HofstraBBall wrote:

fishmike wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Andrew wrote:http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19035736/carmelo-anthony-accepting-reduced-role-new-york-knicks-sees-writing-wall

Yes! Great job accepting your role!

"I see the writing on the wall. I see what it is," Anthony said late Wednesday night. "I see what they're trying to do, and it's just me accepting that. That's what puts me at peace. Just knowing and understanding how things work. I'm at peace with that."

Nooooo! The Knicks never wanted you to go out there and try to score 30 or 40 a night!

"I don't think me going out there, trying to score 30 and 40 every night and playing that way, is going to help them out at this point."

I don't understand the thread??..What doesn't he get??..The dude can't say he has accepted a reduced role and that just be that???

that going out and scoring 30-40 a night was never what the Knicks needed in the first place. Chuckers gonna chuck. Some can see that. Others are only allowed to post points that directly indicate some mistake on Phil's part so I can see why this is a struggle for you.

Another Yawn post by a guy trying to defend his "Phil is doing a great job" agenda. No brains to blame one guy for TEAM failure. Specially when it has been a team of guys who would probably get little run on most other NBA teams. But you keep going excusing the moves Phil has done. Noah, Rose, dumping former draft picks for nothing. Fact is, we both know Phil is gone in 2 years and his Knicks legacy will be no more than any other GM who tanked. Real genius ability. As are the sheep thinking this senile old man will be taking them to the promise land. 5 years and all will be left is Noah cap hold, mediocre 2 Guard, an out of place unicorn and a team that needs to reset with a new direction and new system....once again!!

how unbelievably stupid this is. especially for a guy who acts like he's the know-it-all of the forum. only with you, and several others, does the equation "melo-hate=pro-phil" rein true. what a joke. fish may be an *******, just kidding fish, but he's certainly not pro-anything, except pro-knicks. get real dude.

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

holfresh wrote:Harden needs to go out and score 30/40 a night..Westbrook needed to go out and score 30/40 a night..MJ needed to go out and score 30/40 a night...Kobe needed to go out an core 30/40 a night..Silly commentary and you just want to take a shot at Melo...Have at it, you can find plenty of help here...

wow mentioning melo with all those guys is pure comedy. but it's really funny you should mention james harden... isn't it ironic that harden is averaging near a triple-double with the coach that melo was to stubborn to adapt to and decided to stop playing for? if that's not exhibitA of how melo has handled his whole entire career in the NBA, i'm not sure what is.

Yet another one of your silly post out of the rafters to drop on us..I would respond thoughtfully but you don't reciprocate so I won't waste my time...

actually, funny you say that. the last time you said that to me, and i forget which thread it was now, but it was like a week ago? i responded directly to your post and what a surprise, you never answered. so maybe you should heed your own advice and holier than thou attitude.

and to be honest, if you "responded thoughtfully" (which btw is something you never do) you would be saying something negative about melo. so instead of doing that, you just deflect, to cover your own melo-loving ass. it's cool, we all see it man.

still waiting for a response holfresh. thanks. although, i dont think this surprises anyone. you deflect and run, every.single.time. but yet, i'm the one who "drops in" please. the irony is real.

I deflect and run, really??? Me??...Jokes...You and Bonn play these games..here goes..

Harden plays the PG role which is the most important role in MDA's offense..But you know this...Melo is not a PG..But you know this..Melo was asked to stand in the corner and shoot threes while playing with MDA..But you know this...So you asked how does Harden thrive in an MDA offense because he accepted his role and Melo wasn't a fit in MDA offense..Do you now understand why I think it's a dumb question/statement and not worth a response??...Bonn does stuff like that as well...

PG role and yet he even rebounds better than Melo! It's crazy to ever compare the two.

Ok...Do you think they will get beyond the second round of the playoffs???

