OT: Sick of the Carmelo blame

[longislandcuse]

He deserves some blame, yes. He is not playing like LBJ/Wade/Durant type people thought he was. He needs to figure out how to play in the system. That being said, I thought Melo played very well against Chicago. He does seem to be getting better imo.

If im Melo and I have Jimmy Butler pinned downlow in a close game and I dont get the ball, im flipping the f out.

D'Antoni is horrible right now. He has no idea what to do with this roster. Every 3rd quarter is a defensive disaster, thank goodness the Knicks actually scored points against Chicago so they didnt go down by 17 again...

Amare is seeming to play better as well but is still a shell of himself. If he and Melo dont play like max players, well then one of them needs to go. Melo has trade value, Amare probably barely has any, but if the Knicks trade Melo over Amare (which wont happen) they will be sunk. Only option here is to trade Amare if this doesnt work out.

Lin has been figured out, it has nothing to do with the return of Melo and Amare. Hes still solid and will get better but teams are stopping him now and he wouldnt magically light everyone up again if Melo and Amare werent playing.

The roster is a mess. No cohesiveness. JR Smith has been a bust so far. D'Antoni has no idea What kind of rotation he wants out there. Too many good players for this team to be such a mess. No spacing in the starting lineup. 3 players in the paint and no shooters, ummm no, thats not good.

Finally just stop with the "they lost when Melo came back. No, they lost when they played 6 of the top teams in the league in a row.

They can still put it together and be a contender, unfortunately at this point they will be a contending 8 seed who plays the Bulls or Heat in the first round.

 

[IthacaMatt]

He deserves some blame, yes. He is not playing like LBJ/Wade/Durant type people thought he was. He needs to figure out how to play in the system. That being said, I thought Melo played very well against Chicago. He does seem to be getting better imo.

If im Melo and I have Jimmy Butler pinned downlow in a close game and I dont get the ball, im flipping the f out.

D'Antoni is horrible right now. He has no idea what to do with this roster. Every 3rd quarter is a defensive disaster, thank goodness the Knicks actually scored points against Chicago so they didnt go down by 17 again...

Amare is seeming to play better as well but is still a shell of himself. If he and Melo dont play like max players, well then one of them needs to go. Melo has trade value, Amare probably barely has any, but if the Knicks trade Melo over Amare (which wont happen) they will be sunk. Only option here is to trade Amare if this doesnt work out.

Lin has been figured out, it has nothing to do with the return of Melo and Amare. Hes still solid and will get better but teams are stopping him now and he wouldnt magically light everyone up again if Melo and Amare werent playing.

The roster is a mess. No cohesiveness. JR Smith has been a bust so far. D'Antoni has no idea What kind of rotation he wants out there. Too many good players for this team to be such a mess. No spacing in the starting lineup. 3 players in the paint and no shooters, ummm no, thats not good.

Finally just stop with the "they lost when Melo came back. No, they lost when they played 6 of the top teams in the league in a row.

They can still put it together and be a contender, unfortunately at this point they will be a contending 8 seed who plays the Bulls or Heat in the first round.

I'm sorry, but if you've actually watched enough of the games, then you know that Melo pouts and is really lazy on defense. He just about threw a fit when he didn't get a pass in the low block last night, and then sure enough, he didn't run back on defense and his guy hit a 3. Rinse, lather, repeat. Melo as a pro doesn't play much like the Melo who played here. Here, Melo was better about passing the ball, ran the floor better, and was not a black hole on offense. He also worked the baseline much more, and took fewer contested jump shots.

He didn't pull this on the Olympic team. He got his max contract - even if it meant gutting the Knicks of their best role players to get him, so why is he so concerned still with getting his 15-20 shots a game, if the team is under .500 with him as a player ? Since he's come to the Knicks, he symbolizes what's wrong with the NBA to me - selfish players who care more about their stats than about winning. I thought Tyson Chandler would have taken care of that. I think Chandler needs to go off on Melo in the press. And while we're at it, Stoudamire pouts a lot and doesn't play a lot of defense, either.

 

[longislandcuse]

Melo plays defense when he wants, agree with you there. The guy who hit the three was Ronnie Brewer I believe. I think the Knicks will live with him taking threes. Melo definately deserves some blame but not all of what hes getting. Lots of radio personalities see the Knicks as a bunch of high paid divas who are waiting for upper mgmt to make a move on D'Antoni. I really wouldnt be shocked to see him fired before the end of the season.

