WaltLongmire wrote:
SA played some tenacious D, and Anthony had to square off with one of the best defenders in the game, so I expected him to have some problems, but I'm worried because I saw more standing around, not enough open jumpers, and a Woodson era tendency to give the ball to Anthony at times when it should have been moved around.

I think that's pretty much the 2 factors right there as far as last night goes. I'm not worried about his knee--he's says he's fine and he looks fine. I think he's just struggling to find consistency -- he's had some really good games, going back to the beginning of preseason where he looked great, the Washington game, etc..Last night, Kawhi Leonard put the clamps on him and took him right out of that game. Nothing to do with the knee...And then yeah, I mentioned it on the game thread as well -- way too much stagnation in our halfcourt sets last night and by everyone, not just Melo. Remember the play where Lopez had the ball left side top right elbow where he was waiting for someone--ANYONE--to cut to the basket? He showed great patience on that play--Grant finally cut and Lopez hit him with a nice pass for 2. But WTF was with the standing around on that play? Where was the player movement? Quite a few plays like that last night. That and we had zero transition baskets. We let the Spurs dictate almost everything that happened last night. They took our star right out of the game and we had no real counterpunch (a secondary or third scorer step up, no player/ball movement, no transition game). Leonard's a GREAT player, there's no question about it but if I'm Melo, I'd be chomping at the bit to play him again and go right at him.

Melo, like this team will be erratic. Vets like Melo and Jose need time to regain what was lost to inactivity. The rookies needs games to get strong, get experiences, hit the wall, then overcome it.

And its entirely possible this season will be a part of the longer term trend. Where the trend leads to? Nobody knows.
Just cuz you don't see it, does not mean it won't happen. Just cuz you don't see it, does not mean it can't.

Nobody saw KP or the trade that bought grant. We just assumed we'd get Towns, Oka3 or Russell.

I don't hate Melo as some here do. He's flawed, but he's very good at scoring and shooting. He rebounds. Trys on defense. I wish he passed more, because he's actually quite good at it.

Hopefully when he gets his legs back his jumper will return. The first few pre-season games showed how Melo can be a mid-range sniper in this offense. He still has a lot of value.

I think it is obvious his legs aren't there yet.

WaltLongmire wrote:I've been on a self-imposed ban to not be as critical of Anthony as I have been in the past. Hard for me to judge what % of Carmelo's problems at this point are age or injury recovery related. I figure that you will have ups and downs when recovering from an injury, yet I recall seeing evidence of him slowing down the season before the last one. I'm just not sure what 100% means for him at this point.

I do feel the need to say this once again for the folks who seemed to marginalize the timing of his operation and decision to play as long as he did last season...you are very wrong if you think that he would not be in better shape for THIS season if he had been operated on sooner rather than later. "Spilled milk," yup, but there is still an odor from it, and Melo's up and down play and diminished physical ability is partly a result of this, no matter what some of you want to think.

I'm hoping, though, that his recovery will end soon, and we will see a quicker Anthony with a some better jumping ability.

SA played some tenacious D, and Anthony had to square off with one of the best defenders in the game, so I expected him to have some problems, but I'm worried because I saw more standing around, not enough open jumpers, and a Woodson era tendency to give the ball to Anthony at times when it should have been moved around.

Said it during the game thread...Anthony was taking things personally and it showed in his play-and right now he is not the kind of player who can be successful doing this, especially against a team like the Spurs.

As the noted philosopher Dirty Harry once said- "A man's got to know his limitations."

Probably the most logical post in this whole thread. Instead of trying to prove you can get a shot over the reigning defensive player of the year, maybe....there's this thing called...PASSING!

ChuckBuck wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:I've been on a self-imposed ban to not be as critical of Anthony as I have been in the past. Hard for me to judge what % of Carmelo's problems at this point are age or injury recovery related. I figure that you will have ups and downs when recovering from an injury, yet I recall seeing evidence of him slowing down the season before the last one. I'm just not sure what 100% means for him at this point.

I do feel the need to say this once again for the folks who seemed to marginalize the timing of his operation and decision to play as long as he did last season...you are very wrong if you think that he would not be in better shape for THIS season if he had been operated on sooner rather than later. "Spilled milk," yup, but there is still an odor from it, and Melo's up and down play and diminished physical ability is partly a result of this, no matter what some of you want to think.

I'm hoping, though, that his recovery will end soon, and we will see a quicker Anthony with a some better jumping ability.

SA played some tenacious D, and Anthony had to square off with one of the best defenders in the game, so I expected him to have some problems, but I'm worried because I saw more standing around, not enough open jumpers, and a Woodson era tendency to give the ball to Anthony at times when it should have been moved around.