Sorry I was making that comment half-jokingly. I'm not sure. I think Harden brings much more to the table than Melo and I think Houston got a steal when they traded for him. But I'm still not the biggest Harden fan. He has his weaknesses and I'd have a lot of reluctance giving him a supermax contract. That said, in the east, I think Houston would make it to the conference finals most years. Not sure about in the west though.

I know many here don't care...Harden plays zero defense..ZERO...Melo and Harden are volume scorers..They put up the same stats in their primes but Harden is a better assist guy..Harden is playing a different role with MDA..They will lose in the second round..Just like Melo..

The only time Knick fans care about defense is with regards to Melo and Rose...Everyone else not playing defense is fine with them...

I wouldn't agree with any of the claims you made there, but what exactly is your point? Melo is comparable to Harden - a guy who you're not a fan of?

Also, Melo's in his 14th season, 32 yrs old. Harden is in his 8th, 27yrs old. Is 27yr old Harden better than 32yr old Melo? Yes. Is this really shocking to you?

No, it's why I knew that giving him the then largest contract in the world and throwing in an NTC was ridiculous. (I'm still waiting for the point in the new CBA where Melo's contract becomes a bargain!) But I'd take 27 year old Harden over 27 year old Melo too.

Who would you have given the money to instead Bonn???

We've been through this many times. I've answered how I would have spent the money but you're obviously not satisfied with my answers and won't be. The thread is about evaluating Melo, not whether Bonn1997 would be an awesome GM anyway.

Your approach to free agency is unrealistic...Until you approach it the way the NBA world works, it's going to be difficult to see your point...Somehow, you believe undervalued players are out there ready to jump into your lap...Everyone pays up for talent except you, who will maintain a winning organization, with on the cheap talent, and they sign for what you offer at measured rates...Fantasy..

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:MDA did in FACT try to put Melo in a Point Forward position and Melo reluctantly went thru the motions. Even still it was one of the best Assist seasons for Melo. If he had bought in fully it could have been even better.

...coach Mike D'Antoni. He pulled Melo out of his prime position as a finisher to attempt a point forward style of play. Melo is not LeBron James, and the clash of styles again gave media fuel to paint Anthony as the stubborn malcontent—especially when 10-day contract reserve Jeremy Lin arrived and went on a month long tear through the league, saving the Knicks' season. While that too would fade away, the idea of trading Anthony to focus on Lin was entertained by many.

http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/03/carmelo-anthony-is-too-good-for-knicks

Last year we saw DadMelo and it was good. It was something to build on going forward. Melo decided not to continue playing that way which shows he learned NOTHING.

BS...I used to watch every game sometimes twice..Complete BS...Linsanity was two weeks not a month..More BS..Why do people read otgher who don't watch the games is beyond me...I see it all the times when out of towners give comments about what the Knicks are doing...

Knicks won 32 games last year and missed the playoffs..What wa good about that???

WOW! Way to miss the point! This isn't about Lin!!! This is about Melo and him not recognizing what he needed to do in order to help his team win! You just can't get it thru your head that Melo could be more than just a scorer and Phil tried as did MDA and Karl to get Melo to understand what he needed to do.

You just go ahead and bury your head in the sand on this tho!

Way for you to miss the point...Linsanity was two weeks...The author didn't know that, therefore he doesn't know shet about the Knicks...But you gulp up any anti-Melo rhetoric posted...

Why are you getting hung up on that? The POINT WAS that it was widely known MDA tried to get Melo to play a Point Forward role!!! Melo did it begrudgingly rather than buy in and make the best of a great role being the focal point on offense. Stop F'n talking about Lin!

FOCUS!

What's the point? Melo as the facilitator
Dec 22, 2011

Jared Zwerling

Carmelo Anthony's been the Knicks' facilitator while the team waits for Baron Davis.

Mike D'Antoni has compared Carmelo Anthony's transition to a consistent point-forward to give the Knicks an advantage to how K.C. Jones orchestrated his 1980s championship Celtics teams with Larry Bird. But D'Antoni doesn't have to time travel that far back to establish why the comparison would work.

