Anji wrote:Uptown wrote:earthmansurfer wrote:gunsnewing wrote:3G4G wrote:gunsnewing wrote:ared Zwerling @JaredZwerling
Melo suffered a contusion on his right arm. Was bothering him all game. He said his play in the All-Star Game is in question
It never ceases to amaze me guys that are hurt especially with hand/arm/shoulder problems still manage to put up high volume of shots based on minutes played. If his arm was hurting that bad I would have expected more hockey assists facilitation on his part.
Speaking of which when is the last time we talked in depth about Melo's hockey assists?
good question..
Chris Herring @HerringWSJ
I asked Melo why he kept shooting if his right arm was numb. He answered, then said, "You'd have to be a shooter to understand."
Sigh...
If your arm is bothering (hurting) you all game and your shot isn't falling, why not change your game some and try to work on setting others up and being a "decoy"? You don't shoot your way through contusions. Don't mean to be critical, but that quote sort of irks me.
Come on Melo, get back to that smart play of earlier in the year. Critical part of the schedule coming up, we need the head back in the game.
There were 2 plays in paricular that I remember. Melo had the all top of the key and ran PNR with Chandler. After rubbing off the pick, Melo darted towards the lane and kicked it out to Kidd. Kidd wnated nothing to do with it and swung it right back to Melo on thw wing. 7 seconds were remaining on the shot clock. so what was Melo supposed to do in that situation when the only other scorer on the court was JR, and he was on the weakside?
The other play was very similar, PNR, Melo kicked it out, somehow Chandler ended up with it about 10 feet from the basket and wanted no parts of it so we kicked it to Kidd who swung it back to Melo, again with the shot clock running down. Again, what was Melo supposed to do with the ball?
Damn, I never bring this stuff up because it feels like I'm crazy when I watch the game and read the usually non-descript "move the ball Melo" and passes goes from:
Melo to .20% shooter MVP to Chandler on a busted screen because kidd can move and score, back to .30% shoot shumps and back to Melo.(example)There are 4 legitimate scorers on this roster, 2 of them are streaky and 1 is a big that needs to be set up or post, where is this ball movement suppose to come from??? Most of the roster is very easy to guard.
I didn't say to just move the ball and find the open man, did I? I'm saying when you have Melo's talent you need to do more, you find a way. If your outside shot is off due to an arm contusion then take it inside again and again. Melo is great there and we have a good rebounder in Tyson to help grab the boards and put the misses back in. Clearly Melo is not a bad passer. He takes too many bad shots for my blood and would love to see the ball movement come back - when he was taking much much better shots overall. (Though he hasn't been that bad, but was starting to revert back a bit).
I'm saying he is the leader of this team, a top 5 to 10 player in the league and he needs to play like one. We are talking about Toronto and Gay was off as well. We are playing like crap and early in the season many of us said lets just see if we can keep up the crazy shooting and see if the old folks stay healthy. As expected, unfortunately, we couldn't keep up that play and injuries compounded things, badly. Also, as beaten with a stick, it was STUPID to let Lin go for this very reason - too much pressure on Melo to do everything (and Kidd looks like toast and Prigs - where is he?). I'm afraid we are witnessing THE breakdown many of us called early on imo, but I do hope this isn't really the case. It just seems like the flow of excuses that us Knick fans have come to know all too well, are once again upon us. Hopefully the all star break does us good. The old folks are close to returning, that can make a HUGE difference.
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. Albert Einstein
2/15/2013 10:41 AM