Is Carmelo’s Playoff Reputation Unwarranted?

Just found this interesting tidbit.

Dwyane Wade has never been out of the first round without Shaq on his team, which was the year they won the title.

An individual’s reputation should not be directly tied to his team’s playoff success because NBA titles are team awards, not individual accolades.

Kobe Bryant never had a shot at a title without Gasol, much like Gasol never even won a playoff game without Kobe, and Bryant is one of the greatest players of all time. LeBron was a one man team in Cleveland in 2007 and got swept out of the Finals. KG never saw the Finals until playing alongside two other Hall of Famers.

Carmelo’s reputation is staked on doing what he does during the regular season and that is putting the team on his back offensively and will need to add consistently showing up on the defensive end.

Don’t get it twisted though – everyone’s stats should decline in the playoffs, where pace is slowed and teams face each other at least 4 consecutive times and make adjustments. Melo will have a great series if he can match his season averages and play solid defense on Pierce.

Rising above those numbers is what makes NBA players great playoff performers that people talk about years later.

best player on the floor on both ends for both teams? I find that to be unfair considering the team he’s playing against…

as usual, the focus is on the stars rather than on the team.

melo and amare are givens imo.

this series is going to come down to how well td, fields, shawne and billy play. if those guys play good d, help out on the boards and hit enough shots to spread the floor for Melo and amare, knicks can shock the world……

maybe melo would be tired the final 2 min if he has to play the final 8….

i think the rotation of stars is agreed upon by the stars and the coach.

i think the consensus is that Melo has talent and ability at both ends of the floor but not necessarily effort.

That’s a bunch of b.s.

Pppl used to say that Michael Jordan could never win a title, because he scored too much, passed too little… it took him 8 years to do so, but eventually he won 6 of them.

I’m not comparing the players (if I don’t say so, some worthless imbecile would accuse me of it), just saying that people will say whatever they want, even the media, but sometimes is just plain b.s.

I dunno, I’d have a hard time buying/accepting that he’d be too tired. It’d be the same amount of rest overall – plus I think playoff games might have more media timeouts bc all the games are nationally televised. We need Melo out there as much as possible in the fourth – if he’s tired, call a timeout and get a drink. We can’t have him invisible for 75% of the fourth quarter – not in the playoffs.

Let’s already put the blame on Melo’s shoulders. How fair is that?
He’s already said he can’t win it alone. He’s been there and tried that.
Whatever, with this article.

well he is a Superstar and you asked the question so I answered..

no matter who we are playing if Melo and Amare dont stand out defensively we are in for a short stay..

I would be shocked if Melo missed the majority of the 4th quarter in the playoffs. I think he is going to play around 40 minutes per game. My guess is that he misses the last 4-6 at the end of the 1st/start of the 2nd, and 4-6 minutes at the end of the 3rd/start of the 4th. I know thats a lot of minutes, but I really don’t trust out bench in the playoffs. I would also give STAT about 38 minutes, and Billups about 35 minutes. Our stars are going to need to log a lot of minutes if we want to have any chance. Also, we have a day or two off between every game, so I don’t think the guys will get too worn out.

disagree.. playoffs comes down to
>who plays the best defense
>who adjusts better to what the other team does (in game and between games)
>and who has the best player(s) on the floor..

playoffs is another animal. there is more time between games and longer timeouts. his minutes will surely increase.

i think the d will be fine. they don’t have the low post presence that kills us. Melo and amare will not want to look bad on national tv, so they will put forth the effort.

and playoffs usually comes down to role players hitting shots.
see robert horry, kenny smith, john paxson, steve kerr etc etc etc

boston will no doubt make out role players beat them. they will try and get the ball out of melo and amare’s hands. we will see if our role guys have the onions……

I like that Carmelo has added (and _’antoni has given him the freedom to shoot) the three pointer, but the “coach” needs to allow for more post-ups in the offense (I would even us Billups on the block at times), this will give us higher percentage opportunities to score in the halfcourt as well lead to more free throw attempts.

Both are critical to playoff success imho.

