Carmelo Anthony Is The Knicks New Point Guard

When you think of Carmelo Anthony, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Scoring. There’s no question that ‘Melo can put the ball in the hole from anywhere on the basketball court — he’ll give you 26 a night, easy –, what about his passing, though? For starters, his career average of 3.1 assists doesn’t exactly jump-out at you, but Ive watched this guy play ball since his days at Oak Hill and I’ve seen him make some incredible passes, when he chooses to do so. I’ve seen him make no-look passes, behind-the-back passes, half-court passes and plenty of other jaw-dropping passes.

This video is a perfect example –

Amazing, right?

When ‘Melo was traded to the Knicks last February, things didn’t exactly go the way they had hoped. Did Amar’e and Anthony score a lot of points together? Yes. They even scored a bunch of points as a team, but their defense was non-existent and they had a 14-14 record post-signing. They couldn’t find the right spacing — which makes sense since both guys play from the same spot on the floor — and at times they looked lost. Shockingly, although not really since he’s playing under Mike D’Antoni’s offense, ‘Melo’s offensive stats skyrocketed once he could officially call Madison Square Garden his new home.

2010-11 stats with Denver: 25.2 points per game, 2.8 assists, 82.3% from FT, 33% from 3s and shot 45.2% from the field.

2010-11 stats with New York: 26.3 points per game, 3 assists, 87.2% from FT, 42.4% from 3s (which is just astounding) and 46.1% from the field.

Last month, D’Antoni stated that the Knicks offense would run through ‘Melo, not Amar’e (which makes sense). From high school, to college, to the pros, the offense has always ran through whatever team Anthony has played on. Offensively, he’s that good.

Kevin Clark of the Wall Street Journal put things in perspective when it came to Anthony’s new point guard duties:

So here’s how it will work — Anthony will decide when to run point (it’s mostly based on feel) and dribble up the floor. The former point guard will sprint to the corner and simply act as another shooting option or in some incarnations, there will be no point guard on the floor at all. Landry Fields, the team’s shooting guard, will be on the other side. From there, Anthony’s bottomless bag of moves will start. According to those that have guarded him, he is at an advantage because he is six-foot-eight, at least two inches taller than almost every guard, meaning he can see the defense in front of him without interference. He has fast enough feet to jet past even the peskiest of defenders and he has a quick release to his pass.

According to Iman Shumpert, the rookie who has guarded him in practice, he’s a threat to shoot as soon as he’s within 30 feet. Mostly, though, he’ll start a pick-and-roll, a play in which a player (Chandler or Stoudemire) sets a screen for the ball handler (Anthony) before slipping behind the defender. The big man not in the pick-and-roll will almost certainly be open for a jump-shot. It is, coaches say, an unguardable play.

Before this idea came to mind, ‘Melo always was an unarguable player. You can’t stop him. The only way he’ll be stopped is when he does it himself, which is when his shots aren’t falling and he decides to get trigger happy.

Although he’s basically done this his entire career, D’Antoni believes the Melo-run offense can be sustainable for at least 30 minutes a night:

“Oh yeah, it’s harder to isolate all the time and go one-on-one all the time. He did that 20, 30 minutes a game before anyway,” D’Antoni said. “I think it will be easier for him to run the point-forward, run the pick-and-roll and get easier shots. I think it will be easy for him.”

D’Antoni then went on to say that Anthony’s height is key:

“He’s 6-foot-9, he sees over the top of everything, he’s got good pace for it. Melo is a complete player, he understands the game, he has a finesse passing game with it and you can almost run anything with him at the point guard and it’s going to work,” Dan D’Antoni said. “I think Melo understands the positions to put Amar’e in, where can score, that’s what a point guard does. I think he has that mentality, he might be ‘Magic’ [Johnson] Melo, I don’t know.”

I mean, really, how do you stop a point-forward who’s 6-foot-9? Did you see how many guys struggled to guard Hall of Famer’s like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird? There’s a reason they have jerseys hung up in their respective team’s arenas. Those guys were phenomenal at what they did and paved the way for players like LeBron James and Carmelo to bring different attributes to the game than most would ever daydream about.

During the Knicks-Nets preseason match-up Wednesday night, I didn’t see a whole lot of the new offense, which is understandable considering that it’s only preseason (I wouldn’t want to play with all my new toys at the same time, either). The most important thing about all this doesn’t have to do with a new playbook, it’s the fact that ‘Melo has taken on an even bigger leadership role than he ever has. The ball is literally in his court now.

He’s now the guy who will have to develop a Chris Paul mind-state while maintaining his Michael Jordan scoring mentality..

If he makes the right decisions, the Knicks could be playing in the NBA finals come May.

And f he makes those decisions, he has a chance to do something LeBron never could.

Video: ‘Melo Gets Crossed By Anthony Morrow

‘Melo is my favorite ball player of all-time, and even I know that he tends to lose focus and not give a full effort on the defensive side of the ball, but this was just nasty. In all honesty, I didn’t know Anthony Morrow had handles like that, ha. Despite this embarrassing moment, the Knicks pulled out the win at home and Anthony finished the game with 21 points and 8 rebounds.