It's no secret that in today's NBA, head coaches want their best shooting guards/swingmen usually running the show to create mismatches and better spacing on the floor, which leads to more open corner 3's and lanes to the basket. Kobe Bryant in the Triangle; LeBron James in anything. Then there's Joe Johnson and Danny Granger.

So when D'Antoni opened training camp saying that the loss of Chauncey Billups would mean Melo would handle the rock more, it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise. Whereas it's customary for Melo to first touch the ball 15 to 20 feet out, now he's bringing it up the court and facilitating. He said he's excited about his new role and using the preseason to feel out his new teammates' positioning in halfcourt sets.

"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

So far, so good. Melo has shown he can delay his scoring mentality by seconds, in order to feel out the floor first off the screen before he shoots without hesitation, which has always been his game. It's the same ol' scoring Melo, but he now comes with an added degree of defender difficulty.

"He's doing a great job of playing point-forward," Amare Stoudemire said. "He's really, really doing a phenomenal job of creating space and keeping the floor open so we can make great plays out there. The game is starting to become easier for us. Once we figure out how it flows, we're going to be pretty good."

GustavBahler wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

holfresh wrote:Harden needs to go out and score 30/40 a night..Westbrook needed to go out and score 30/40 a night..MJ needed to go out and score 30/40 a night...Kobe needed to go out an core 30/40 a night..Silly commentary and you just want to take a shot at Melo...Have at it, you can find plenty of help here...

wow mentioning melo with all those guys is pure comedy. but it's really funny you should mention james harden... isn't it ironic that harden is averaging near a triple-double with the coach that melo was to stubborn to adapt to and decided to stop playing for? if that's not exhibitA of how melo has handled his whole entire career in the NBA, i'm not sure what is.

Good point. I didn't even think of that.

MDA gave them completely different roles. D'Antoni gave Harden the ball and told him to run the offense. He told Melo to stand in the corner behind the 3pt line and wait for the occasional shot attempt. He was trying to turn one of the better scorers in the league at the time into a glorified role player. Wasn't going to end any other way.

These guys dont remember any basketball details. Ask him what Sign Lin is. Or what tattoo JKIDD had on his neck. I am sure he remembers those details.

These guys remind me of Jet and Met fans. Year after year hoping and praying they get a savior. And when they are reminded once again that they suck, they blame the poor sucker they crowned as one. That's Melo. Fact is we have a long way to go before we will win anything. We had a chance to build on 54 wins and sir Phil was the next Starphuck. They just don't see it yet.

Btw, I was one of the poor sucker Met fans. Still are

crzymdups wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

EnySpree wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

holfresh wrote:Harden needs to go out and score 30/40 a night..Westbrook needed to go out and score 30/40 a night..MJ needed to go out and score 30/40 a night...Kobe needed to go out an core 30/40 a night..Silly commentary and you just want to take a shot at Melo...Have at it, you can find plenty of help here...

wow mentioning melo with all those guys is pure comedy. but it's really funny you should mention james harden... isn't it ironic that harden is averaging near a triple-double with the coach that melo was to stubborn to adapt to and decided to stop playing for? if that's not exhibitA of how melo has handled his whole entire career in the NBA, i'm not sure what is.

Yet another one of your silly post out of the rafters to drop on us..I would respond thoughtfully but you don't reciprocate so I won't waste my time...

Nothing silly about it. Its basically Melos career in a nutshell. It's the reason why he's never won much. I like Melo but I'm not gonna be mindless with it. It's time to move on from this not spend time arguing about it.

I find it ironic when someone comes to a discussion board to tell everyone, "I would respond thought fully but I'm not going to waste my time." It's kind of like joining a gym just for the food and saying "I would use the exercise equipment but I'm not going to waste my time"

We can have a discussion..Will you admit Amare was injured his last 3 years as a Knick???..Will you admit Tyson was not DPOY that year and DHow should have been???..No yopu will never admit to those things because it doesn't suit your argument..SPIN...

