Bleacher Report - Carmelo Anthony

Pepsi Center Is Melo's Center as Anthony Drops 50 On Knicks

Ryan Maloney — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:58:00 -0500

It had been two years, 11 months, and 12 days since Carmelo Anthony landed an uppercut to the chin of Mardy Collins before 19,763 patrons at Madison Square Garden in a 2006 game between Anthony's Denver Nuggets and Collins' New York Knicks.

The incident still serves as a shiny black eye on an otherwise brilliant seven-year professional career for Anthony. But for the former Syracuse Orange forward, Friday night's game may have served as a metaphorical steak over a bruised peeper.

Anthony lit up that same Knicks franchise with a career-high 50 points as Denver outlasted the Knicks 108-105 in Denver.

His first of two successful free throws with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter wound up being the decisive tally as it gave the Nuggets a 126-121 lead. His second foul gave him 50 points in a game for the first time in his NBA career.

"They might have been the two toughest free throws I've shot in a while," Anthony told reporters after the game. "We've got the game on the line, 50, you're right there and you want to get it. If I didn't say I wanted to get it, I'd be lying to you. I'm right there. But most importantly they were two big free throws."

The fact that Anthony made 15-of-16 at the charity stripe is a small miracle for any player who has ever donned the orange and blue of Syracuse, a program notorious for their struggles at the line. But Anthony seemed to be dialed in from all spots on the floor, hitting 17-of-28 shot attempts.

New York's Al Harrington also turned in a memorable performance, dropping in 41 points to fall one short of his career best. But after the game, even he had to marvel at 'Melo.

"He's got the total package right now," Harrington said. "He's hitting 3s, he's hitting mid-range, he can get to the free throw line whenever he wants.

"When you play against a guy that's going like that, there's nothing you can really do. I think our guys did a pretty good job, because if they didn't, he would have had 70."

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A Denver Sports Fan's Perspective on What To Be Grateful for

Rich Kurtzman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:43:49 -0500

On Thanksgiving, there are many things to give thanks for; family, friends, health, and others. But for a sports fan, while those things are a given, there are many other reasons to be thankful as well.

In Denver, where expectations of teams are a mile high, every professional sports franchise has surprised in the past year. And because of that, a fan only has to think for a few minutes to realize they should be very thankful to many individuals for their favorite team’s success.

So, without any further ado, here is what, and who, I am thankful for this Thanksgiving from a Denver sports fan’s perspective.

I am thankful for Super Joe, Joe Sakic, the amazing Avalanche center that retired at the end of last season. Sakic was the undoubted leader of the Avalanche for the past 12 seasons, since they came to Denver from Quebec in 1995, and he was the consummate professional and teammate.

Sakic’s wrist-shot was the best in the NHL during his time, and he was a deadly scorer—but Super Joe was at his best when passing to teammates. His 1,016 career assists rank him 11th all time, he was a 12-time All-Star and his 84 goals in the playoffs put him seventh best all time.

I am also thankful for the Colorado Rockies’ success in 2009, even if they lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockies were horrible to start the year, 19-29 under Manager Clint Hurdle and they looked to be the same old sorry Rockies from years passed.

But Colorado GM Dan O’Dowd made the switch from Hurdle to then bench coach Jim Tracy at the end of May, and the run the Rockies made from there was remarkable. After Tracy took over, Colorado went 72-42, won 91 games which was a franchise best and were 22 games over .500 which was an all-time team best as well.

And not only was Tracy’s baseball smarts good for the team, so was his gentle spirit and true care for his players. Multiple times this year, Tracy embraced his players in a hug, while crying, showing he not only cares about wins but the state of his players’ well-being too. Tracy is not only an asset from an X’s and O’s standpoint, he’s a great person too—a rarity to find in an MLB Manager in 2009.

Next, I’m thankful for Allen Iverson. I know, this doesn’t seem right, coming from a Denver fan’s perspective, but hear me out. Iverson brought a lot of excitement to the Nuggets when he was traded here, and with him he brought back many Nuggets fans that stopped caring after a decade of losing.

But not only that, Iverson being in Denver for a year and a half set up the Nuggets to return the king of Park Hill, Chauncey Billups back to town.

Billups has completely revamped and returned Denver’s franchise back to greatness in the NBA, leading the team to their first Western Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. Mr. Big Shot Billups totally changed the mindset and culture of the Nuggets, making sure teammates know he’s all business and took the leadership role from jump.

