Hey guys, exNY Knick fan here again.
I had this discussion with some buddies and just wanted to get new fellow Nug fans in on it.
I think Anthony is way overrated and often hurt team, main stats be damned.
Here is a perfect example. While still a Knick fan, I watched Nugs come into NY and get beat by my knicks.
Here were the Headlines
Amare Powers Knicks with 30 Points
'Mello's heroic 31 Point Effort falls just short
Only, you see I watched the game and had this feeling that Anthony really didnt help the Nugs much though darned if he wasnt always in the center of things. So I took a closer look at the boxscore and last few crunch minutes.
Here's what I saw.
Carmello did lead all in scoring but he only shot 11 for 27. He missed 16 shots. That is, Mello led all players in missed shots.
Mello had 5 shots blocked against him.
Mello led both teams in turnovers with 4. No one else, not even the point guards had more than 2. That means that 20 times Mello came down court and either missed a shot of turned ball over.
Contrast that w/ Amare who went 13 for 23 w/ only 2 turnovers.
Then in crunch time, w/ less than 5 minutes left, Knicks up by one, here's what Mello did - 3 pts shot missed, turnover, jump shot missed, 3 pt shot missed, scores 2 on a dunk, offensive foul, hits 3 free throws, misses 3 pt shot.
And there you have it, all she wrote.
You want more? OK. Carmello had the worst -/+ of any one on either team, -12. Lawson, forbes and Afflalo were all pluses. Amare was a plus 16!
The Nuggets were better with carmello on the bench.
But the media and ESPN had the match-up as a mano a mano with Amare vs Carmello who played another typical great game. Yes, it was typical but not great.
Here's how the Headlines should have gone:
Knicks Best Nuggs
Amare Powers NY with 30 Points
Mello Misses 16 Shots, 4 TOs, and Fails Down the Stretch
Who bothered to look closely at this game, look deeper into the boxscore, keep track of crunch time plays, objectively assess the impact of the main players? Certainly not the media.
Check out boxscore for yourself
http://www.nba.com/games/20101212/DENNYK/gameinfo.html#nbaGIboxscore
I think that this happens often w/ Mello. He places high in some stats but at great cost to the team. The talking empty heads on ESPN just go on and on about how great Carmello is with little attention to how he impacts team game to game.
I'm not stupid enough to make predictions but havent the Nugs seemed strangely effective without their superstar? Wonder why?
He's good. He's not great. He giveth and he taketh, plenty.
End of story, end of rant, lets go nugs!