I had a feeling you'd basically trash all of the players I listed. You mentioned Ewing before. He had an all-star teammate only once in his entire prime and twice in his 17 seasons but he still took his teams far. Melo's teams basically go around .600 if you surround him with very good teammates and around .400 if you surround him with bad ones. You know what that sounds like? A low impact chucker.
Regarding the plus minus stat, I include it because of its simplicity. I do think looking at win shares and the player tracking data (especially for defense) is better. But I've never said you should ignore the +/- stats for any player.

Bonn you alway do this...You act like the fact you present are in a vacuum and it's the only factors that affect what you are focused on...How on Earth can you compare Ewing situation to Melo..How on earth Bonn???????..Ewing had Pat Riley as a coach, one of the all time greats...Melo had 5 coaches in the last 6 years...You think that might be a factor??..Ewing ws on one of the all time great defensive teams, You think that might be a factor??..Ewing played with essentially the same core for years upon years, you think that might be a factor?? Ewibng knew what to expect from his front office and the style of play didn't change twice per season, you think that might be a factor???

Was Amare hurt the final three years as a Knick which impacted his career permanently??? You never answered in your lengthy response... Who ws the better defender the year Tyson won DPOY, Tyson or DHow???..Again, You never answered...

I was talking specifically about the all-star year of Amare. He was still pretty good when Melo was here that year. You're arguing Tyson was the 2nd best rather than the best defensive player? I'm not gonna nitpick about each teammate Melo has had. That's just silly. (And you're actually the one who brought Ewing into this.) The bottom line is that if you surround Melo with pretty good teammates, you'll have a .600 or slightly higher team. If you surround him with bad ones, a .400 or slightly lower team. That just doesn't impress me. It sounds like a low impact player. (Or really any random non-super star would probably be .600 with good teammates and .400 with bad ones.)

Amare was never healthy when playing with Melo..Amare got hurt around the all star break, right around the trade...I wasn't sure if it was the back or the knee...He wasn't able to play in the playoffs because of his back..Remember Marv Albert's call during a playoff game, "Melo is out there with 4 guys" against Boston???Amare never played...

Tyson wasn't second best either...Was LeBron alive that year, he was better too..If you push, I'm sure I can come up with as leave 5 other better defensive players..

You won't nitpick because its comical...

Tyson was the best Knicks teammate Melo ever had. They won 54 games together. But even that season, Tyson disappeared in the playoffs with the sniffles. I loved Tyson but his annual playoffs disappearance was really bizarre. Of course in hindsight, the "true Knicks fans" blame Melo for Tyson disappearing.

Knicks were down 3-1 in that series. Lets look at Melo's #s in those 3 losses:
Game 1: 10-28 (.357%)FGs, 1 assist, 2 TOs, 5 PFs
Game 3: 6-16 (.375%)FGs, 1 assist, 4 TOS, 5 PFs
Game 4: 9-23 (.391%)FGs, 1 assist, 3 TOs, 6 PFs

I mean going back 4 years to ensure Melo doesnt take too much blame is what this board has come to?

Holfesh is still up Isiah's ass, but crzymdups you are simply better than this. Yes Tyson played as poorly. I remember Hibbert killing him in that last game.

That being said excusing Melo is an absolute joke.

In 6 games Melo had 8 assists. 5 steals. 15 turn overs. 29 personal fouls. Melo shot 43%.

We we lose 4-2 and in 3 of those games Melo has the kind of game that ensure the Knicks have zero shot to win. Zilch. This arguement is old and has long been solved. Melo has good games and bad, but his body of work for the playoffs clearly shows a guy who will you shoot you right out of the game more often than not. Chris Paul plays better. Melo just jacks shot after shot. Melo's supporting cast played poorly during that series. You know who else played poorly? Melo. He had a couple huge games to make his averages look good, but we were down 3-1 after 4 games and of those 3 losses nobody played poorer than Melo.

