Time for Carmelo to become team player

MILWAUKEE

Despite some recent evidence, the decision to trade for Carmelo Anthony wasn't a mistake. It was the decision to change the system to conform to him -- thus fulfilling the sense of entitlement he's had since he dominated the ball at Oak Hill Academy -- that is the most troubling error of the blockbuster deal.

This isn't Denver and this isn't Carmelo's team. He wasn't supposed to come here with that same set of rules. This was Anthony joining Amar'e Stoudemire, Anthony -- in his own words -- getting away from being the player who had to score 30 every night. This was Anthony looking to play on a bigger stage and play for a bigger purpose.

Forget his flat jumper and the lack of lift he had in his legs; Anthony's body language was the most alarming aspect of Friday's 99-95 loss to the Pistons. He barked at Toney Douglas several times when Douglas didn't dump the ball down to him.

One moment that stood out occurred during the 17-0 third-quarter run -- the result of speeding up the tempo and moving the ball well for open looks -- when Chauncey Billups stripped Tayshaun Prince and Douglas raced it up the court. Anthony sprinted down the floor with Douglas, and Shawne Williams made it a three-on-one. Douglas dished it to Williams for a dunk that gave the Knicks a 72-65 lead. The Pistons called timeout.

As the Knicks' bench exploded, Anthony turned with a smirk and just shook his head, seemingly annoyed that Douglas didn't give the ball to him for the easy two. Considering how much the Knicks had struggled to get untracked in the first half, this should have been a moment that launched them to a blowout win. Instead, in the midst of a very positive stretch, one of the team's main players was sulking.

Let's recall the night before against Memphis, when Douglas was putting on a record-tying three-point shooting exhibition and Anthony was getting his 28 points, Stoudemire was bottled up and held to 16 points, but he was genuinely happy to get the win and cheered on Douglas throughout.

That's the beauty of being on a team with another star: You don't have to carry the load every night. You don't completely disconnect when the ball isn't coming your way.

At the end of Friday's game, Anthony had the ball in his hands with the game on the line. When he blew by Prince, Chris Wilcox came over and -- as you clearly can see on the replay -- slapped his wrist to cause Anthony to miss the layup attempt that would have tied it at 97 with 37.9 seconds left.

No call was made. Frustrating, yes. But the game wasn't over.

At the other end, the Knicks still were alive when Will Bynum missed a jumper with 15.9 seconds left, but Anthony couldn't come up with the rebound, which Prince ripped away. The Knicks were forced to foul and Bynum hit two free throws to seal it.

Sure, Stoudemire still has his issues with pick-and-roll defense and Billups had an awful night with eight turnovers. But while both faced the media to talk about their performances, Anthony stormed off to the team bus.

No, he's not obligated to talk to reporters, but Carmelo has to know his actions are only inciting a gaggle of "I told you so's" echoing in the Rocky Mountains.

This was supposed to be a new beginning for Carmelo. But he has to understand that on some nights, the ball isn't going to come his way because of how the opponent is defending him. Understand that instead of a series of post-ups and isolations, if the ball is in constant motion, the Knicks are harder to guard and teams get tired from chasing them around, which eventually wears the opponents down on offense, too.

Understand that the coach, who is trying to figure out the best defensive strategy for this team, knows what he's talking about on the offensive end. And understand that if this is going to work, it won't happen with four guys hiding on the weak side, watching one player try to do it all by himself.

And understand that after enduring a decade of losing and so many frustrating failures, no one in New York is going to put up with the kind of attitude he displayed during Friday's loss in Detroit.

"He'll be fine," said Billups, the Knick who knows him best. "He's a great player. I've seen him get frustrated offensively at times in Denver, playing with him for so long. It happens. You're not going to play awesome every single night. Nobody is. You expect him to because he's a great player, but it just doesn't happen like that. He's going to be fine. No, I'm not worried about Melo at all."

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