Carmelo Anthony Can't Save the Knicks
Considered to be one of the most prolific scorer playing right now, Carmelo Anthony gets plenty of praises from many basketball fans. Ever since he entered the league, he is scoring average has never gone below 20 points per game. His ability to put the ball in the basket is valued so much that a team was traded away its entire roster just to have him. I'm talking about the New York Knicks, if you didn't know.
The Knicks front office at that time believed that Anthony is the one that'll take them to the glory land. They traded away players with good potential and paid Anthony the highest money they could offer. However, after more than two seasons, the only place the Knicks are in now is near the bottom of the eastern conference, staying toe-to-toe with teams that are tanking the season for the worst record in the league. The team as a whole has received plenty of thrashing by the media and general masses. It is a tragedy for the Knicks fans and a hilarity for fans of other teams who can't stop laughing.
The Knicks have only won 9 games and lost 21 games already and Anthony can't do a thing about it. The team's best and most expensive player is putting up some pretty good numbers, but the fact that the team is continuing to lose games makes those numbers amount to nothing.
Although I was never a big fan of Anthony due to his tendency to settle for inefficient shots, I can't criticize him the way he is playing this season. Although he is still prone to taking those difficult long two-pointers, the way he has improved his defense is something I just have to credit him for. His rebounding is up and his focus on individual defense is noticeable.
The problem with the Knicks right now is the lack of solid contribution for the role players. Their success last season was a result of guys hitting shots. The disaster this year is the result of them not making their shots and further aggravated by their lack of defense that allows opposing teams to have a field day on offense against them. The bigger problem is that the coaching staff doesn't seem to be doing any adjustments regarding these issues.
With Anthony openly stating that he plans to opt out of his current contract to be a free agent by the end of this season, one has to think whether he still sees a reason to stick with the team in the near future.
