What others saw:
Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points to lead the Knicks to victory. In Anthony’s last 6 games, New York has won 5. Is Carmelo putting this team on his back and willing them forward? All signs point to yes!
What I’m thinking:
He scored 31 points, but in how many minutes? Almost 34? Ok that’s about 35 more than he should have played. The two most important things to the near future of this franchise is Carmelo Anthony’s health and the pick they get this year. Playing Carmelo Anthony to win games is contrary to both of those.
As for him “putting the team on his back”, let’s put things in perspective. The combined record of the teams the Knicks have beaten is 86-154. Of those teams, only the Pelicans have a winning record. These were not good teams. So yes in one respect, playing Carmelo Anthony makes New York a better team (duh) but he’s not going to turn this team into a playoff team on his own, especially 28 games in the red.
What others saw:
Jason Smith played 34 minutes in another win, making his case for long term employment with this team.
What I’m thinking:
Oh Cole Aldrich and Amar’e Stoudemire were unavailable, eh? Without looking at the box score, guess how many boards Smith had. Got the number in your head? For the answer, put your MOUSE HERE.
Really Fisher, play this guy all you want this year. But if he is suiting up in orange & blue in November of 2015, we’ve got a problem.
What others saw:
Luis Amundson played 35 minutes, scored 6 points, had 13 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots.
What I’m really thinking:
Honestly I kinda like this guy. Sure he can’t shoot for anything, but even outside of the box score, his defense looks pretty good. Yeah yeah — Hibbert torched him the other night, but as Wally noted in the post-game Luis Amundson’s defense was solid on many of those plays. According to 82games, the D is 5.6 points better with Amundson on the floor. Even with small sample size/crappy opponents, that’s promising.
I’m fine with guys that don’t score and contribute in other ways. Quite honestly it’s a nice niche for NBA GMs to exploit.
What others saw:
Shane Larkin played 20 minutes and like Smith, might make his case for long term employment.
What I’m thinking:
Boy I really like Langston Galloway. I don’t think Larkin (9.7 PER, 47.9% TS%) is anything more than end of bench filler, but I’m not sure if it’s that easy to find another PG. I’d be fine with dumping him in search of another D-League guy. And I’m fine with dumping him at the end of the season. Either way really.