Carmelo Anthonys career has been good overall. When he was drafted by the Nuggets in 2003 , I think that most everyone felt that the 6-8 forward was going to be a prominent player who was going to be a scoring machine and a possible champion someday. Melo has never been a poor scorer, by any means. Putting up career numbers of 25/ game. And has been a solid rebounder as well with 6.5/clip. And his clutch genes have always been there, with his excellent play with time running out at the end of games.

Personally I like Anthony, his scoring ability is almost unmatched, he can get a shot off anywhere on the court, he can hit it deep, take it to the hole, post up, and has a nice mid range shot. But he is also a guy who needs the ball, the game slows down, he gets the rock and it sits in his hands for 15 seconds, while he decides what he is going to do. It becomes isolation ball the minute he gets it in his hands.

When he went to New York, there was the Knicks exaggeration with him and Amare. Could they coexist on the court together, I think we all saw what happened when they played together, they were much less impressive. Carmelo, for some reason, can’t get other guys over the hump to the next level with his game style.

Last year, the Knicks were on the doorstep, of becoming the next big thing in the NBA. Most felt this way after they lost in the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. the Indiana Pacers in 6, where Melo scored great, but shot miserably. So this season coming in, certainly looked as if only promise and getting better should follow, signing yet another shooter, Andrea Bargnani. to help out in the lineup.

Then early on, as in, as the season was starting, Carmelo brings up talk about trying out free agency next season. Free agency? What? Are you serious? And now he’s saying the Knicks are the laughing stock of the NBA. Are they a failure of a team so far, yes, but keep your mouth shut, talk to your team behind closed doors.

At some point, there has to be some kind of loyalty. Or are those days long gone, with the high short shorts in the NBA? After saying while he was in Denver, how much he wanted to play in hometown New York? Says to me that he is simply giving up on the team.

Of course, on the sniffing radar are the LA Lakers, who seem to always be prepared to snag someone to help Kobe get his magical and mystical 6th ring. But I hate to break the news, him and Kobe would never make it together on the court. Both are too selfish of players. Both needs to be “the man” and I don’t see either one willing to bend and play 2nd fiddle to the other. Were talking about guys who take about 40+ shots a game between the 2 of them, it would be them chucking up shots back and forth, feeling no one could stop them, yet that would likely not be the case. When other players check out mentally, when it becomes a 1-2 man show on offense. They are both primary scorers, who need the ball in their hands, neither can facilitate an offense happily, and Kobe wants the ball for every shot.

Carmelo needs to stop the talk, stop the nonsense and get his head in the game and his team at this time. That should be his only concern right now, is trying to turn around his lousy team and make them into something better. Unfortunately, Carmelo seems to be riding down the path of being one of those excellent scorers who just cant seem to make his teammates better.

Do the Knicks look like a serious playoff team now? Not even close. Do they look like they can become a legitimate playoff team, absolutely, they have scoring shot blocker, Andrea Bargnani and underestimated PG, Raymond Felton, both of whom are supportable and adequate players who can get them through some games as well. Carmelo needs to take care of his team and his business now. Melo, of course, has been the biggest gleaming spot on many bad nights this season keeping the Knicks in games.

But it still just seems to be Carmelo worrying about Carmelo.

Written by TonyK of VegasTopDogs.com