Jeremy Lin Will Continue to Flourish as Carmelo Anthony Buys into System

No, the New York Knicks did not win in Carmelo Anthony's return to action on Monday, falling to the New Jersey Nets and a red-hot Deron Williams, 100-92. But they did show glimpses of the team they might be, and that Jeremy Lin and 'Melo co-existing could be a beautiful thing.

Anthony was rusty, as is expected coming off an injury, scoring 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting with six assists and six turnovers. But it was the manner in which he played and the attitude he expressed after the game that is a positive for this Knicks team.

From Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY:

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"My mind-set was not try to come in and do too much. Try to fit in. Try to play my game within the system that they've been playing the last couple of week — passing the ball, finding the open man, making the right play," Anthony said.

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Anthony continued to at least express the right attitude when talking about Lin:

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"I want Jeremy to have the ball, hands down," Anthony said. "I want him to create for me. I want him to create for Amar'e. I want him to create for everybody and still be aggressive as he's been in the past two weeks."

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Knicks fans should be very pleased with that outlook, and the team will thrive if what Anthony has said translates to the court. Not that the team needs him to post six assists every night, but if his mentality isn't "the rock ends here" and he continues the flow of this offense by moving the ball to teammates, this Knicks team will be frightening to defend.

The Knicks are lucky to have the approaching All-Star break to work together as a team and push forward the adjustment time of J.R. Smith, just as they are lucky to have a front-row seat for Lin's meteoric rise to basketball celebrity and to have a superstar in 'Melo who seems to be buying into the new team concept.

If the Knicks get all of their talented pieces working together, this could be a very, very dangerous team.

To Linfinity and beyond, indeed.

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