Unforgiven
Carmelo is our Ray Lewis. No matter what Carmelo Anthony delivers on the court, it will never satisfy people who prefer their athletes more squeaky clean. (That includes tatoos) This in not an indictment of any so-called "hater". It is a stone cold fact of fandom. We prefer players who reflect our values and perceptions of ourselves.
Shot selection must conform to the "makeable" shot. When you can create any shot in the manual, what is a "good" shot? A shot with only one man on you? An open look without a hand in your face? Help me out here.
Of course, I despise the end of quarters when he stalls with the ball in his hands. As Andrew notes, it is a selfish and predictable move that makes the other four players invisible. Make or miss, clear outs are not my personal preference unless the dudes name is Michael Jordan. Even Michael trusted the Jordanaires to take a big shot.
Carmelo is a flawed individual with a bad attitude and an ingrained ghetto accent. He has created a mask with his smile to conceal his intense competitive fire. Don't let it fool you. Carmelo wants to win more than anything. On Broadway, he senses anger would not play well with the people on celebrity row. So he assumes the role of entertainer and smiles. He DOES enjoy the game. He enjoys the game like a sniper enjoys picking off targets from 500 yards.
Make no mistake. Carmelo had clear intent to jump Keven Garnett at the Celtics team bus. Garnett would have not backed down. It would not have been pretty. Thuggish behavior? Absolutely. Can it be corrected? Maybe. Maybe not. Some dudes operate on a competitive edge that is impossible to understand if you never played ball on an asphalt court you had to fight to keep. Literally.
No matter how much he tries he will never sound intelligent enough to satisfy the people who prefer their heroes to recite the Queen's english. You can take the kid out of Baltimore, but you cannot take the Baltimore (or Brooklyn) out of the kid. His pronunciation is rough around the edges. Until further notice, or a speech tutorial, that is just the way it is.
All of this nonsense about listing Carmelo's strengths and weaknesses is just that. Nonsense. Every player in the NBA has strengths and weaknesses. The undercurrent related to Mr. Anthony is about more than productivity. It is deeply shaded by perception. Those perceptions, unfortunately, are also shaded by racial preferences. He makes too much money, he does not work hard enough, he is incapable of thinking fast enough, he has never won anything of significance and we gave up too much to acquire him. Unforgiven. For all time.
No matter what Carmelo Anthony achieves, it will never be enough. This, he already understands.