Said it during the game thread...Anthony was taking things personally and it showed in his play-and right now he is not the kind of player who can be successful doing this, especially against a team like the Spurs.

As the noted philosopher Dirty Harry once said- "A man's got to know his limitations."

Probably the most logical post in this whole thread. Instead of trying to prove you can get a shot over the reigning defensive player of the year, maybe....there's this thing called...PASSING!

last night really reminded me of him trying to win a pissing contest over paul george.

If he could only stop forcing those shots and move the ball even more. DONT FORCE!!!! NEVER!

Barring injury, this guy is still an excellent player he just needs someone to get through to him and give him a mental adjustment. Impossible task? We'll see. I am still hopeful because he already looks like much less of a black hole than last year.

fishmike wrote:

blkexec wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:In the not so distant future, this will be Porzingis's team. When that happens, Melo's role will diminish wether he likes it or not. If the team isn't a legit contender by then, I wouldn't be surprised if Melo waves his no trade clause and tries to go to a contender, can tell fans the team is in good hands.

In the meantime, I expect some growing pains from this team, including Melo. We have the worst starting backcourt in the league right now, thats putting us at a disadvantage from the start. I dont know if the answer is Grant and Galloway, or Grant and Afflalo, but once we get some consistent production from the starting backcourt, Melo should play his role better. My biggest problem with his game is that he makes things much too hard on himself by not using screens.

Porzingis and Grant are showing that the future for this team is bright, some of you might add a few years to your life if you focus on that instead of your very strong feelings about Melo.

Yep there are some pieces here. Hopefully Melo shows off well enough that we can move him for something reasonably valuable for the future that also benefits Melo.

I rather keep melo and move fans like you. I hope you only represent the minority of knick fans. It's really getting old. The only player you would be happy with is Jesus in a tang top. And I bet you would still find something to complain about. I disliked Melos game more than anybody, but you would never know. I appreciate what you bring to this forum. Your view points creates several threads all the time, which is good. But damn man, if melo was that bad then Phil ( who forgot more about basketball than u would ever know) wouldnt have gave him a max contract with a no trade clause.

You better off trying to see how this will work with melo, instead of taking the easy route by pushing the reset button every freaking year. Fans like this is why it's so difficult to find a top player to come here. I'm from NY and I would turn down this team in a second because of groutchy impatient fickle fans. Melo is a knick....get over it and move on. We finally have more good things than bad things to talk about, but yet the hatred keeps over flowing.

spot on. 4 games into a new season with a new roster that is also the first roster this GM can say is his.

I enjoy Briggs posts but he also has no perspective. 5x a year he posts about a guy who can save the franchise after watching him for 8 minutes.

Best case Melo is a finisher for a great team for the next few years. Worst case is he's here to sell some tickets until the next guy is ready as mentioned above.

In any case "lets trade the guy with a no trade clause" threads are a wankfest.

fishmike how many posts do you say Jose Clderon is agood player who needs time and will be fine? I see you have started to change tone there as well?

Nope and neither will melo. I donth think as an owner GM et al of a team that my mentality would be well I just have to wait 3 years for his contract to expire. Nope my hope is we get him playing well like the other night at Washington--THEN DO NOT be GREEDY and think that it will continue and sell at the highest spot we can. Some guys are right--the teams core is Grant KP Oquinn and Galloway. Id like to see if Derrick Williams can get in there. If Melo can swing 4-5 30-6-4 games together--we then sit him and deal with the best deals available. Im VERY accepting of trading him to Chicago right now for Portis Dunleavy Gibson and a 2016 pick.

BRIGGS wrote:

fishmike wrote:

blkexec wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:In the not so distant future, this will be Porzingis's team. When that happens, Melo's role will diminish wether he likes it or not. If the team isn't a legit contender by then, I wouldn't be surprised if Melo waves his no trade clause and tries to go to a contender, can tell fans the team is in good hands.

In the meantime, I expect some growing pains from this team, including Melo. We have the worst starting backcourt in the league right now, thats putting us at a disadvantage from the start. I dont know if the answer is Grant and Galloway, or Grant and Afflalo, but once we get some consistent production from the starting backcourt, Melo should play his role better. My biggest problem with his game is that he makes things much too hard on himself by not using screens.

Porzingis and Grant are showing that the future for this team is bright, some of you might add a few years to your life if you focus on that instead of your very strong feelings about Melo.

Yep there are some pieces here. Hopefully Melo shows off well enough that we can move him for something reasonably valuable for the future that also benefits Melo.

