Is Melo getting comfortable?
Jeremy Lin and Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks during a game against the New Jersey Nets on Feb. 20, 2012. Credit: Jim McIsaac
For nearly all of his basketball-playing life, Carmelo Anthony has been the focal point of every team he's been on. He has always been the best shooter on the floor, the player every defense concentrated on and every reporter talked to after the game. He has been The Man.
So how hard must it be now that guys such as Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak are hogging the headlines? How bizarre must it have been for Anthony to be sitting on the bench with a groin injury during the final five games of the Knicks' seven-game winning streak?
Though people close to him believe he's handling the sharing of the spotlight well, it's been hard to say because he has slipped out of practice for two straight days without talking to reporters.
"I think he's great. I think he's good," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said when asked how Anthony has been dealing with the changes. "I think everybody [gets to] a stage in their life where I would think winning is the No. 1 thing. However we can do it, we just have to do it."
The Knicks are 2-2 since Anthony returned after missing seven straight games in which the Knicks went 6-1. Though he remains the Knicks' leading scorer at 21.5 points per game, Anthony has averaged 16.8 points in his four games back, compared with the 23.3 points he averaged in 21 games before suffering the groin injury against Utah Feb. 6. He has averaged 15.8 shots in those four games compared with 19.6 before the injury.
The bottom line is that with the emergence of Lin as a point guard who can both score and distribute, the Knicks suddenly have so many weapons that D'Antoni is constantly being asked how he is going to find enough minutes and shots for various players.
How different are the pre-Lin and post-Lin Knicks? Fans will get a pretty good measure Sunday in Boston when they take on the Celtics, who eliminated the Knicks in the first round of last season's playoffs. With Amar'e Stoudemire injured in that series, Anthony averaged 26.0 points and 10.3 rebounds, but the Knicks were unable to snag a single win.
Now, however, the Knicks are winning. And despite a general panic from fans that his return would mess up their offense, Anthony seems to be adapting and achieving some chemistry with Lin. Wednesday night's comeback victory over Cleveland probably was the best example. Anthony had 22 points and shot 9-for-16, which might have been lost on a lot of fans when Novak garnered most of the headlines for knocking down five three-pointers in the second half.
Those who have known Anthony a long time believe he's ready to start sharing the offensive limelight and that he'll do whatever it takes to win.
"I think as a player, he's definitely evolved his game," said J.R. Smith, a teammate of Anthony's with the Nuggets. "He has more of a defensive mind-set. He's getting off the ball a lot better. He understands we have talent and we have a great team. As a player, he has definitely evolved."
