I believe that Carmelo is playing on the wrong team. He’s never gonna succeed on the Knicks, because that team is poorly constructed, and the management is trash. He needs to move.
Now as for Dwight…Shaq has been on the money. He’s not doing enough to maximize his talent. If he can’t improve his low post game, than become more efficient.
And stop being so predictable. Mix it up some.
The knicks messed up in getting Bargnani in the offseason.
He doesn’t have to play second fiddle, but he’s not two way enough - like LBJ for instance - to carry a team. If he’s only going to be influential on one side of the court, then he needs help BEYOND just role players. I don’t “feel” as though Melo needs to be in a particular system to succeed, but he needs true help - the NYK roster relies on a ‘punchers chance’ to win. When on fire, they can really pour it on, but when they aren’t on fire, its literally JUST MELO. I mean honestly - I’d compare Melo to Durant - both are damn near transcendent offensive talents (Yeah Durant is better - not trying to go there) - and see how Durant is fairing without Westbrook? And he’s got arguably more talent and better role players around him then Melo does AND he’s a better player than Melo (IMO).
NYK could have been a GREAT situation for Melo. Imagine what would have happened if Amare was good for ONE season. They would have been able to finally appear like a good FA destination, and start to build something, but injuries completely derailed them. I mean he’s been playing most of this season without Chandler, so that’s like OKC without Ibaka as well. JR Smith has been AWOL…but when NYK were killing it last year? JR Smith was functioning an an almost ‘second star’ role.
Melo NEEDS that second person, whether to help carry offense or help cover defense. They are just always hurt.
thats why I can see Melo going to Chicago. Its the best place for him
Melo on a team that doesn’t allow headbands AND requires him to play defense? Not in this reality.
Heat didn’t allow headbands for awhile.
That was before Jermaine O’Neal. Chicago allowed headbands back with Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry, but that was a long time ago.
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We gonna lose woo.
Warriors vs Thunder. This is gonna be good.
Damn… The bulls had a chance to get to .500 but lost by 3
I don’t know if I want a warriors thunder series or warriors clippers series. The west is gonna have some good series in the playoffs
Damn it, Durant. Damn it, GSW free throwing.
Durant has dead eye, microwave, and heat retention on right now
definitely lived up to the hype. love that OKC crowd. good win for the thunder. The Bogut effect at the end of the first half was no joke
Durant thought he was playing NBA Jam.
HE’S ON FIRE!!!
Damn I hate I missed Durant lose his damn mind tonight…
The Rockets were built on desperation. T-Mac got hurt and was ailing, the team knew it, and decided to build solely around Yao. I think the organization knew well before he started to show, that Yao was hurt and probably wouldn’t last too much longer. They gambled and bet that Yao would be able to produce one good post season if they limited his playing time during the season and used quality back up bigs. It looked like it was going to happen when Houston surprised the Lakers in Game 1 and really seemed like Kobe could sense it, too. So I’m not saying he purposely tried to take Yao out, but I’m betting they knew if they roughed him up a little chances were he wouldn’t be able to take it and they’d move on.
So Houston loses their two franchise players and scrambles into rebuild mode. They start targeting Dwight because he was, at the time, considered the best center in the game. And with games where he had 50 points and 20+ boards, hard to argue he wasn’t. It looked like he was going to get better.
They focus in on getting him so much they pass on tanking to draft or trying to get a franchise player. OKC lets Harden walk and we steal him for basically his potential and post season run with one of the best, well-coached teams in the league. He shrinks in the Finals, but Houston gambles on him anyway because they need SOMEBODY to sell tickets. He does well and another piece is added to draw Dwight in by signing all these shooters.
On paper , this team should be beast as fuck. We should be Orlando 2.0, breaking 3-point records and scoring records…instead, Dwight seems to think he can take a back seat to this team while he tries to figure out how to play in the post. Which is funny to me, because he seemed to do a good enough job in Orlando to average 20+ ppg. We should be using Dwight as our defensive anchor, but instead try force him to want to play defense because Asik, arguably a better defender than Dwight now, won’t play for a team that wants him to come off the bench. He told Houston that when he left Chicago he wanted to be a starter. We knew this.
So now we have a 23 year old SG who doesn’t have the system he had in OKC that cultivates and grows talent, a 28 year old man-child who for some reason just can’t mentally evolve into an adult, a quality starting center who’s butthurt has reached suicide hotline levels of sadness, a coach who doesn’t seem to have a clue how to get his guys on the same page, and a plethora of injuries to key players who are basically the glue guys that make this Frankenstein team work somehow.
In essence, we’re inconsistent, soft, injury plagued, and lack good coaching. At best, we become Orlando 2.0 and make a run for a max window of 2-4 years, unless we somehow land KD or another quality player. At worst, we stay a 5th or 6th seed who overpays players simply for potential. Jeremy Lin is not worth his contract. Omer Asik is not worth his contract. Chandler Parsons needs to get paid more, and if Beverly is starting he’s going to want more money. We have to find a way to package Lin, Asik, and McHale into a playmaking PG, a stretch 4/back up big, and Lionel Hollins.
Until then, hope is all this team has.
Edit: My favorite player KD put in that work last night. He deserves MVP this season so far. The maturity and understanding seems to be there this season no matter what’s going on around him. It seems like he just has a calmness to his game now.
O ye, of little faith have you forgotten
The path to greatness is long. There are no shortcuts. Nothing is easy. There is only your own determination, and drive to become great.
2013-14 NBA Season
Rocket Like A Hurricane
The Finals - June 17, 2014
In Dwight Howard’s first season in Houston, he finally seems to be fully healed and back to his old self. Chandler Parsons has elevated his game to All-Star status, and James Harden was in the discussion for league MVP all year long. In the second half, the Rockets went on an absolute tear, winning 36 of their final 40 games and steamrolling into the NBA Finals. But…
spurs haven’t beaten anyone this season.
nobody.