Carmelo Anthony's Offseason Surgeries Key to Unlocking Knicks Offense?

Carmelo Anthony caused a stir when he revealed that he had offseason surgeries earlier this week that nobody knew about.

Following the game between Team Melo and Team Philly, at the Palestra on the campus of UPenn, Anthony told of the offseason procedures that he had done simultaneously to his knee and elbow.

Anthony said it was the first time in his career that he had undergone surgery, and that both his elbow and knee had been bothering him for seven seasons.

While the elbow was known to be hindering him down the stretch last season (he was diagnosed and shut down with chronic elbow bursitis), Anthony never complained about any trouble with the knee.

However, he said that each injury had been bothering him for seven years.

It's pretty amazing that Anthony has been able to perform at such a high level with lingering injuries that have been bothering him for the majority of his professional career.

With Anthony hurting down the stretch and Stoudemire dealing with a bad back when the team needed him most, the Knicks clearly weren't firing on all cylinders.

Moving forward, that could really change in a hurry.

Despite the massive price that the Knicks paid to bring Anthony into the fold, New York could be poised to surprise a lot of people as a surprising team in the Eastern Conference.

While the team faces some stiff competition from Miami, Chicago and Boston in an attempt to climb to the top and emerge from the conference as top dog, a healthy Anthony is a major step in the right direction toward improvement.

He's looked very good during exhibitions this summer and is reportedly down to 230 pounds, eight fewer than his listed playing weight from the 2010-11 season.

Now the owner of a clean bill of health and a renewed commitment to excellence, Anthony's efforts are going to be instrumental in his team's success into the future.

The flow of the game is predicated on scoring in Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo offense, and Anthony is going to have to do it in bunches next season if the Knicks are going to be taken seriously.