All I caught was his 4th quarter stats...you know, zero points. Either way people just love to hate NY, but they put the,selves in this situation. Just like the Pacers series with the Heat last year this is just a blip. Don't see NY being ice cold for 4 straight games.
The Heat didnt choke away a 3-0 lead over the Pacers. Hell the only reason that series went to 6 games was because of the injuries. Oh you so mad...
Watching Boston and NY go at it makes me think about the bit in Skyfall where the bad guy talks to Bond about killing rats by trapping them in a barrel and making them eat each other.
3 thoughts on Melo's Game 4 and 5..18/59 combined. - Last time a player shot that much in consecutive playoff games was Allen Iverson in G3 and G4. I forget vs which team but he scored 48 and 46. If youre going to shoot that much you better be scoring like AI did, even if AI did it on 35 of 74 (i.e. more shots) - Melo and Jordan are the only 2 players to take 35 shots in a playoff game and make 10 or less. I guess if youre going to be singled out with a player for something good or bad it may as well be his airness. - Melo has to shoot better. He was excellent from 3 most of the year and hes 0-12 in these 2 games. The thing that worries me most about Friday night is Pierce. He hasnt had one of these games where he goes ape and he usually gets all the calls in Boston. Its funny because thats whose career arc Carmelo Anthony most follows. I love Melo but I thought Colin Cowherd actually had a good thought today on the Stephen A Smith show. He said Melo is basically a similar player to what he was when he came in the league. That Melo is a great scorer but he may only be remembered as a great scorer unless his game evolves more. IMO that basically says no coach has really gotten the most out of Carmelo and it may take a different type of coach for Melo to take the next step. I might have said a few teammates could do it but if Kidd, Kurt Thomas and Camby havent been able to coax more out of him its got to come from someone he has more respect for. I wonder if Kobe said such a thing if Carmelo would "hear" the criticism louder? (And I use Kobe as an example because the two work out together quite a bit and Kobe has taunted him a bit in the past for Melo not being able to beat him) Funny thing about NY/Bos and Houston/OKC....Only 9 of the first 102 playoff series that were 3-0 in this format went to a 6th game; barely 10%. Odds that both series would go to a 6th game? Slim. In case youre wondering only 3 teams came back from 3-0 to go to a 7th game....The 51 Knicks, Denver and Portland
No im telling you hes average and he can be good but Im not sure if its a lack of desire to do it or just extreme arrogance that he will just come down the court and drain the next shot. I dont know how you extrapolated your conclusion out of my previous statement. Oh wait, I do know....you were trolling as usual.
Cowherd has been beating that drum for a while, especially on his own show. As for Mello vs Durant...situations don't compare. Obviously. Durant had a much, much better game. It's funny, both players can learn a bit from each other. Durant should start shooting more ala Mello, and Mello should improve his shot selection (nothing new here) With that being said...I don't think either series goes 7. Both teams will close out, IMO. Unless like Boik mentioned, Pierce goes off for one of his games or Jeff Green convinces himself that he is playing the HEAT and drop 40 in 3 quarters.
I have been as skeptical as any Knick fan about this team. But our best player has sucked terribly the past 2 games and we still had opportunities to win, especially game 4. So if Melo just plays "ok" we will beat them handily and all the haters can swallow a ----.
I have to say that my biggest criticism of the players playing isnt of Carmelo Anthony. That team has leaned on him heavily for offense from day 1. They pass up open shots just to give him the ball (looking at you Pablo Prigioni and Jason Kidd). My biggest criticism is of Tyson Chandler. Yeah hes doing ok on D but hes averaging like 5 PPG. Hes hurt but so is everyone else. Hes getting dominated by KG who is, what, 35? Youre getting paid 14.5M per; i.e. superstar salary then I want superstar production. At the very least KG's production should be going down as the series goes on.
I think at some point, you have to take responsibility for your own development. He's not a 20 year old kid anymore. He shouldn't need a certain coach or peer to push him. At what point does professional pride kick in when he looks around the league at what Lebron, Durant and his other friends have accomplished in other areas besides scoring. He has to know he can be more than what he is.
Fair points but everyone needs to be coached. Michael Jordan couldn't win until Phil Jackson asked him whether he wanted to be a 38PPG scorer or the GOAT. Kobe couldnt win until he was shown the way by Shaq and Phil. A lot of other great players you can put on this list...
Someone was on the radio, I think Cowherd and had a great analogy. Melo shoots because his teammates basically give him the ball and stand around and watch. No one is cutting to the hole they literally stop moving around. My gripe with Melo is his lack of taking it to the paint, other than that these other guys need to step up. They were getting loved on after the first 3 games, now they have all these flaws as a team and as individuals, so goes the joke that is the media. Can't wait to bury these cocka roaches, and shut ESPN up.