Chris Paul defends, shares the balls and plays well. When you get beat by a great team but play well it happens. When you get beat every year and cant shoot 40% in half your games you are going to take some blame. Only agendas make this topic relevent. Rest of the world knows Melo is a lousy playoff performer.

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:MDA did in FACT try to put Melo in a Point Forward position and Melo reluctantly went thru the motions. Even still it was one of the best Assist seasons for Melo. If he had bought in fully it could have been even better.

...coach Mike D'Antoni. He pulled Melo out of his prime position as a finisher to attempt a point forward style of play. Melo is not LeBron James, and the clash of styles again gave media fuel to paint Anthony as the stubborn malcontent—especially when 10-day contract reserve Jeremy Lin arrived and went on a month long tear through the league, saving the Knicks' season. While that too would fade away, the idea of trading Anthony to focus on Lin was entertained by many.

http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/03/carmelo-anthony-is-too-good-for-knicks

Last year we saw DadMelo and it was good. It was something to build on going forward. Melo decided not to continue playing that way which shows he learned NOTHING.

BS...I used to watch every game sometimes twice..Complete BS...Linsanity was two weeks not a month..More BS..Why do people read otgher who don't watch the games is beyond me...I see it all the times when out of towners give comments about what the Knicks are doing...

Knicks won 32 games last year and missed the playoffs..What wa good about that???

WOW! Way to miss the point! This isn't about Lin!!! This is about Melo and him not recognizing what he needed to do in order to help his team win! You just can't get it thru your head that Melo could be more than just a scorer and Phil tried as did MDA and Karl to get Melo to understand what he needed to do.

You just go ahead and bury your head in the sand on this tho!

Way for you to miss the point...Linsanity was two weeks...The author didn't know that, therefore he doesn't know shet about the Knicks...But you gulp up any anti-Melo rhetoric posted...

Why are you getting hung up on that? The POINT WAS that it was widely known MDA tried to get Melo to play a Point Forward role!!! Melo did it begrudgingly rather than buy in and make the best of a great role being the focal point on offense. Stop F'n talking about Lin!

FOCUS!

What's the point? Melo as the facilitator
Dec 22, 2011

Jared Zwerling

Carmelo Anthony's been the Knicks' facilitator while the team waits for Baron Davis.

Mike D'Antoni has compared Carmelo Anthony's transition to a consistent point-forward to give the Knicks an advantage to how K.C. Jones orchestrated his 1980s championship Celtics teams with Larry Bird. But D'Antoni doesn't have to time travel that far back to establish why the comparison would work.

It's no secret that in today's NBA, head coaches want their best shooting guards/swingmen usually running the show to create mismatches and better spacing on the floor, which leads to more open corner 3's and lanes to the basket. Kobe Bryant in the Triangle; LeBron James in anything. Then there's Joe Johnson and Danny Granger.

So when D'Antoni opened training camp saying that the loss of Chauncey Billups would mean Melo would handle the rock more, it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise. Whereas it's customary for Melo to first touch the ball 15 to 20 feet out, now he's bringing it up the court and facilitating. He said he's excited about his new role and using the preseason to feel out his new teammates' positioning in halfcourt sets.

"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

So far, so good. Melo has shown he can delay his scoring mentality by seconds, in order to feel out the floor first off the screen before he shoots without hesitation, which has always been his game. It's the same ol' scoring Melo, but he now comes with an added degree of defender difficulty.

"He's doing a great job of playing point-forward," Amare Stoudemire said. "He's really, really doing a phenomenal job of creating space and keeping the floor open so we can make great plays out there. The game is starting to become easier for us. Once we figure out how it flows, we're going to be pretty good."

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/8204/whats-the-point-melo-as-the-facilitator

It wasn't the plan out of training camp..They had no one else...They had no one else...Who was the other option TD??.Was he hurt or something then wildly ineffective..He was lost..They had no choice..They later picked up the corpse of Bibby after Miami let him go...They had no choice..Sure he brings up the ball a a short time..It wasn't a long term plan...Melo plays center at times..Doesn't mean he is being tried at center...It was a stop gap because TD blew up...