As far as Carmelo’s playoff record, I will say I was disappointed in how thoroughly that team collapsed once Karl went down last postseason. I thought he should have taken more of a leadership role there, but obviously now we know he just didn’t want to be there anymore. With that said, I think he’s where he wants to be now and he realizes the pressure of playing in NY and has a sense of our history of being tough, playing with heart and battling on defense and we’ve seen evidence that.

In the offseason he still needs to get some help with his team defense and his fundamentals on man defense (he gets by on effort here) and hopefully we have a coach who will instill a defensive mentality into this team, teach (yes, that’s part of coaching) and demand execution on that end of the floor.

Sidebar: I was just taking a look at our “coaching staff” and outside of Herb Williams we have no NBA head coaching (or as an assistant under anyone but _’antoni)/NBA playing experience, our lead assistant is a High School coach and the head “coach’s” brother (conflict of interest imho) and an AAU coach in Phil Weber. If you’re familiar with AAU there isn’t much in the way of a bountiful crop of head coaching talent there imho.

This has to change next year, we need to hire an assistant who is competent defensively as a defensive coordinator and preferably has some NBA experience (as a head coach/player/assistant). If _’antoni resists the idea as he did in Phoenix he should be fired. Period.

boston is a foul prone team. it would be very nice if melo and billups could get their men into early foul trouble. however, posting them up would play into their hands of slowing down the tempo.

i hope the knicks get the c’s on their heels and get them to foul in those situation rather than slowing the pace to the c’s liking…..

posting should be done later in games when we need a bucket or two….

He’s easily the best player on the offensive end. And he has the ability on the other end. There is no reason he can’t step it up and prove he was worth all the wait, all the money and all the hype.

Carmelo’s gonna break some ankles!

Yeah, I’d say more post ups and less three point attempts.

Just Win Baby!

On the big stage, with a big challenge, Melo will perform. Remember when he out-dueled Lebron in last year’s regular season game of the year?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQJp_AoJ2cA&feature=related

An optimist, I believe we are going to see Melo’s game taken to a new level vs. Boston.

Well, at least we’ll have more post ups, instead of bad three point attempts. In the scenario you described, it would be good ones.

It’s not like he lead Syracuse to a Nat Title or anything…

…I know it’s not the NBA, but don’t act like he’s not a winner.

Not necessarily, you can hit cutters from the post or kick out and swing the ball for a drive. Also the threes it would create would more likely be more open. Creating double teams is critical to an efficient offense.

Doing it from the post gives the offensive player the ability to react to the double team under control where as on the drive (unless you’re a point guard) it can be difficult to avoid a charging foul (think Ama_’e).

Excellent article Tommy.

Carmelo was magnificent in the playoffs two years ago – and played better than people give him credit for last season.

I think Anthony’s a better player than Pierce but it is close so they should cancel eachother out – but if Carmelo outplays him then we’ll probably win this series.

Billups needs to beast Rondo in the post.

But it’s not the NBA. That’s a hopeless argument. There are many in the league that secure championships on some level or another. Are we to conclude that everyone of those guys are winners as well. You are what your record says you are at a certain point.

your right, but I don’t think this is the time to drastically alter the offense. everyone seems to be getting more comfortable with the offense.

i think the knicks should try and do what they do and not what the celtics do.

i think the time to post up melo and Chauncey would be later in the game when things tend to slow down naturally….

I just hate to pin our chances on contested three pointers, but I realize that’s the “coach” we have right now. I would like to mix it up, the best teams can play both styles (running and half court). Obviously the elite teams run off their defense and not out of a forced pace created by taking quick shots (_’antoni’s style) though.

Agreed – at least we have the personel to play half-court basketball unlike the (almost) great Phoenix Suns teams. It will be very interesting to see how the team reacts when Boston dicates the tempo.

@has

this is a big test for a coach who has been criticized for not having a system that wins in the playoffs. we will see.

knicks MUST be competitive in this series.

Hornets? The Heat are in the eastern conference

Don’t expect miracles from Melo. The Knicks have zero chance of upsetting the Celtics as long as it is only Carmelo, amare and a declining – but still solid – Billups.

