It’s been almost two-years since Carmelo Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks. This time there are no excuses, Melo has to lead the Knicks to post season success, there are no lockouts to blame, the Knicks have had a full preseason together and the team is clearly Anthony’s. But, is he capable of leading the Knicks deep into the playoffs? Those questions will remain unanswered for now, but TNT analyst Marv Albert, a native New Yorker himself, feels that Anthony’s skills may be best utilized as a sixth-man on a contending team rather than a go-to guy.
“[Can] Amar’e (Stoudemire) and Carmelo (Anthony) can play effectively? It hasn’t happened to this point. I don’t know it if can. Are they better with Amar’e coming off the bench? Will he accept that? With Carmelo, who is a great talent, but you wonder how far you can go in the playoffs with Carmelo. We saw that in Denver. With the isolation and him being the main scorer, you look back at NBA history teams with guys like him don’t usually win championships.”
“Their games are so similar I really don’t see how it can mesh. It may mesh on certain occasions, but over the long haul of 82 games and a playoff run, I think it’s very difficult. I look at Carmelo as someone who will have his greatest success on his next team as someone who comes off the bench as an instant-offense guy. and is not on the floor for 38-40 minutes.”
Interesting theory, Carmelo’s ego would certainly stop him from taking such a role at this point of his career.