I rather keep melo and move fans like you. I hope you only represent the minority of knick fans. It's really getting old. The only player you would be happy with is Jesus in a tang top. And I bet you would still find something to complain about. I disliked Melos game more than anybody, but you would never know. I appreciate what you bring to this forum. Your view points creates several threads all the time, which is good. But damn man, if melo was that bad then Phil ( who forgot more about basketball than u would ever know) wouldnt have gave him a max contract with a no trade clause.

You better off trying to see how this will work with melo, instead of taking the easy route by pushing the reset button every freaking year. Fans like this is why it's so difficult to find a top player to come here. I'm from NY and I would turn down this team in a second because of groutchy impatient fickle fans. Melo is a knick....get over it and move on. We finally have more good things than bad things to talk about, but yet the hatred keeps over flowing.

spot on. 4 games into a new season with a new roster that is also the first roster this GM can say is his.

I enjoy Briggs posts but he also has no perspective. 5x a year he posts about a guy who can save the franchise after watching him for 8 minutes.

Best case Melo is a finisher for a great team for the next few years. Worst case is he's here to sell some tickets until the next guy is ready as mentioned above.

In any case "lets trade the guy with a no trade clause" threads are a wankfest.

fishmike how many posts do you say Jose Clderon is agood player who needs time and will be fine? I see you have started to change tone there as well?

Nope and neither will melo. I donth think as an owner GM et al of a team that my mentality would be well I just have to wait 3 years for his contract to expire. Nope my hope is we get him playing well like the other night at Washington--THEN DO NOT be GREEDY and think that it will continue and sell at the highest spot we can. Some guys are right--the teams core is Grant KP Oquinn and Galloway. Id like to see if Derrick Williams can get in there. If Melo can swing 4-5 30-6-4 games together--we then sit him and deal with the best deals available. Im VERY accepting of trading him to Chicago right now for Portis Dunleavy Gibson and a 2016 pick.

lets just try to be rational in our trade scenarios.

holfresh wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:After the Knicks win vs the Wiz, there were no Carmelo Anthony threads after his quality performance. Chuckbuck was nowhere to be seen or heard from. The only person consistent in there critique or praise of Melo is Mreinman.

Melo post up some poor shooting fg%s so far which are all career lows at the moment. He does hold a 206win share per 48 though, and is tied for 12 in the NBA in win shares. He is shooting 7.8ft attempts per game at 90ft%, has only 1.5 Tos per game and 3.5ast. 6.8rebs and 1.3stls. If he upped his FG and 3pt % by finding his stoke, I would take those numbers all day.

I understand the frustration as Melo is frustrating to watch sometimes. Yea the offense got stagnant and Melo tried to take over and put the team on his back the only way he thinks he knows how. We need ball handler that can take that pressure off of him. Grant isn't ready for that, Calderon looks cooked. This is all a process though. Phil has improved the team drastically from last season and may have found a future franchise player, the front courts looks solid. Now the next step is we need to upgrade our guard play.

Hey I let the homers and Melo dik suckers have their 1 (out of 4 games) day in the sun.

No need to piss in the kool aid, if it leads to a Knick win, amirite?

Listen, I am all for the Knicks success. That said, I am a realist at the same time. The way this team is currently constructed is contrarian to what Melo's MO is. Melo's personal goals and team goals are: A)Shoot the rock. B)Win the championship without sacrificing shooting the rock. C)If championship eludes you with the Knicks, be a hired gun for a future team willing to take on your salary.

Knicks are sooooo far from competing for a championship during Melo's remaining tenure, it's safe to see where this is headed. Could be sooner rather than later.

I have to wonder about this phony outrage you have suddenly come to embrace...You remind me a lot of those republican congressman who gets arrested in the bathroom stall of an airport trying to pick up men...The same ones who draft the most anti-gay legislation imaginable...

huh? a bit weird.

newyorknewyork wrote:

mreinman wrote:Melo is passing more, trying harder on defense, rebounding well. Getting some steals ........

If he could only stop forcing those shots and move the ball even more. DONT FORCE!!!! NEVER!

Barring injury, this guy is still an excellent player he just needs someone to get through to him and give him a mental adjustment. Impossible task? We'll see. I am still hopeful because he already looks like much less of a black hole than last year.

At this moment, in critical situations, who can we trust as a ball handler to create and make the right reads. Its clearly not Melo's strength on a night in and night out basis. We might need to sink or swim with Grant and let him fail yet learn and grow.

I would not mind living and dying with our young guys learning. That would be perfect. This is not about this year.