 

[newmexicuse]

I'm sorry, but if you've actually watched enough of the games, then you know that Melo pouts and is really lazy on defense. He just about threw a fit when he didn't get a pass in the low block last night, and then sure enough, he didn't run back on defense and his guy hit a 3. Rinse, lather, repeat. Melo as a pro doesn't play much like the Melo who played here. Here, Melo was better about passing the ball, ran the floor better, and was not a black hole on offense. He also worked the baseline much more, and took fewer contested jump shots.

He didn't pull this **** on the Olympic team. He got his max contract - even if it meant gutting the Knicks of their best role players to get him, so why is he so concerned still with getting his 15-20 shots a game, if the team is under .500 with him as a player ? Since he's come to the Knicks, he symbolizes what's wrong with the NBA to me - selfish players who care more about their stats than about winning. I thought Tyson Chandler would have taken care of that. I think Chandler needs to go off on Melo in the press. And while we're at it, Stoudamire pouts a lot and doesn't play a lot of defense, either.

Agree, we Cuse fans are all Melo fans, but his play as a Knick has been awful. He doesn't take over games at all. I hate to say it, but he needs to go, and take JR with him. He could still probably bring back a few young prospects and some cap space. I think Amare's play would improve if he wasn't the second fiddle, and since Amare would not be tradeable with his uninsured contract it is Melo that needs to go.

Lin is a nice player, but the bottom line is that he lacks the athleticism and explosiveness of the elite PGs. He is solid and above average. I think a team could win a title with Jeremy and the right other pieces. he is learning to cut his TOs, and he needs to improve his outside shot.

I did not understand why Shump wasn't guarding Rose. Shump is their best defender. He was on Rose for one posession & gave him fits & then wentto the bench.

The number of o boards given up was inexcuseable. I never thought I would say this, but this team is missing Jeffries badly.

 

[Knicks411]

It's more timing than anything else that the Knicks started playing worse when Melo came back, but he hasn't been good. In fact,he's been pretty bad this year. But of course it's not all his fault. JR Smith has been awful, Fields is making 26% of his 3's and can't spread th e floor, Amare is a shell of the old Amare, etc.

He is not playing like LBJ/Wade/Durant type people thought he was.

That's mainly been my argument from the start; he's not in that class and to be paying he and Amare max is going to cause some problems.

 

[Macho Uno]

I said this last year when everyone was going crazy on this board saying he should go to the knicks, he is not a good fit there. Where would he have won titles? New Jersey!!!! Great fit with Dwill and they would probably have plucked Howard too.

 

[Knicks411]

I said this last year when everyone was going crazy on this board saying he should go to the knicks, he is not a good fit there. Where would he have won titles? New Jersey!!!! Great fit with Dwill and they would probably have plucked Howard too.

How was Jersey going to get Melo and Deron?

 

[jimsonjunction]

Melo deserves most of the blame because that's what happens if you're a "superstar" in New York, and he knew that when he came here. Bottom line is that he's having the worst year of his career, shooting 40% from the field. With he and Amare being so inefficient, it is crippling the team.

And he isn't doing himself any favors with quotes like this:

"

Right now times are tough. I’m not going to get through it myself."​

​

"They won the game playing harder than we did, out-hustling us, outworking us,"​

Right now, Carmelo needs a lesson in leadership. He grabbed 5 rebounds in the first five minutes last night, and I said to myself... "He won't finish with double digits. Book it." He finished with 8.

 

[Macho Uno]

How was Jersey going to get Melo and Deron?

Brook Lopez...

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

He could still probably bring back a few young prospects and some cap space.

Who would give up good young players for a max player who shoots 40%, doesnt play defense and looks out of shape just after getting his max deal?

 

[Knicks411]

Brook Lopez...

That's not close to what Denver got for Melo.

 

[Macho Uno]

That's not close to what Denver got for Melo.

I didn't say the package would be as good, I said Melo would have been better off choosing to go to New Jersey. Point is, half the people on this board were convinced the Knick's would be title contenders with Melo and I said all along it wouldn't work there. Melo and Stat both need to work with the ball in there hands.

 

[Knicks411]

I didn't say the package would be as good, I said Melo would have been better off choosing to go to New Jersey. Point is, half the people on this board were convinced the Knick's would be title contenders with Melo and I said all along it wouldn't work there. Melo and Stat both need to work with the ball in there hands.

Can't really disagree with that. I was more on your side anyway.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I didn't say the package would be as good, I said Melo would have been better off choosing to go to New Jersey. Point is, half the people on this board were convinced the Knick's would be title contenders with Melo and I said all along it wouldn't work there. Melo and Stat both need to work with the ball in there hands.

That part doesn't matter. He doesn't play any freaking defense. He won't win on any team if you don't play defense.