Interesting piece from Art Rondeau regarding Carmelo Anthony and his role in the offense.
If Melo’s going to shoot fewer shots, it should be because he gets the ball less often. Let the point guard (whose position requires more conscious thought anyway), pass to others to balance the load. When Melo gets the ball, he still doesn’t have to jack it up. If he does shoot, the load is being balanced for him. If he doesn’t shoot, it should be because he sees an open teammate, not because he’s taken the time to think about whether he should shoot this time or not.
By all means, read the whole thing here: Melo – Shooting Less w/out Limiting His Shots « Game Time at the Garden of Good and Evil.
I agree with the premise completely… the fact that ‘Melo was forced into a “point forward” role to which he seems ill-suited is a big reason why he was shooting so often.
Running the point means getting the best shot for your team. In Carmelo’s eyes, the “best” shot is whatever shot he can create for himself. And as we saw in the fourth quarter and first overtime of the Denver game, ‘Melo can get a shot off against just about any defender and hit a pretty fair number of them. He’s an excellent passer, but he doesn’t look to pass the same way a LeBron James or Steve Nash does – and at this stage of his career, he’s not going to start.
It’s also worth noting that, for stretches of this season, Anthony’s ball-hoggery was actually warranted. When Landry Fields and Toney Douglas were struggling and Amar’e Stoudemire was nursing a bum ankle, ‘Melo shooting over a double-team was still one of the Knicks’ better options.
I’m not making excuses for Anthony. But I can see how we got here.
I’m sort of rooting for a tighter game tonight, so we can see if Anthony’s new commitment to sharing the ball extends into the fourth quarter of a close one.