IMO one of the biggest things that separate those guys from Melo, is he really lacks a quick first step and good athleticism. He has improved defensively, and on the boards. But he is not a 5 tool player so to speak.
Brian Scalabrine didn't win until Doc Rivers showed him the light. He was asked whether he wanted to be a 5 mpg player or a 2 mpg player by the coaches and he chose the right answer. And just like that, boom: ring. Same with Walton and Morrison.
The two largest % of Isolation plays for a playoff series in the last 15 years? Knicks 2012. Knicks 2013. The Knicks have reverted to playing Melo Ball. Mike Woodson remembered that he is Mike Woodson. It's what he does. It's how "ISO" Joe Johnson got his nickname.
The comparison is that in a week nobody will ever talk about this series again. Just like Indiana, it was a scare. And I will remind you, your Heat trio has won one ring together. One. Your really jumping the gun on this best team to step on a court attitude. They are a tremendous basketball team, but if someone were to come on here and read what some of you guys write??? They would think Miami has reeled off 3 straight titles. So, just remember your big three have ONE ring together. A team does "that" every year.
Right! Hence why I don't talk about them like they are the greatest team ever to play the game. Are you not understanding the point? Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
You compared them struggling to win their first playoff series in 10 years with Miami winning a series en route to a title. If the Knicks win the title, feel free to compare, until then there is no comparison.
Ill say it again and see if it registers...THE COMPARISON IS EVERYONE MADE A BIG DEAL OUT OF INDIANA TAKING MIAMI TO SIX GAMES...THEN MIAMI PUT THEM AWAY AND NOBODY REMEMBERED. IF NY WINS THEN LIKE LAST YEAR FOR MIAMI, THE MEDIA CIRCUS WILL B OVER TILL NEXT TIME. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Good to see Rose sitting there ready to go, however just SITTING there as his team was up 3-1 and now its going back to BK for Game 7...... what a punk, the kid has no heart....he has been cleared to go since FEB 18th!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is going to be the easiest championship for Miami..... San Antonio is the toughest team left....
Being medically cleared doesn't make you mentally (or necesarilly physically) prepared to play. Not saying he does or doesn't have heart, as I don't know him, but I certainly wouldn't criticize him if he felt he needed to wait.
Ill say this about D Rose at this moment. Coming in cold in the playoffs may just kill ANY chance Chicago has to win. You can't be working out the links in your game at this point of the year.
Everyone made a big deal out of Indiana taking Miami to six games, BECAUSE MIAMI IS A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM. Boston taking NY to six games is not a big deal, BECAUSE THE KNICKS AREN'T THAT GOOD.
I'm sorry, but when you pull silly stunts like wearing all black to signify defeating a 7th seed in the first round of the playoffs, then lose, you deserve all the **** the media will dish out.
Actually the trio had won ZERO championships, and was a 2seed at the time. Nice try though Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Yeah it's almost as bad is holding a pep rally dancing around like idiots claiming going to win seven rings Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
I'm going to go out on a limb and say nobody will ever mention this series if the Knicks end up winning.
Or perhaps a 4-5 minute lift from Rose, where the Nets at least have to pay attention to him, would've given the Bulls some additional cushion to make the extra two or three shots they needed to win the game. While I typically would not criticize an athlete for not playing hurt, or wanting to be 100% before returning, the Rose situation is ridiculous. He's been cleared for 2 months and been practicing since. It is absolutely ludicrous for him to have not at least given it one shot before now. I'm not a Rose fan. I find his good two shoes act disingenious, annoying and silly. And the media fawning over him as the "anti-LeBron" looks even more ludicrous in hindsight. But I did think he cared about the game and his teammates. Now I'm not so sure. He either just didn't feel like busting his *** for a mediocre team or he is so mentally weak that he is afraid to go back out there. Either way is not good. He will never know if he can play the way he did until he gets out there and plays. If he had given it ten minutes per game the last ten games of the regular season and then shut it down for whatever reason, I don't think he'd be getting criticized. But he refuses to even do that.
In all seriousness I think Boston has built up alot of momentum coming into this game, however that can only get you so far, and the Knicks simply have more talent. Now whether NY pulls their heads out of their asses is another issue entirely.
We all know what happened last time Boston hosted a game 6 at home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=P7augZr9C98 Will be interesting to see how NY fares.
Right, but your point is wrong, and you proved it yourself: Any time a team is competitive against the Heat in a playoff series, its something to remember, as you've illustrated.