Amar’e Stoudemire Isn’t Interested In Recruiting Baron Davis

The offense might go through ‘Melo, but the muscle belongs to Amar’e. He’s the one who originally signed with the Knicks, he signed the $100 million deal, he’s the superstar and the New York recruiter. After the Cleveland Cavaliers put PG Baron Davis on amnesty waivers Thursday afternoon, many believed that the Knicks would try to recruit him since their a little slender at the point guard position. B-Diddy is out for the next 10 weeks with a lower-back injury, which STAT knows about, Amar’e has made it well known that he has no interest in bringing in the L.A. product:

‘This guy’s out for eight to 10 weeks, he’s not our concern at all,’ Stoudemire said of Davis. ‘We can’t do anything about his injury. Right now we can’t afford to have any setbacks. We have a positive thing going. We feel great about our guys. Everybody’s healthy, so we’ve just got to keep it going.’

Stat’s right; it’s bad enough that ‘Melo had both elbow and knee surgery and just hyper-extended his knee in practice earlier this week, not to mention that Amar’e himself has back issues amongst other things. Lets not forget that their new signee C in Tyson Chandler isn’t exactly bulletproof either. The Knicks need another PG, no question, but I’m sure they’ll find a solution better than Davis.

#NBABack – Celtics vs. Knicks Season Opener Promo Videos

The lockout is over! #NBABACK! You all already know the schedule – Christmas Day, the Boston Celtics take on the New York Knicks for a rematch of last year’s playoff series. Both team’s took to their video production crews to cut a season opener promo – who did it better? Boston vs New York squares off again. “I Am” > Marvin Gaye. Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett > Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire. BUT, Chris Paul and Melo and Amare? I might even admit that might be the best trio in the league…

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Deron Williams Rejects Extension With The Nets

You know what the best thing about LeBron’s “Decision” and Carmelo Anthony’s “I’ll keep playing with the fans and teams head and act like I don’t know where I want or will be traded to but secretly I know it’s New York” is? It gives all the other superstars in the league that are about to be in the same situation a little advantage. They got to sit back and watch players like ‘Bron make a national mistake and guys like ‘Melo prove that the players can control their own destiny in certain situations.

Now, it’s Deron Williams turn.

With the new rules due to the lockout, any chance the Nets had at saving millions of dollars and getting Williams to sign an extension are now out the window. Deron’s agent Jeff Schwartz went public earlier today stating that Deron will play out this season in New Jersey and will ultimately become a free agent once the season comes to an end. Now that doesn’t exactly mean he wants to leave the Nets — although he probably does unless they get another superstar — but he’ll become richer.

Deron will not be signing the extension,” Jeff Schwartz told The Record this afternoon. “Based on the new rules it doesn’t make any sense for him to sign the extension. It has nothing to do with how much he likes New Jersey. Because of the rules, he’s going to play the season out and probably opt out of his deal.”

With the new rules now set in stone, Williams can either choose to sign with another team as a free agent and roughly get around $73 million for four years, or he can re-sign with the Nets — if they get a superstar — for a five-year, $101 million ext. The only way he comes back is if they can somehow land Dwight Howard, which means goodbye to Brooke Lopez. Nothing against Lopez but, he’s nowhere near Howard’s level of play. Not even close. And he’s definitely not the kind of player that’s going to help lead the Nets to an NBA title. They already have some solid outside shooters and a decent bench, but they could use a couple upgrades in those areas as well. All big men in the league need someone to feed them the ball, and who better than Deron Williams? The biggest/strongest PG in the league who many consider to be better than Chris Paul.

Danny Ainge Squashes Rumors, Rondo’s Staying In Boston

It’s been a little over a week now since the NBA lockout has ended, and already there seems to be more trade rumors floating around than last season when LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony all decided to leave the teams they started their careers with for a better opportunity at winning the ultimate goal: an NBA championship. One of the biggest trade rumors involves two point guards that dislike each other: Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo. There have been trade rumors that involve more players than fingers I have on both hands. But hey, that’s the beauty of sports. Celtics president Danny Ainge has heard enough. In fact, he’s heard so much nonsense over the course of the last two days that he had to squash the rumors himself.

From Sherrod Blakely at CSNNE.com –

“Rondo will be fine,” Ainge told reporters Thursday morning. “Rondo knows that we love him. He knows that we like him. He’s excited to come back and play basketball; that’s my opinion.”

Now I don’t want to speak for anybody but I can almost guarantee you that Rondo doesn’t want to leave Boston — especially for New Orleans — despite the Big Three consisting of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are all on their last leg. Rondo started last season as easily the best PG in the league until he battled injuries and the loss of his best friend and former teammate, Kendrick Perkins. Rondo isn’t as good as an overall player as Paul is but, he’s by far the best facilitator in the game.

