Fuck Yea[h] NBA

I really want to like Carmelo Anthony, but he makes it really hard. With LinSanity at it’s apex going into tonight’s battle with the New Orleans Hornets, Melo is “doubtful” due to his strained groin. It’s a relief for many Knicks fans, which could portend a hazy future with ‘Melo in a Knicks uni. The problem a lot of observers are trying to wrap their heads around is the incongruous “Ewing Rule” currently playing out as Anthony sits on the sideline with a self-conscious smile.

The Ewing Theory, for those unfamiliar, is the phrase Bill Simmons gave to the 1999 (lockout!) New York Knicks. After a 36 year-old Patrick Ewing went down during the second game of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers, the 8 seed Knicks continued to roll into the finals without him. They had upset Miami in the first round (leading to an uncomfortable amount of praise for Allan Houston among Knicks fans), but no one thought they could get through that Indiana series without their aging franchise center. They broke that myth and went past Indiana to the Finals with a motley group headlined by Marcus Camby coming off the bench and some gritty defense where hand-checking was a code for mugging the opposing player with the ball. These were the Knicks people in New York admired as they bullied their way to the brink of history. They lost to Duncan and the Admiral in the Finals, but Simmons’ Ewing Theory was born. 

This year, the Ewing Theory is even more disorienting because Carmelo Anthony is in his prime. The Ewing that went down in ‘99 was in his 14th season, and wasn’t a large factor for them. Carmelo Anthony is the primary reason D’Antoni was talking title in the preseason. He’s the best scorer in the NBA. There aren’t a lot of basketball heads that will argue with you on that point, and basketball heads will argue about everything. In fact, basketball heads is a nicer way of saying basketball elitists, and they’re obligated to disagree with casual basketball fans about something like: “the best pure scorer in the NBA.” But most agree Melo is the best, and that should tell you something about how special his game is.

Melo is an absolute assassin during a half-court isolation play. Think of defending him alone on the wing as the equivalent of a street fight with 1987 Mike Tyson in a deserted South Bronx alley-way. It’s terrifying. This is what it’s like to defend Carmelo Anthony. He’s got all the offensive tools you could ask for; He’s also never been to an NBA Finals.

With Anthony sidelined, Jeremy Lin is driving the Knicks machine now, and Melo is intensely aware of this fact. I’ve linked to this column before, but Ken Berger mentioned an important point as he watched Lin sitting between Amar’e and Melo in garbage time during their blowout of Sacramento earlier this week:

Amar’e Stoudemire was to his left, and Carmelo Anthony to his right.

Anthony was in a suit, having missed his fifth straight game with a groin injury. And with Anthony doing some running Wednesday, he could return Friday night at home against the New Orleans Hornets.

The nattering is so loud about what that will do to the Knicks’ chemistry and free-flowing, unselfish offense that it’s as though people are not only predicting doom, but rooting for it.

Spot on. Lin’s game is predicated on having the ball in his hands, which is fine because he’s the point guard, but Anthony is the same way. He needs the ball in his hands, and his individual game appears to clash with the D’Antoni’s free flowing offense with Lin at the helm. At least, that was the case when Melo was sharing the court with Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby and Iman Shumpert as they took turns bungling the point guard role for this Knicks team.

Now it’s LinSanity, and Melo must adapt. Ian Thomsen thinks Melo is the perfect age to mimic what Paul Pierce did with the Celtics when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were added to the roster in the summer of 2007. 

This isn’t the first time I’ve compared Anthony to Pierce, but it’s never been more relevant than now. New York fans who love their new point guard’s up-tempo energy and galvanizing playmaking are worried that Anthony is going to end the “Linsanity.” As one fan tweeted on Monday: “Wonder if @carmeloanthony knows or cares how terrified #Knicks fans are about his return.”

Responded Anthony: “I didn’t realize that. Thanx4update”

Anthony is not going to be the ruin of the Knicks. Instead he is going to follow the example of Pierce, with the understanding that his transformation won’t be easy and the results may not be immediate. Pierce had setbacks along the way, including an implosive seven-game loss in the 2005 playoffs to the underdog Pacers. But three years after the arrival of Rivers, when Boston became a title contender by acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Pierce was a fully formed star who helped win in a variety of ways.

Thomsen goes on to compare Pierce’s maturation as a player and Melo’s opportunity to follow suit. He better. Knicks fans are gaga over Jeremy Lin, and any indication Melo has taken away his strengths as a floor leader after he returns, will immediately be met with anger. I’m obviously worried about the 23 year-old Lin with all this pressure, but Melo will bare the brunt of it at first; especially if they lose when he comes back. 

If Melo changes his style, and accepts that Lin will get him the ball—he just has to be patient and maybe average 20 ppg instead of 25—then this could be the group that will make the Knicks relevant again. And not relevant in the sense we’ve signed big names and gutted our roster. Relevant in that, come spring, we’re not only contending with the top teams, but we are a top team.

If Carmelo Anthony can find his seam on this Knicks squad, like he often does against a looming defensive front, then we’re in for a treat Knicks fans. The current roster without Anthony can’t win a title (sorry), but with Anthony’s dangerous individual offense interlocked with LinSanity and Chandler’s (continued) defensive excellence, this is, wait for it, a title team.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go vomit for jinxing our guys. 

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images