The Knicks will need Fields and Douglas to play well in order to have a chance. Specially Fields, who has been atrocious the entire second half of the season.

The key players for the knicks are Fields, Douglas and Shawnee Williams. If they play well for THE ENTIRE GAME, the Knicks will upset the Celtics. Fields can’t afford to disappear in the second half. Douglas needs to bring consistency and Williams must punish the double-teams on amare and Melo from the 3-point.

If these guys deliver, the knicks are in business. If not, it is a 0-4, 1-4 early exit.

The difference is that D’Antoni is in charge of the personnel on the floor and defensive/offensive sets. Melo cannot win a game by himself because it takes 7-8 players in the playoffs to win. If you see Shawne Williams out there on KG/Shaq, how is that on Melo? If the Knicks as a team give up 100+ a game to one of the worst three offensive teams in the NBA, how is that on Melo? I’m not excusing the players here because you win and lose as a team, but you’re comparing apples and oranges.

Personnel is a major reason Avery Johnson was canned in Dallas, highlighted by him changing his team to Golden State, an 8 seed.

Sets are the reason that Mike Brown was dismissed in Cleveland. He was a terrible, terrible offensive coach.

It’s fine if you want to defend D’Antoni – I’m all for well thought out discussions from both sides. Just please think before posting something. You seem like a smart commenter. Do better.

NY POST COACH (EXCERPTS)
D’Antoni vs Rivers

Rivers has won a championship with this group,is a terrific motivator and has the respect of his core players.D’Antoni is not great at dealing with change.Few NBA personnel men are convinced D’Antoni’s system-so reliant on 3 – pointers and negligent on defense-can win a championship.

I honestly feel “Fields, Douglas and Shawnee Williams” will play like “Deers in Headlights” and be scared to death.

The key player for the Knicks is Chauncy Billups.IMO

Have you not noticed the Knicks do not have a defensive sytem?

My bad I thought the Hornets were in the west the season before. I’ll check that put, I read that stat somewhere else.

For us to win this series, Melo has to more than barely outplay Pierce. He’d need to dominate, especially if he wants to be one of the top 5 players in the league. Those guys don’t get “cancelled out”.
Amare would need to outplay Garnett and Billups would probably have to play Rondo to a wash. We are losing the SG/C and bench match ups, most likely.

it’s not about outplaying. it’s matching the 2-way ability. offense and defense. we know both can score but if pierce plays B+ defense Melo needs to play at worst B-

I guess…

Playoffs

Kobe bryant 2 last years……..564% and 567%

Melo last 2 years….564% and .564%

Pierce .554 .566

Rondo (Maybe Celts MVP) .467 .504

Garnett .530%

we dont have a team.Just Stat,Melo and some other faceless guys.The real team was sent to Denver….PS.I was ashamed to be a Knicks fan when Bill walker slapped the Celts guy in the nuts…he should have been suspended.what a thug

That was such a fun team. Odom and Wade should have stayed together.

I agree totally – that’s what I was trying to say but you’re right.

by that logic,we should be starting Andy Rautins

I think most Knick fans know the deal, the Knicks have two exceptional players in their prime and one rapidly aging experienced point guard. The other rotation players are freshmen, sophmores, castoffs, resurrections and extremely one dimensional players whose best dimension is marginal.

I love to root for these guys as they struggle to over achieve but the fact is we are playing 4 all stars, 4 definite HOF’s and that doesn’t count Rondo. These guys have played together for years.

Melo can’t change the match ups that allow Boston to cheat and double cover him. Shaq vs Jefferies/Turiaf/Williams? When TD covers Rondo who covers Ray Allen? This allows KG and Pierce to get help 24/7. Bench? No comparison. Jeff Green and Kristic could start for NY…

Let’s try to be un NY for a week and lay off the blame game.

the most infamous statement of the year “I am taking my talents to South Beach”
The most famous statement of the year “I do this”

I wouldnt say NO CHANCE but i would say a LOW CHANCE lol i say Celtics in 5 my heart is saying Knicks in 6