Carmelo Anthony Finding Championship's Elusive. "Ask Charles Barkley"

Over the past decade, and still to this day, there has been one king of scoring in the league, and his name is Carmelo Anthony.

Sure, Kobe Bryant had a stretch of magic in which he could only be defended by Melo or LeBron, but no one ever kept Melo from forcing his game upon you. In fact, he has to be fouled or doubled if he drives....period. He is the one guy who could win scoring titles every season by playing his natural game as LeBron and Kevin Durant often force their Jordanian ways. Melo is a scorer that even Jordan raises an eyebrow at. He reminds me of Charles Barkley.

During his time, Jordan may have been the best player, but Barkley was the most dominant force, especially when he added a jumper to his arsenal. For a stretch, it seemed as though Barkley was the only hope of derailing the back to back Bulls. Barkley's power at the rim, ball handling skills and deadly jumper made him formidable even when he got old. When I think of his game and his career, it reminds me of Melo every time (Barkley rebounded better of course).

As the free agent frenzy reaches a peak, Melo is on the nation wide jaunt to decide if he will uproot the wife and kid....again, or will he stay and attract free agents to come to New York with him, Phil and (Derek) Fisher?

IS THAT TRIANGLE something Melo can depend on?

Why couldn't Melo attract stars to Denver? Why isn't anyone screaming to play with the best scorer in the world in the best city in the world?  When guy's play against good players they offer up respect for their game. When they play against legends they walk away dreaming of joining them. Melo is the former, not the latter, so if no one decides to come, Melo might go.

My hunch is that money (NY has the most to give him), and family (LaLa has a t.v. show) will influence the outcome, but rich guys with tainted legacies are a volatile lot. They are liable to do just about anything chasing after glory while running from father time. Ask Charles Barkley.

Barkley could have stayed with Philly and trusted his front office to handle the business of basketball, but failure makes you doubt everything and everyone, including yourself. I often feel sorry for the greats of any sport. They are blessed with confidence and ability that allows them to do things that others marvel at. To also humble yourself towards the greater good is what builds amazing teams and separates great players and champion's.

Does that mean that Charles Barkley was too selfish to be a champion? His immense effort on the court says no, but his traveling chase of the crown begs the question. Karl Malone and John Stockton might have something to say about that stay put theory, but they all should come to grips with the truth of championship's.

They are hard under every circumstance. Jordan lost....a lot before Phil Jackson brought the glue that formed the 2nd greatest team effort over an extended period. Jordan won his first MVP in '88 but his first title in '91. The Boston Celtics of the Bill Russell era are the pinnacle of NBA teams (11 titles between '56 and '69 including 8 in a row). Winning anything that many times is other worldly. It was then, and it still is now. As Melo continues his search for a new home, he has to search for the best team he can find.

Will Kobe hand the reigns of his team to Melo? Will D-Rose or D-Howard do the same? Will anyone of those situations create the kind of teamwork it will take to one-up the scintillating Spurs?  How much can you know about that team you want versus the team you have? Melo is a NY Knick with Phil Jackson (an original Knick player) at the helm. Melo may doubt everything and everyone, but Phil has a track record of traveling the road that Melo is pursuing.

Phil came to New York to pursue a new jewel for his legendary career because he saw a chance to make the best scorer in the league into the same thing he made of Mike, a champion. Mike never won without Phil, but Phil won without Mike. Between Phil and Greg Popovich, the kings of teamwork; they've won 14 titles since 1991. Phil already has 9 crowns, but he still came to New York to be with Melo.

For the first time in his career, Melo has attracted "that guy" to his team, but he is considering leaving? If he leaves New York to become a champion, he might have to play second fiddle to someone else who is already in place.  If he stays, he has "that guy" to place the pieces around him, and him alone.

I am not sure what he will do even though I know what he should do. If he does choose to leave, we can all blame father time for scaring him into running away from his best chance to form a team, his team, and chase the crown.  But it happens to the best of them....ask Charles Barkley.

