Fuck Yea[h] NBA

The New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony is a lot like a new 20-something in New York looking for work right now; they’re impestuous and over-reaching, thinking that by taking more shots (submitting more rushed resumes) they’ll somehow help themselves overcome their slump (unemployment in a down economy).  

The Knicks lost for the 6th straight game on Saturday night, and Marc Berman’s New York Post write-up highlighted some issues we’ve all been witnessing. First, Carmelo Anthony needs to pass the ball more- specifically to underutilized power foward, Amar’e Stoudemire. Moreso than even LeBron and Wade, Amar’e and Melo’s games don’t fit well together on the same team. They both play inbetween the paint and 3-point line and rely on mid and long range shots to open up the floor to drive to the basket. ‘Melo admitted as much after the 2OT loss to the Nuggets.

”’We as a team need to do a better job getting Amar’e the ball,’ Anthony admitted. ‘I have the ball in my hands. Maybe it’s on me. Maybe I have to give him the ball a little more, help him out with that. We’ll talk probably [today] and try to figure it out together. If I’m doing too much, I want him to tell me. I want the guys on the team to tell me if I’m doing too much.’”

I’m not on the team, but Carmelo is like that 20 something New Yorker looking for work, and he doesn’t need to just get Amar’e the ball, but give the ball up to anyone, and open up a stagnant offense predicated on you dribbling around a lot.  You’re taking too many shots ‘Melo, and I think you know this. Via ESPN New York 

”’Maybe I need to not take so many shots. I don’t know,’ he said. ‘There’s just a bunch of stuff that goes through my mind. Just [trying to figure] out ways to make other guys better. Should I pass it more?”’

[…]

‘The coaches do run the offense through me, so I’ll take it. I’ll take that blame,’ Anthony said.”

YES! You should take that blame, and you should pass more. Good for you! You’re self-aware!

But that’s not what snapped my synapses into place this morning. No, it was Stephen A. Smith’s “report” (I use quotes because this is Stephen A. Smith we’re talking about) on his radio show (by way of I Am a GM) the Magic are talking to the Knicks about a Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler swap for Dwight Howard. So, my Knicks would have Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony, and those pesky Amar’e and Melo issues would be resolved. Plus, Howard doesn’t need touches to get his points and boards, so Melo could gun it as often as he wanted. This doesn’t look so bad on paper, but we said that before the season started too—didn’t we? And now look at us.

Is this what you want New Yorkers? Is this what you think will stop the slide to mediocrity and failure (in New Yorker’s eyes), Glen Grunwald? Maybe think about another coach before blowing up this nucleus. Granted, they’re a nucleus that’s lost 6 straight, but they’re still coached by Mike D’Antoni, and this appears to be a coaches problem more than a player’s problem: disunion among the players and various egos but only one ball between them; getting out-scored by opponents from all tiers of the NBA (they’ve already lost to the Bobcats once this month and they face them again on Tuesday); media scrutiny calling out the player’s combustible relationships with each other on the court.

See also, Ken Berger’s calling out Carmelo Anthony as some sort of CAA ringleader designed to get Mike D’Antoni—who didn’t support the Melo overhaul to the roster last season—out of town:

If you give up four starting players and at least one first-round pick for Anthony, and give him a max extension as part of the deal, the fear was that Anthony — and CAA — would have the power. And that power would dwarf D’Antoni’s, and also Stoudemire’s. That the whole rancid concoction also has transformed Stoudemire into a $100 million version of Jason Collins — wandering around, setting screens, attempting nine shots in a double-overtime game — is a stunning lesson in the sheer breadth and power of star/agent capital in the NBA.

The Knicks should ignore Berger’s paranoia about the roster’s power over D’Antoni, and look at dumping the Italian Stallion before trading Amar’e and Tyson for Dwight Howard, even though most of the blame has been put on the players including Berman’s piece for the Post,

“According to a source familiar with the situation, Anthony has been too obsessed with his points and Stoudemire is too concerned with Anthony taking over the team. There’s also too much finger-pointing, according to the source.

Stoudemire and Anthony are co-captains and their impending meeting is more important than anything D’Antoni can say.”

NO IT ISN’T! A coach, coaches! Part of coaching is managing the egos and personalities on a team. Do you think Phil Jackson would let an ego battle simmer between Melo and Amar’e while he was coaching? NO (ignore what happened in LA between Shaq and Kobe, for a moment), he’d sit them down and get them to open up about what’s bothering them. Maybe D’Antoni will do that, but the Knicks appear to need a different coach right now, and that’s not even discussing their defensive lapses.

Regardless of how Baron’s return next weekend goes (and I’ve written something you may or may not see about that somewhere else), Mike D’Antoni might appear as a lame-duck coach because of the inherent power of Melo and his CAA management team, but it’s primarily because he’s not doing such a great job with a bunch of talent the Knicks signed in the off-season, and traded for last season. The answer isn’t to blow it up for Dwight Howard, either. It’s to figure out how this current team can win, and if D’Antoni can’t do it—they need to make a change for someone that can. 

You can read more from NBA.com’s Sekou Smith on the Knicks discombobulated pieces. Or perhaps you’d like to peruse Hardwood Paroxysm’s Scott Leedy on the Knicks and “Dealing with Disappointment.”

There are plenty of words being written about the Knicks’ suckitude, so enjoy! Fuck. #FML

PHOTOS: AP VIA & Flickr/mbk2842