You guys are comical..

HofstraBBall wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

holfresh wrote:Harden needs to go out and score 30/40 a night..Westbrook needed to go out and score 30/40 a night..MJ needed to go out and score 30/40 a night...Kobe needed to go out an core 30/40 a night..Silly commentary and you just want to take a shot at Melo...Have at it, you can find plenty of help here...

wow mentioning melo with all those guys is pure comedy. but it's really funny you should mention james harden... isn't it ironic that harden is averaging near a triple-double with the coach that melo was to stubborn to adapt to and decided to stop playing for? if that's not exhibitA of how melo has handled his whole entire career in the NBA, i'm not sure what is.

Good point. I didn't even think of that.

MDA gave them completely different roles. D'Antoni gave Harden the ball and told him to run the offense. He told Melo to stand in the corner behind the 3pt line and wait for the occasional shot attempt. He was trying to turn one of the better scorers in the league at the time into a glorified role player. Wasn't going to end any other way.

These guys dont remember any basketball details. Ask him what Sign Lin is. Or what tattoo JKIDD had on his neck. I am sure he remembers those details.

These guys remind me of Jet and Met fans. Year after year hoping and praying they get a savior. And when they are reminded once again that they suck, they blame the poor suckered they crowned as savior. That's Melo. Fact is we have a long way to go before we will win anything. We had a chance to build on 54 wins and sir Phil was the next Starphuck. They just don't see it yet.

Btw, I was one of the poor suckered Met fans. Still are

Read my last post above so you can both STFU!!! Stop talking out your ass. MDA tried to give Melo the SAME DAMNED ROLE as Harden. They have different strengths but the idea was the same.

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:MDA did in FACT try to put Melo in a Point Forward position and Melo reluctantly went thru the motions. Even still it was one of the best Assist seasons for Melo. If he had bought in fully it could have been even better.

...coach Mike D'Antoni. He pulled Melo out of his prime position as a finisher to attempt a point forward style of play. Melo is not LeBron James, and the clash of styles again gave media fuel to paint Anthony as the stubborn malcontent—especially when 10-day contract reserve Jeremy Lin arrived and went on a month long tear through the league, saving the Knicks' season. While that too would fade away, the idea of trading Anthony to focus on Lin was entertained by many.

http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/03/carmelo-anthony-is-too-good-for-knicks

Last year we saw DadMelo and it was good. It was something to build on going forward. Melo decided not to continue playing that way which shows he learned NOTHING.

BS...I used to watch every game sometimes twice..Complete BS...Linsanity was two weeks not a month..More BS..Why do people read otgher who don't watch the games is beyond me...I see it all the times when out of towners give comments about what the Knicks are doing...

Knicks won 32 games last year and missed the playoffs..What wa good about that???

WOW! Way to miss the point! This isn't about Lin!!! This is about Melo and him not recognizing what he needed to do in order to help his team win! You just can't get it thru your head that Melo could be more than just a scorer and Phil tried as did MDA and Karl to get Melo to understand what he needed to do.

You just go ahead and bury your head in the sand on this tho!

Way for you to miss the point...Linsanity was two weeks...The author didn't know that, therefore he doesn't know shet about the Knicks...But you gulp up any anti-Melo rhetoric posted...

Why are you getting hung up on that? The POINT WAS that it was widely known MDA tried to get Melo to play a Point Forward role!!! Melo did it begrudgingly rather than buy in and make the best of a great role being the focal point on offense. Stop F'n talking about Lin!

FOCUS!

What's the point? Melo as the facilitator
Dec 22, 2011

Jared Zwerling

Carmelo Anthony's been the Knicks' facilitator while the team waits for Baron Davis.