Phil Jackson Is Running In Circles For The Sake Of A Triangle

While there probably is a story in the ideal that talking about basketball on television is a great way to prove that you are ready to coach an NBA team to a championship, the broader picture in the world of NBA hiring is much more interesting.  Despite losing his job after only a few fairly successful seasons, Mark Jackson is back in the broadcast booth, but also firmly in the conversation about who will fill one of these vacant job openings, especially the one in New York.

In fact, he is probably the coach most likely to intrigue Carmelo Anthony, who has to be the player that the Knicks brought  Phil Jackson in to retain.  In fact, the only reason you hand over the reigns to an old maestro like Jackson is to have him get you to the promised land.  Quickly!

Jackson himself could hardly be signing on for a ten year rebuild.  If he were, the idea of shopping Melo' for all you can get would make more sense then posturing as though Melo' is priority number one. The swing and miss that Jackson made for Steve Kerr, the television announcer who is swapping coaching seats with Mark Jackson who was fired by the Golden State Warriors, is evidence that Phil is looking for a yes man.  In Mark Jackson, Phil would have the experience of a playoff general who clearly has done a great job, but has more yet to prove.  His firing in Golden State possibly makes him the hottest option for any team serious about winning it all simply because of the ax he would grind.

The problem with Jackson, Mark and Phil, is this darn triangle thing.  You see, Phil, the mastermind who made Jordan the God of basketball and of shoe sales, could do the same with Melo' because the triangle is perfectly suited to someone like Melo who needs lots of touches and lots of space to make use of those touches.  The triangle isolates the court to three players at a time and opens the opposite side of the court to wide open 3's when players slide in to support teammates caught in the triangle's web.

When ran to perfection and with the right group of guys, the triangle is as effective as any offense around.  Run with sticky ball movements and late cuts and shifts, it simply doesn't run and can be a horrendous looking concept. From the time that Phil made it famous until now,few teams, on any level, have dared to run the triangle. Those who have tried it seldom take advantage of the full impact of the triangle's passing flow, opting for one-on-one in order to handle the unique pressure that a 24 second shot clock can create.

Now that Steve Kerr has passed on the Knick's job
will Derek Fisher turn his back on Phil too?

Therein lies the conundrum.  Not only must you coach beneath the greatest coach of the modern era, you have to run his system and make players buy into it without the luxury of Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant to exert their will on the situation.  Did I mention that you also have to do this while accepting that you will only be the goat.  Any success that this team has will be credited to Phil and his geometrically described offense.  If you fail, it will surely be as a result of your inability to fit your round thinking into Phil's triangular world.

You might be lucky enough to have the option on whether or not you want sage burning in the locker room during bad losing streaks, (or anytime Phil thinks the energy is bad in the locker room of course) but if there is no sage, will Phil still believe that the coach understands what it takes to win?

Currently, former Phil Jackson player and current OKC Thunder guard, Derek Fisher is in the newest conversation to take over in New York.  Now, let me see if I am clear about this.  They not only wanted a former Philistine in Kerr, an ex-player, ex-executive and now ex-TV analyst (but not an ex-coach), they are also interested in Fisher, who just finished a season at 39 years old and is considering playing one more?

As I shake and scratch my head over who would be the bigger fool in this deal, Jackson or Fisher, I am also left to wonder if Phil is thinking of making him the next player coach?  We certainly haven't seen one of those in some time. In my heart, I hope that the Fisher rumors are far from true because it speaks to how 'way over his head' Phil really is.  The fact that Kerr was even a candidate for the job makes the Fisher story a lot more probable.  Phil is fishing and grasping at straws because he is doing what coaches always do when they need a person to fill a need. Unfortunately, Phil is no longer a coach, and the job he hopes to hire for goes a bit further than simply signing on the line to coach basketball in the Big Apple.  In fact, the skills that Phil himself will need to be great in the front office are most likely yet to be attained. Hiring a coach in the same boat could be disastrous mix for sure.

The next coach of the New York Knickerbockers will have the unique responsibility of needing the cache' to cash in on Melo', or some other big named free agent, but not be concerned with getting credit for any of the teams success.

If ever there was a need for Erik Spoelstra, this is it.