And I’m not only thankful for Iverson and Billups, but I’m also thankful for Joe Dumars, the Detroit Pistons’ GM. Dumars decided to take Darko Milicic instead of Carmelo Anthony with the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft, and as they say—the rest is history.

Melo has been outstanding for the Nuggets, taken the team to the playoffs every year he’s been in Denver and is even competing for the NBA MVP this year. If everything works out perfectly, maybe Billups and Anthony can even bring Denver its first NBA championship in the near future—which would add another reason for Denver fans to be thankful.

Finally, I’m thankful for Mike Shanahan, Denver’s best ever professional coach. Shanahan took a decent team and turned them into back-to-back Super Bowl champions in under five years.

And even though Shanny missed the playoffs in his last three years in Denver, which made Pat Bowlen give him the axe, it was recently announced that Shanahan and Sakic will both be going into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in February.

And really, because Shanahan is gone, it gave Josh McDaniels a chance, who I am also thankful for. McDaniels was under scrutiny from the time he got the job, as he is the second youngest head coach in the NFL today. Then he traded away Jay Cutler and it seemed like deja-vu when he and Brandon Marshall had much covered disputes.

But since then, McDaniels has fully righted the Broncos ship, although it has been taking on lots of water in the past month. Sure the Broncos are 6-4 after starting 6-0, but their record and the fact that Denver is in the playoff hunt means McDaniels has already met and exceeded expectations.

And as the Broncos get ready for likely their biggest game of the season against the Giants, a quintessential must-win, I would be the most thankful for a dominating Denver win.

So here’s to being with family, eating wonderful food and sports on one of the greatest holidays celebrated in the US.

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Carmelo Anthony: The Most Difficult Matchup in the NBA

Courtzide Seatz — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:56:12 -0500

Conversations about the best pure scorer in the NBA always start with the usual suspects: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James are almost always the unanimous choices and, more often than not, dominate the discussions.

However, this year Carmelo Anthony has clearly introduced himself into this debate by asserting his dominance as an offensive sensation. In terms of the difficulties an individual player creates in the game planning process, I don't think that there is a tougher matchup to plan for than Carmelo Anthony.

Against smaller players, 'Melo can post up and use his size on the block to power his way to easy buckets. He is one of the best post-players in the NBA, and this might be the most underrated part of his game. He is very powerful for a small forward, and he uses his imposing strength to finish with contact better than almost any other player in the league.

Against bigger players, he can use his jab step to create the necessary distance in order to get his silky smooth jump shot off. He has developed into one of the league's most feared jump shooters over the past two years, and with enough space he is nearly automatic.

Against slower players, Anthony uses his deceptive quickness and exceptional ball handling skills to blow by his defender to get to the rim. Besides Chauncey Billups, Carmelo handles the ball more than any other player on the Nuggets, and does so impressively.

Pick your poison. As an opposing coach, it is nearly impossible to contain Anthony, regardless of who you put on him. There is at least one facet to his game that is superior to anyone who matches up against him, making him a nightmare to defend.

I assume at this point you will frantically attempt to offer your own reasons as to why Kobe, Wade, or LeBron are better than 'Melo in one, if not multiple aspects on the offensive side. You may in fact be correct.

Wade is probably a better slasher, and has more brute athleticism than Carmelo, but in the paint and from beyond 20 feet, 'Melo is by far the superior player.

Kobe is probably the best player off the dribble in the NBA, if not one of the greatest ever. He also can get off and finish some of the most difficult shots I have ever seen. His fade away jumper is indefensible, and when he is hitting his shots, Kobe might be the best offensive player on the planet. Bryant has also developed into one of the best players in the post, and thanks to some recent work with Hakeem Olajuwon, he has only improved upon that this year.

That said, I would still give Carmelo the slight edge with his back to the basket. There isn't an active player that combines the speed, power, finesse, creativity, and footwork that 'Melo possesses on the block.

LeBron is one of the most well rounded offensive players alive. He is an excellent jump shooter, takes it to the basket with authority, and is an outstanding passer. He operates more like a point guard in the mold of Magic Johnson with his ball handling abilities, and involves his teammates as well as any other player in the NBA. Again, though, Anthony is far better in the post and he is much quicker than LeBron, which makes him impossible to stay in front of down low.

