When Carmelo is back in great shape, he may be tempted to start taking over games again. (When you watched Kobe play in the second half of the recent Knicks/Lakers game, he clearly loved the challenge of being very well guarded and sinking the difficult shot anyway, over and over.) Is Melo willing to settle for a less heroic role with the Knicks, than what he has enjoyed through the rest of his NBA career? Does he have such a strong need to be "the man" that he is not able to give up scoring 25 points a game, night after night? I think he will be tempted to return to the role he had in Denver.

But, ultimately, it seems like the trump card is Jeremy Lin. If Lin refuses to put the ball in Melo's hands when he becomes a "ball stopper, how can Melo score 25 points without the ball? Ultimately, because of the 5 game winning streak, the forces behind unselfish passing far out weigh Melo's need to be a prolific scorer again. Melo may not have any choice other than to stop focusing on his "scoring average" and start focusing on how deep his team will be able to get in the Playoffs. In the end, he will like the results he gets with his new playing philosophy.

I'm very exciting about this team right now and I think everyone has a reason to be hopeful. But let's not ignore the facts. Landry Fields suffered immensely with Melo, Stoudamire the same, everyone is off their rythm because Melo is only concerned with his game and his shots. He said I maybe shooting too much? Are you ****ing kidding me? If your 10-30 and injured and you're triple teamed and shooting the ball you're shooting too much.

Bringing light to the fact that we have sucked all season and lost to terrible teams is important. Because with a team of undrafted players and castoffs minus Tyson Chandler the Knicks are 5-0 because they moved the ball. Everyone has improved. Fields and Jefferies who everyone wanted to kill earlier in the season have looked tremendous. Novak who couldn't get off the bench is spacing the floor and hitting big shots. Tyson is running harder and playing with more fire. All because Melo isn't stopping the ball. It's a beautiful thing when you run the pick and roll read the defense and attack or hit the open man.

I am not saying Melo can't do it, but if you have the best front line in the NBA and are one of the worst teams in the NBA and you're not smart enough to figure out that you need to pass earlier and stop holding the ball you're selfish.

Lin is humble and hungry. Passion is what motivates people. Melo's antics throwing the hands up, demanding the ball was getting very tired. I only hope that the joy you see in his face on the bench allows him to remember why he plays this game, what it's like to win in this city and how special this team can be with Amare and Chandler running the pick and roll, Melo catching the ball in motion, open in the corner, cutting to the basket.

If he buys in, we get davis healthy to supplement lin and this team plays with the same passion we will be tough to beat.

MS wrote:I'm very exciting about this team right now and I think everyone has a reason to be hopeful. But let's not ignore the facts. Landry Fields suffered immensely with Melo, Stoudamire the same, everyone is off their rythm because Melo is only concerned with his game and his shots. He said I maybe shooting too much? Are you ****ing kidding me? If your 10-30 and injured and you're triple teamed and shooting the ball you're shooting too much.

I think everything sees the first half of the sentence - "everyone is off their rythm" - but perhaps it was because of a different problem: need for a PG who could run the team.

It wasn't only Melo who was doing ISO ball, Amare had his fair share. And when you have TD running the clock out to 5 seconds, what else is there to do but shoot as soon as you get it?

MS wrote:That's the thing. How many Knicks game did you actually find enjoyable before Lin played. Maybe Boston and the Kings?

I'm very exciting about this team right now and I think everyone has a reason to be hopeful. But let's not ignore the facts. Landry Fields suffered immensely with Melo, Stoudamire the same, everyone is off their rythm because Melo is only concerned with his game and his shots. He said I maybe shooting too much? Are you ****ing kidding me? If your 10-30 and injured and you're triple teamed and shooting the ball you're shooting too much.

Bringing light to the fact that we have sucked all season and lost to terrible teams is important. Because with a team of undrafted players and castoffs minus Tyson Chandler the Knicks are 5-0 because they moved the ball. Everyone has improved. Fields and Jefferies who everyone wanted to kill earlier in the season have looked tremendous. Novak who couldn't get off the bench is spacing the floor and hitting big shots. Tyson is running harder and playing with more fire. All because Melo isn't stopping the ball. It's a beautiful thing when you run the pick and roll read the defense and attack or hit the open man.

I am not saying Melo can't do it, but if you have the best front line in the NBA and are one of the worst teams in the NBA and you're not smart enough to figure out that you need to pass earlier and stop holding the ball you're selfish.

Lin is humble and hungry. Passion is what motivates people. Melo's antics throwing the hands up, demanding the ball was getting very tired. I only hope that the joy you see in his face on the bench allows him to remember why he plays this game, what it's like to win in this city and how special this team can be with Amare and Chandler running the pick and roll, Melo catching the ball in motion, open in the corner, cutting to the basket.

If he buys in, we get davis healthy to supplement lin and this team plays with the same passion we will be tough to beat.

If you're Amare and you take one shot against the Nuggets in almost three quarters or if you're Fields who is moving and cutting and doesn't get the ball or chandler hustling down and you're looked off. Players try to over compensate and begin to do to much instead of playing within themselves.

Offense is a simple thing when everyone buys in and the guys understand their skills. Novak is shooting, Chandler is rebounding and cutting hard, Jefferies is defending, Fields is moving without the ball, Shumpert isn't forcing. Does it help having Lin out there? Tremendously, but you can tell when players make comments about ball movement on this team and when melo was traded guys begin to have fun and winning follows.

"Give him the ball, get out the way. Space out [on the floor]." Melo on Lin

Melo on Lin: 'I know there’s questions about 'Can I fit in?' and stuff like that, but this is like a dream come true to me.'

Anthony, who dominated the ball earlier this season as the Knicks desperately searched for a point guard and averages a team-leading 22.3 points, insisted Lin’s emergence can only help him because it will remove the need for him to work the ball up the floor.

“To say, ‘How is it going to work out? Can I fit in?’ It’s easy,” Anthony said. “Give him the ball and space out.”

- USAToday

nixluva wrote:To me it's all just talk cuz the fans and media don't matter. The only thing that matters is the players and coaches on this team that will be practicing and preparing together out of our sight. I get the sense that this team is very close and that they like each other. I haven't seen any evidence of any of these players being on the outside or hated by the others.