For all we know Ainge could only be saying that because he knows CP3 doesn’t want to come to Boston and sign a long-term deal due to the that fact that after this season, they’re going to go through a major makeover. There’s no question that right now Rondo makes this team go. Hell, whenever he has a bad game the Celtics lose. Will he ever develop a consistent jumper? Yes, if he practices enough. But I’m not worried about that and neither should Celtics fans. We all know Rondo’s a hard worker.

Google+ Is Sponsoring The LeBron, Melo, Wade & CP3 Homecoming Basketball Tour

Jordan Brand and Nike Basketball’s four major NBA players are taking on their roles as NBA superstars and hosting a Homecoming Basketball Tour in each of their respective hometowns or current places of residence. LeBron is taking the crew to Akron, Melo is taking them to Jerz, Wade is taking them to Chi-Town, and CP3 is taking them to New Orleans. The Google+ sponsored tour (yes, they’re really trying to push this Google social network thing hard and take down Facebook) will begin on December 1st in Akron and then conclude on December 10th in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Google will take on the digital role of live streaming each of the games. I’m sure each game will be jam packed with highlights and whole rosters full of even more superstars. I wonder if Kobe will participate in one of them? Click the links below to get your tickets.

The Google+ Homecoming Tour Schedule

December 1st, 7 PM – James A. Rhodes Arena, University of Akron – Akron, Ohio – Call 1-888-99-AKRON (25766) or in person at the box office

December 3rd, 12 PM – Lakefront Arena, University of New Orleans – New Orleans, LA – http://goo.gl/8Clh7

December 7th, 8 PM – UIC Pavilion, University of Chicago-Illinois – Chicago, IL – http://goo.gl/8aEK6

December 10th, 8 PM – Izod Center – East Rutherford, NJ – http://goo.gl/Fn5y5

Jordan Brand: “Love The Game” Commercial

There’s really too much in this video to explain it all in one paragraph, but trust me when I say that it’s dope! Check out the newest video from Jordan Brand that features Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade play pickup games worldwide.

LeBron James & John Wall Go HAM At Chris Paul’s Charity Game

HoopMixtape is having one hell of a run with all these All-Star Game highlight videos all courtesy of David Stern, the NBA Owners, and the NBA Lockout. After Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and other NBA superstars attended a NBA Players Union / Owners meeting in New York City on Friday, they split to North Carolina for CP3′s Charity All-Star Game. Kevin Durant ended up being the game’s leading scorer with 48 (and an impressive threw the legs dunk) but LeBron and John Wall stole the show with their array of high flying crams. LeBron’s dunks aren’t that impressive in the style category but he just gets so high and throws them down with so much power that they become pretty jaw dropping. Style wise though, John Wall killed it. That off the wall-windmill on one take?!?! Game over…

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‘Melo’s Post Play Could Make Him The Best In The League

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said it and how many times I’ve had to defend it, but in my eyes, Carmelo Anthony is the best overall player in the league (trust me, it has nothing to do with him being my all-time favorite player). I’m sure most will argue, but I’m always prepared to defend. At this point in time, with Kobe on the downside of his career, LeBron James is the most likely candidate for the best player in the league. Only problem is, he really doesn’t have a complete all-around game. His jump shot is mediocre, he sometimes struggles with his free-throw shooting and more than obvious, he has no post-game.

‘Melo, on the other hand, has a complete game. Sure he might take less consistent shots more than consistent ones, but that has nothing to do with his game, that’ just bad decision making and trying too hard (which he had to do in Denver). Lets state some of the obvious first, ‘Melo is one of the Top 5 physical players in the league, homie loves contact. Why else would they call him “The Bully?” He’s from the streets of Baltimore and hooped for most of his life in the streets of New York. It doesn’t matter how you try to guard him, you can’t. From 15 to 20 feet out, there’s really no one better at shooting the ball. From his patent jab-step, his footwork, quick first step and array of spin moves, the guy is a bull. You can’t contain him.

If you try to take away his drive to the basket, he’ll just murder you with his jumper. Crowd him and he’ll kick it out to a teammate, slip past you for a strong finish and more than likely an and one. Put someone bigger on him and he’ll destroy them with his speed. Put someone smaller and he’ll take them down to the block and embarrass you. He was closer to 250 pounds two years ago, but this offseason he said that he’s around 230 and stronger than he’s ever been. According to ESPN New York blogger Jared Zwerling, there’s one NBA trainer in the league who believes ‘Melo could be the best player in the game if he utilized his size a little more in the point and developed a baseline jumper.

“He could get away with playing power forward, so why not take advantage of the smaller three’s in the NBA?” he said. “If teams want to put someone quicker on him, Melo can take him down low. It’ll be easier for him to score and attract more double teams, which will open things up on the court for other guys.”

Although it’s nothing new, it’s still something to think about. When ‘Melo played in Denver, coach George Karl knew exactly how to use him the right way and took advantage of every opportunity that was given on the court. There were times when he had to play power forward and he’d finish the game with a career-high 22 rebounds. He’s relentless, he’s now healthy after having both knee and elbow surgery during the lockout, and I’m eager to see him back on the court. If he’s looking to develop that baseline fadeaway, though, where else to look than his sponsor? The great player of all-time, Michael Jordan.

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