I'm sorry but this article just doesn't get it right. It's so easy to blame Melo for everything.
Anthony is breaking plays and demanding the ball in isolation, then snapping at teammates when they fail to get it to him. It happened late Monday, when Anthony called for the ball in the post, then smacked his hands in anger after Landry Fields went elsewhere. More often, Anthony saves the criticism for more private moments, on the bench or in the locker room.
I mean why even bring him here if you're not going to give him the ball in the fourth quarter. I mean this **** is bull****. Kobe does this and gets praised for wanting the ball, having a killer instinct, having a scorers mentality etc...Melo does this when LANDRY FUCKING FIELDS decides not to pass him the ball when he is open and a made shot breaks Bulls' momentum.. and its a huge disgusting problem..give me a ****ing break.
Anthony wants the Knicks to play through him, as every team has throughout his career. He is, by is own admission, uncomfortable in an offense in which he is not the primary ball-handler. That role is now capably filled by Jeremy Lin and Baron Davis.
Or maybe he's just uncomfortable in an offense where there is uncertainty at point guard and the point guard doesn't always know what the **** he is doing. Let's be honest, he did fine with Gerry McNamara, Iverson is definitely what you would call a primary ball-handler and their season was better than this one, Billups was still trying to gel with Amar'e and Melo but things damn sure weren't looking this bad and most fans for excited for and were expecting to see progress after the offseason with Billups at the point.
The Knicks have scoring options in Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Steve Novak, Iman Shumpert, Fields and Lin — the group that spearheaded the seven-game winning streak last month. They have since added more scoring in Davis and J. R. Smith. They are at their best when everyone is involved.
Iman is hardly a scoring option...yet. Not until he can actually make a couple of those mid range jumpers. Fields is inconsistent. As the season progresses Lin will be less and less of a scoring option. Out of Shump, Fields, and Lin, give me Novak as the only legit scoring option and thats hoping that he doesn't cool off anytime soon. I don't see no reason why Amar'e, Tyson, AND Melo can't get 20 shots a night. Also, since coming back from the injury, Melo has had only 4 games out of 10 in which he's had 20 or more shot attempts. Those games were Miami, Boston, Spurs, and Bulls. All games where I as a fan, EXPECT one of the top scorers in this league(although not shown this season) to want the ball and to take more shots than usual.
“All of us, every single player, has to buy into it, and give the coach a chance for his strategy to work,” Stoudemire said after Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. “If we don’t, then see what happens.”
Bull****. What happens is defense wins games and this man does not hardly play enough of it. And he says this after a game in which Melo only had 13 shot attemts(is he only suppose to have 2?!) and out rebounded him.
Nor is Anthony fulfilling his presumed role as a clutch performer. He misfired repeatedly down the stretch in Chicago, adding to a string of fourth-quarter failures this season. He intentionally fouled Kyle Korver and sent him to the line on a key possession in the final minute, with the Knicks down by 4, after the players had been instructed to simply play defense.
How is he suppose to fulfil the role if he can only touch the ball ONCE that entire quarter before the cluster of bad shots at the very end. First of all I'm absolutely shocked that the players "were instructed to play defense" maybe this is progress for once. But as stupid as Melo's foul was, Amar'e falling asleep and getting outrebounded by Taj Gibson takes the cake.