Happiness In The Mile High
Nobody that has played the game of basketball likes a ball hog and when the Denver Nuggets traded their ball hog, Carmelo Anthony, things immediately looked upward.
First of all, this trend of the dog wagging the tail in the NBA has to end before fans and owners just get fed up with it.
Last time, it was ‘The Decision’ of LeBron James to ‘take his talents to South Beach’. But the way Melo went about things, holding the franchise as a hostage, is a poor example of what sports should be in this country.
As for NBA hoop bettors, know this. Since March 14, Denver covered in 9 of 10 games with a push when they were laying 14 against Sacramento.
In the Nuggets first 10 games since the trade without Melo they went 7 of 10 against plus .500 teams with the three losses coming on the road.
The Denver trade of Chauncey Billups in this transaction has opened the door for Ty Lawson to thrive. He has always been a blur but he is a team player and with him and Raymond Felton, Denver has a solid two-headed monster at the point guard.
Aaron Afflalo, who has been nursing a hamstring, just might be that go-to player the Nuggets will need in the future to become an elite team.
Kenyon Martin has been showing a hop in his step of late. Nene is doing the little things for Denver that make the difference between winning and losing and as a team, Denver is getting production from 10 players.
Besides that pair, Denver has three new promising players in Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and 7-foot Russian center Timofey Mozgov.
Billups was not happy about the trade as he is a Denver native but he is just the type of glue player with NBA Championship success that the Knicks really need.
New York had lost 11 of the 16 games prior to getting Melo so they were near rock bottom anyway. In their first 24 with Melo in the line-up, the Knicks covered only 9 times.
Amar’e Stoudamire and Melo have been taking most of the shots but the problem offensively is that the ball sticks when Melo has it in his grip.
Instead of moving the ball and hitting the open player, Melo will juke, fake, shake and bake while the shot clock winds down, then either force up a jump shot or go to the hoop hell bent on getting a foul.
This is not the way the game should be but until Knicks Coach D’Antoni changes his style and makes his team play defense, they will go nowhere.
On the other side of the coin George Karl, who has fought off cancer twice, has a renewed energy and is into coaching a team that wants to be coached. Players will put out if they know they will get the ball back after passing and it’s a contagious type of thing.
Early prediction. The Knicks will be one and done in the playoffs while the Nuggets could be the surprise of the post season.
