Carmelo Anthony Heads Back to Denver

       

  

       It would be very easy to wait until the New York Knicks come to town with their 7 game losing streak and write this post after they leave on an 8 game losing streak. That would be taking the easy way out. You know, like Carmelo thought he was doing when he gave into his movie star wife and took his act to Broadway. Most of us from a distance realized that he was choosing to leave the love and admiration of a city that nutured the legend of John Elway. He had an opportunity to become the basketball equivalent, and we (Denver fans)would have stood behind his progression as a player and pushed like hell to get him championship support. If he simply didn't keep taking the easy way out. Denver wasn't tired of Melo, but we sure were getting there.

 To understand the demand we place on our teams in Denver, you must know our history. Ours is a history of that little miner who used to adorn the jersey of the Nuggets.

We are a town of overachieving underdogs who derive energy from those who diminish our cow town success. We've moved mountains in order to accomplish our goals. I'm convinced its those majestic mountains that anchor our backsides in the morning and soothes our soul with orange and blue sunsets at night.  While many people say they live in God's country, in Colorado we truly believe it. With Mile-High privilege comes the duty of community so we support what matters to us. Our population deems us a small town but our sports allegiance is second to none. (And yes, I am the unofficial ambassador of Colorado) 

       We knew that we would never win a championship with Carmelo "the black hole" Anthony. Nuggets fan's have supported the post-Anthony rendition of the team in part because seeing the ball move finally after so many years has felt like taking a bag off of our heads. Yet, while many people in Denver felt like Melo would always be the same cat we are seeing in New York, others like myself had a different view on the matter.
      
       I called for the head of George Karl long ago because in my estimation Karl was unable to coach his players, especially Melo, and his lack of control over Melo caused him to over control J.R. Smith and his young players and lose control over a talented and capable team. Many of the real Nuggets fans had begun to apply pressure on Karl to get control of his team and dictate a style of play by dictating who gets to play. Under Karl in those days it did not matter how bad or disruptive players were being, he gave them minutes and important minutes at times. When that player was anyone other than Melo it was painful to watch. When that player was Carmelo Anthony, it was the reason we lost a lot of games (especially in the playoffs) that we otherwise could have won. Sure, he hit some winners at times, and over the course of an 82 game season, if you can pull up 10 highlights of buckets that happen at or near the end of games you can fool yourself into thinking you are the second coming of MJ. Even MJ reminds us all that he missed more of those than he made

    My opinion about  Melo's pressure from home is only an opinion, but I base it upon my quarter of a century of marriage and some odd behavior from Melo. Namely a charity basketball tournament that he did in Denver in 2004. The event was planned to be annual but became a one time event because Melo chose to take the easy way out from the very beginning. This was a celebrity/charity basketball game. At the game he sold t-shirts (one of which my wife purchased) under the guise that only people with the $20 t-shirt would get autographs after the game. The game was boring for the most part, but it was cool to see that Lil' Wayne could actually hoop a bit, and that Champ Bailey can jump to the moon. Based upon Denver's amazing support for community events, this thing would have become a big deal over time. The somewhat disorganized festivities ran long and instead of honoring their commitment and leaving a few folks behind to sign t-shirts, the whole litany of stars left for pre-arranged parties in the lower downtown areas of Denver. Meanwhile a long line of people, including my wife, had formed a line for signatures and waited for nearly an hour before the announcement was fully filtered through the audience (no official p/a announcement was ever made).

My wife's first (and last) annual celebrity charity t-shirt.  Still waiting on a signature......Melo!

       Melo took the easy way out the back door then and he did it again as a free agent when he had to know that winning in New York would be both difficult and demanded ....quickly. Over his career he teases us with images of great individual play, but his championship persona comes from an often forgotten memorable Melo moment. The Olympics.

      What everyone keeps being teased with is not the vision of the Syracuse champ, but the Olympic role player. Moreover, the Olympic role player who Kobe defers to when we REALLY need a bucket or a free throw because even Kobe's immense talent does not compare with 270 pounds of lane driving dominance.

There is no player in the league who can stop Melo one-on-one.  Not Kobe. Not Lebron.  No one.  You either eat the jumper or get bullied to the paint and hope for help.  Both techniques are losing propositions against Melo the player but winners against any team he plays on. Why? Because if he is not scorching hot he can not beat you by himself with jumpshots, and because his teammates never know which shot  he might take and they dare not move and risk jamming the lane by bringing their body (and their man) into it.

       In the Olympics when they send help he finds that open man. He shares the ball until Coach K forces him not to anymore. He passes and cuts and most importantly, rebounds like no one else. In the Olympics he never takes the easy way out and because of the vision I keep of Olympic Melo I am left with many questions about tonights game and about the future of Melo.

       Personally, I still consider Melo a Nugget and imagine that one day he will dictate the moves of his basketball career and find a suitable coach and a suitable home, maybe even returning to the place he started. Would it have been easy to carry Denver to the top? John Elway would say probably not. Will Melo have the courage to stay and fight like hell to achieve the impossible dream of returning the proud Knicks to championship stature? That looks like a tougher deal than what we have here in Denver so I would say probably not. Will Melo come back to Denver and break a 7 game losing streak while still being 'black hole' Melo? Once again, probably not. What I am certain of is that every player with pride finds their fight eventually. At any moment, I expect that Melo will come face to face with his legacy in basketball and have to perfect the habits that have made him succesful.  If he doesn't, the Knicks will be forced to rebuild the rebuild or blow it up and try again.

       But I'm a Nuggets fan so the most pressing question to me is will Olympic Melo show up in the Mile-High City tonight? I certainly hope not because that guy is truly hard to beat.