When you have to account for all the aspects of Carmelo Anthony's game, he is at the top of the league in terms of creating the most difficult matchup. No matter what type of player you put against him, he has the talent to exploit that defender's weakness and use them to his advantage.

He still has a ways to go in order to be mentioned alongside the "big three" in terms of best overall players, but nobody in the NBA puts points on the board with the ease of Carmelo Anthony, and he is quickly emerging as the best pure scorer in the league.

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Denver Nuggets' Soft Schedule Should Mean Separation in the Northwest

Rich Kurtzman — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:00:37 -0500

The Denver Nuggets (9-4) sit slightly ahead of the surging Portland Trailblazers (10-5) atop the NBA’s Northwest division. And while the Nuggets have been on top of the Northwest since the beginning of the season, the Trailblazers have won eight of their last 10 games and are right on Denver’s heels.

Luckily for the Nuggets, their next five games present a schedule as soft as velvet pillows—meaning if Denver can capitalize, they should be able to stretch the lead in the division.

Denver starts their stretch of sorry opponents against the saddest NBA team in 2009, the New Jersey Nets, who have yet to win a game at 0-13. Another number that bodes well for the Nuggets is 5-0, the perfect record that the team maintains at home thus far in 2009. Denver looks to build that number to 6-0 on Tuesday, as they play the Nets in the Pepsi Center at 7 p.m. MT.

Following the Nets, the easy road continues for the Nuggets as they play at Minnesota Wednesday, the Nortwest’s cellar dwellers, then back at home to face New York, Minnesota again, and Golden State. The five teams don’t even have as many wins combined as the Nuggets do on their own, as they are a disastrous 8-55 (.127).

Comparatively, the Trailblazers play against some better competition starting with the Chicago Bulls tonight. Following the Bulls, Portland plays the horrible Nets and Grizzlies, the middle-of-the-pack Jazz, and a decent Heat team. And while there are some winnable games for the Blazers, their opponents combined records are much better at 25-39 (.391) than what the Nuggets have to face.

And at the risk of sounding like a cliché-spouter, all Denver can worry about is taking care of their own business one game at a time.

Really though, the Nuggets are, and can be, one of the best teams in the NBA when they play to their full potential. Denver is currently third in the league in scoring at 107.9 points per game, and while they are 22nd on defense, their 6.61 point per game differential is fourth best in the NBA. The Nuggets are also eighth best in the NBA in steals (8.2) and 10th least (13.5) in turnovers, meaning they value holding onto the ball and use those possessions to score points.

Denver has room to improve in some areas too though, most noticeably rebounding and personal fouls.

The Nuggets foul 23 times per game, which sends opponents to the line for an average of 27 free throws. Denver big men Nene (3.8) and Kenyon Martin (3.3) need to find a way to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the court, where they are both assets to their team.

Easily the biggest area of concern for the Nuggets is their rebounding, as they are 24th in the NBA at 40 per game. Nene, K-Mart, and Chris Andersen have to box out better, as they have been soft around the hoop. The rest of the team must gang rebound as well. If just a fraction of NBA players followed their own shots, they would have many more second chance opportunities and score more points.

So the Nuggets have some things to work on starting against the Nets, but heading into the game Tuesday, they have some positives to look forward to as well.

Carmelo Anthony was better than his usual self and played arguably the best game yet this season with 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists Saturday. Melo’s 30 points in the game made it the ninth time in 13 games he’s scored over 30, but the Nuggets are only 5-4 when he does so. Meaning that while Anthony’s scoring is appreciated; Denver needs others to step up as well.

One player that started making lots of noise on the court last week was JR Smith. In three games last week, Smith scored 29, nine, and 19 points, and he was a major reason why the Nuggets won in Chicago Saturday. Smith put in 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, which helped secure Denver’s 112-93 over the Bulls. The most amazing of his points was a run-out two-handed windmill dunk that was an exclamation point on the win.

Following the game, George Karl said, "He's an explosive player. I thought we ran a couple of plays that got him going.''

Certainly Smith’s athleticism and scoring will be needed for Denver to win even against sorry opponents, as well Chauncey Billups’ leadership and Nene’s inside presence.

So as Denver starts likely their easiest stretch of the season, they cannot overlook anyone they face. As long as they keep their focus and composure, the Nuggets should be able to win four, if not all five games and stretch their lead in the Northwest.

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