's crazy is coaches and GM's are fired on a whim but you can't get rid of players with albatross contracts cos they are guaranteed in the NBA. Only in sports does that happen because in the real world, the workplace, your performance if not up to snuff you are quickly replaced by someone ready to give everything they have to the company for a fraction of the cost

Every independent laborer and union in this country ('cept maybe in Wisconsin?) is free to negotiate a guaranteed contract. I did once.

And unlike NBA players, your company can't trade you to Sacramento.