When several players from the New York Knicks went down, a no-name rookie unexpectedly led the Knicks on a 6-1 tear — notably in the absence of ‘star’ player Carmelo Anthony. That rookie, of course, would be Jeremy Lin, and with his compelling underdog story, Lin brought a lot of positive publicity to a team in dire need of it. Unfortunately the Knicks still have a few hurdles to cross, and one of their biggest obstacles is Lin’s teammate and star player Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony is the big man on campus, so to speak, to whom James Dolan, the owner of the New York Knicks, owes $85 million over the next four years. Anthony’s groin injury put him out of commission for seven games, paving the way for Linsanity. In his absence, the Knicks built up positive chemistry and relied mainly on Lin for offence. And, upon Anthony’s return to the Knicks on February 20, the Knicks lost to the New Jersey Nets 100–92. While the team would naturally need time to adjust after playing — and winning — without Carmelo for a considerable amount of time, Lin still managed to score 10 points more than Anthony in his return.
That was February 20, and now almost one month later, there is still no chemistry between the two despite the fact that there are no particular hard feelings between them, or so they claim. The main problem remains that they are simply unable to play together. Both are strong offensively, but it seems that Anthony is unable to accept a rookie like Lin getting an equal amount of playing time, as well as the confidence of the rest of the team. Given Anthony’s reputation as an over-confident ball hog, this equality thing can’t be good for his ego. When his ego isn’t being fed on time, then everyone around him is likely suffering the consequences.
There’s no doubt that Carmelo Anthony has skill. Even former Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe, who once employed Anthony, once claimed that he “can score from anywhere, on anybody.” But basketball is not a one-man sport; harmonious team work is essential and Anthony is clearly a pitch or two off. People have called him everything from an “arrogant hoodlum” to an all-time “ball stopper”, all of which suggest that Carmelo is no team player. Since his return to New York’s lineup, the Knicks are actually playing better on both sides of the ball when Anthony is warming the bench, rather than trying to sweep the courts.
To compound the matter, Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni resigned last week, not willing to cater to the controversial Anthony. The marriage was doomed to fail
from the start.
Anthony prefers a slower tempo where he can thrive in isolation while D’Antoni is noted for his free-wheeling up-tempo coaching style. Anthony and D’Antoni were never going to work together; it was clear one had to leave, and it clearly wasn’t going to be the guy with $85 million left on his contract. Rick Carlisle, the current head coach of the Dallas Mavericks and one of the only 11 people ever to win an NBA championship as both a player and a coach, has asserted on numerous occasions that D’Antoni is a guru in terms of managing a team’s offense. Carlisle reportedly claimed that Mike D’Antoni was “the best coach of point guards in the last decade”, which explains Lin’s success. D’Antoni’s system created an environment in which Lin was able to thrive and play at his best. With him gone, it is uncertain whether a new coach will even give Lin the same court time, let alone design plays for him.
Anthony’s return, and subsequent resignation of D’Antoni, leaves far more questions than answers. In the current situation where Anthony seems to lack chemistry with virtually every person on his team, would the Knicks be better off without him? If the Knicks play better with Carmelo warming the bench, as the statistics would suggest they do, then he also probably isn’t as valuable to the team as he thinks he is. Anthony seems to have single handedly negated every bit of hope that Lin was able to shine on the Knicks, and with a little over a month left to move up from ninth in the Eastern Conference and into playoff contention, a discordant team, and no coach — is it too late to undo the damage?