Mike D'Antoni has compared Carmelo Anthony's transition to a consistent point-forward to give the Knicks an advantage to how K.C. Jones orchestrated his 1980s championship Celtics teams with Larry Bird. But D'Antoni doesn't have to time travel that far back to establish why the comparison would work.

It's no secret that in today's NBA, head coaches want their best shooting guards/swingmen usually running the show to create mismatches and better spacing on the floor, which leads to more open corner 3's and lanes to the basket. Kobe Bryant in the Triangle; LeBron James in anything. Then there's Joe Johnson and Danny Granger.

So when D'Antoni opened training camp saying that the loss of Chauncey Billups would mean Melo would handle the rock more, it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise. Whereas it's customary for Melo to first touch the ball 15 to 20 feet out, now he's bringing it up the court and facilitating. He said he's excited about his new role and using the preseason to feel out his new teammates' positioning in halfcourt sets.

"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

So far, so good. Melo has shown he can delay his scoring mentality by seconds, in order to feel out the floor first off the screen before he shoots without hesitation, which has always been his game. It's the same ol' scoring Melo, but he now comes with an added degree of defender difficulty.

"He's doing a great job of playing point-forward," Amare Stoudemire said. "He's really, really doing a phenomenal job of creating space and keeping the floor open so we can make great plays out there. The game is starting to become easier for us. Once we figure out how it flows, we're going to be pretty good."

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/8204/whats-the-point-melo-as-the-facilitator

It wasn't the plan out of training camp..They had no one else...They had no one else...Who was the other option TD??.Was he hurt or something then wildly ineffective..He was lost..They had no choice..They later picked up the corpse of Bibby after Miami let him go...They had no choice..Sure he brings up the ball a a short time..It wasn't a long term plan...Melo plays center at times..Doesn't mean he is being tried at center...It was a stop gap because TD blew up...

You guys are comical..

If Melo had fully bought in and found success they could've done more with it and made it a permanent role. Melo should've taken it to heart and played thru early struggles rather than give up on it and half ass it. Melo already has the ball so much anyway that it should be a very small adjustment to choose to be more of a facilitator!!!

holfresh wrote:

nixluva wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

holfresh wrote:Harden needs to go out and score 30/40 a night..Westbrook needed to go out and score 30/40 a night..MJ needed to go out and score 30/40 a night...Kobe needed to go out an core 30/40 a night..Silly commentary and you just want to take a shot at Melo...Have at it, you can find plenty of help here...

wow mentioning melo with all those guys is pure comedy. but it's really funny you should mention james harden... isn't it ironic that harden is averaging near a triple-double with the coach that melo was to stubborn to adapt to and decided to stop playing for? if that's not exhibitA of how melo has handled his whole entire career in the NBA, i'm not sure what is.

Good point. I didn't even think of that.

MDA gave them completely different roles. D'Antoni gave Harden the ball and told him to run the offense. He told Melo to stand in the corner behind the 3pt line and wait for the occasional shot attempt. He was trying to turn one of the better scorers in the league at the time into a glorified role player. Wasn't going to end any other way.

These guys dont remember any basketball details. Ask him what Sign Lin is. Or what tattoo JKIDD had on his neck. I am sure he remembers those details.

These guys remind me of Jet and Met fans. Year after year hoping and praying they get a savior. And when they are reminded once again that they suck, they blame the poor suckered they crowned as savior. That's Melo. Fact is we have a long way to go before we will win anything. We had a chance to build on 54 wins and sir Phil was the next Starphuck. They just don't see it yet.

Btw, I was one of the poor suckered Met fans. Still are

Read my last post above so you can both STFU!!! Stop talking out your ass. MDA tried to give Melo the SAME DAMNED ROLE as Harden. They have different strengths but the idea was the same.

TD lost his confidence..he had crazy turnovers...Please stop pushing this dumb theory...

Melo was playing Point Forward before the regular season started!!! The opportunity to handle the ball more and run the team is not something a Great Player should pass up. Why do you keep bringing up other players? This ain't about Lin or TD or anyone else. This is about Melo.