In Defense of Carmelo Anthony

I have to start this post out the same way everyone starts out a post about the NY Knicks these days (i.e. Jeremy Lin). Lin has been nothing short of spectacular, winning 5 games in a row without the best two players on the team.  Outside of his tendency to turn the ball over, Lin has been everything a Knicks fan could have hoped for and more.  He has likely saved the Knicks season along with Mike D'antoni's job, neither of which were easy tasks.  However one of the most interesting things to emerge from his jaw-dropping play, outside of media personalities straddling the line between clever jokes that recognize Jeremy Lin's Asian American heritage and overtly racists comments, has been the effect this has had on the still injured Carmelo Anthony. As the WOW factor of Lin's emergence has begun to wear off, the media has started to shift it's focus to Carmelo Anthony and, as I will argue, have been criticizing him somewhat unfairly at times.  Below will be some of the criticisms posted against Anthony and my take on them.

On not being a winning player


I started with this one because it is the most ridiculous and baseless out of all the arguments I've heard. Some media personalities have been saying that the recent winning ways of the Knicks without Anthony confirms that he isn't a winning player and that the Knicks never should have traded for him. Let's do a comparison.  Dwayne Wade. Lebron James. Chris Bosh. Chris Kaman. These players, along with Anthony are considered the top 5 out of the 2003 NBA draft (widely considered one of the top 3 drafts of all time in terms of talent).  Only one of these players has been in the NBA playoffs every year they have been in the league. Yep, that's right, it's Melo.  Not Wade. Not Lebron.  Remember, the Denver team that drafted Melo was just as bad as Cleveland.  Think about that. Since 2004, Carmelo Anthony has been a fixture in the playoffs.  Not even Kobe can say that.

The counter to that is of course is that most of those years the Nuggets were booted out of the playoffs in the first round with only one playoff run to the Western Conference Finals. Meanwhile both Lebron and Wade have made multiple trips to the NBA finals. It's true that Carmelo's teams have been disappointing in the playoffs but to be fair, the West has been ridiculously stronger than the East for almost as long as I can remember.  Kevin Garnett faced this same problem when he was playing for Minnesota.  Up until last season, Dirk's teams had also been disappointing in the playoffs. So had Steve Nash's and frankly most teams in the West not named the Lakers or the Spurs.  Melo had 4 consecutive years of the Nuggets winning 50+ games. He did it with constant changes in personel (from Andre Miller, to Allen Iverson, to Chauncey Billups).  If you want to decide that he can't be on a "winning" team, then you have to say the same about every other Western Star not on the Spurs, Mavs, or Lakers.

On being a selfish player


Carmelo Anthony loves to have the ball in his hands. I don't think ANYONE can deny that.  He has a shoot first, shoot second, shoot third mentality.  I'm not here to argue that he doesn't need to pass the ball more. He has a hard time trusting his teammates, which you see in many great individual talents.   He would rather take a contested 2 pointer than pass to Landry Fields for an open 3.  He's not the first star player to think that way and he won't be the last.  My beef here is the notion that he doesn't care/ isn't willing to change.  The Knicks have a roster devoid of all around talented players. To get the most of their players, you need a pass first player who understands everyone strengths and weaknesses. That is a lot to ask for in a non pg but Melo has tried. He is averaging a career high in assists this year.  While his 4.2 apg isn't breaking any records by any means, it's still the first time he has ever averaged over 4 and it's over an assist per game more than last year's totals. In other words, he is trying.  He isn't the type of guy that can easily in 1 or 2 dribbles, penetrate into the post and kick it out to the open Lin as many point guards can. He needs jab steps, pump fakes, post ups, etc to get past people. That game isn't conducive to trying to run a team with the kind of players on the Knicks roster.  He brought the ball up knowing that he essentially had to create opportunities for everyone else on his team (including Amare who has become somewhat limited with Tyson Chandler also clogging up the post).  Melo was put in an awkward position for his talents and never complained.  He has attempted to alter his game to suit the coaches demands which are way above his ability.

On Being able to co-exist with Jeremy Lin

Another favorite argument of some is that Anthony's game will not gel at all with Jeremy Lin.  And on the surface that seems legit.  Both of their strenghts lie with the ball in their hands.  However, if you look deeper (linception) you'll notice some flaws.  First things first, Melo has ALREADY played with Lin. Lin's first breakout game (25pts 7assts and 1 TO vs the Nets) came with Melo playing 35 minutes.  Of course the media rewrote history to  make it seem as if Lin didn't start playing well until Amare and Melo were out.

Secondly, Carmelo has played with other ball dominant guards before and it's never hurt his game.  Again he played with Andre Miller, Allen Iverson, and Chauncey Billups.  AI is well known for his ability to dominate the ball. And as much as we like to look at Billups with rose colored glasses, he has the same characteristics. In fact, Bill Simmons had repeatedly stated that the Clippers would never become a great team until the got Billups "ball hogging" under control.  Melo has already said his plan is to give Lin the ball and get out of the way and help relieve some of the pressure he has been receiving from defenses.

On the Knicks being better off without Anthony

In the short term this may be true.  There are enough average to bad teams that, with the team as currently constructed, the Knicks could compile a strong record and a top 6 playoff seeding.  However, the goal in NY is never just to make it to the playoffs. It's what makes NY unique.  Many other cities are okay with their franchise building a team that can make it to the playoffs, maybe win a round if things break right, and then get eliminated. Their teams year in and year out have no legitimate shot at winning a title and the moves they make in the offseason are not intended to get them any closer to winning a title or even make it seem like that is the goal.  Knicks fans don't accept that.  Lin will likely get a pass for the season as long as they get in the playoffs. However, once the Knicks are eliminated, expectations will change.  Mark my words, next year Knicks fans will expect a championship. Linsanity will still be around but it will be tempered by the need to win.  For the Knicks to have a chance to win it all, they need Melo.

Lin racks up so many turnovers because he constantly has the ball in his hands. Defenses have begun to key in on him, play him physically and pick him up further away from the 3pt line. No one on the team can create their own shot so Lin is constantly trying to create it for them. He gets tired and makes tired plays which is where his turnovers come from.  He needs someone to prevent the defense from keying in on him. Someone who can get their own shot at anytime.  Someone who defenses have to game plan for.  That someone is Melo.  I guarantee you that the Heat, the Bulls, the Celtics, or even the Magic will not let Jeremy Lin dominate them for a 7 game series. He's gonna need help. Another star they have to worry about outside of Lin.  Melo is that guy.

The real argument against Anthony

Now, I'm in no way saying that Carmelo is without fault. His defensive insight is shockingly poor at times.  Even when he is giving effort he doesn't seem to fully grasp the idea of what his role should be or where he should be on the court. He's a below average one on one defender and a terrible team defender. In fact, this has me more worried than anything else. During this run the Knicks have played great defense. I'm nervous about how that will change once Melo gets back.  That could hurt the Knicks more than anything else.

Secondly, Carmelo gives up on his teammates way to early.  He does come out passing but once his teammates miss a few open shots or blow a couple of layups he reverts back into one on one isolation mode. He needs to be more patient with his teammates. His impatience causes them to press and then their lack of participation on offense starts to affect their defense and it spirals out of control. Having a true pg should help alleviate that as he can just play offense but he does still need to be willing to pass the ball and continue the fluidity this offense has played with in the past week and a half.

Finally, how Melo reacts to the criticism he's gotten the last week or so really scares me.  I haven't really got a grip on his mentality yet.  He didn't come to NY because it offered him a better chance at a ring.  But winning does seem important to him.  I'm nervous he'll try to come out and remind the NY crowd why we were so happy for the trade.  I'm nervous about what happens if the Knicks lose the first game he plays and the media rains down on him.  They will lose again and since Melo returns soon, he's bound to have the blame placed on him. That's how Knicks fans and the NY media are.  If he can be mature about it or let it drive him to become a better teammate then they'll succeed. But if he starts trying to prove a point, it could really derail the season and fracture Melo's relationship with the fans.

Finally, in defense of Carmelo Anthony, he did have enough sense to get rid of the cornrows, which I can't say for every player in the NBA. No one in 2012 should have cornrows. That's just unforgivable.