LOL. Melo played a good game and then followed it with a bad game, so both sides can come out and gloat.
This is fake news. Good or bad games, the "haters" have been ******** on Melo all season. @rocketchamp only makes appearances after his boy has one good game lol.
@rocketchamp only makes appearances after his boy has one good game lol.[/QUOTE] Correction. Rocketchamp has nothing else to prove, given my only argument was Melo's still capable of playing in the NBA. No player can average 15pts & be labeled washed up. Melo's already proven my point
Correction. Rocketchamp has nothing else to prove, given my only argument was Melo's still capable of playing in the NBA. No player can average 15pts & be labeled washed up. Melo's already proven my point[/QUOTE] You already know that's not what we been arguing, but you know what man, you do you and you keep believing that your boy is still a "contributor" in this league. Your boy sucks and whatever he use to offer, no longer exists. I guess he is lucky he has that previous "star" label otherwise he wouldn't be in this league anymore. You have to give it to his agent and marketing team, they built a good sympathy story and that **** stuck. Those guys are the real MVPs of Melo being able to have a "comeback story". Hell, that player of the week award was all that was needed to make some ESPN special of Melo's comeback story. The story writes itself, an injury riddled team that was a year removed from the conference finals. They were down the shitter and because of that desperation, they decided to try Melo out. He may not have been able to catapult them to playoff contender, but he still "proved that he still had it". Of course, this will be used to further smear the Rockets while everybody laughs at our team as soon as they are ousted in the first round because they could never get their **** straight in the regular season. Of course, it has nothing to do with Melo, but the league can't wait to keep ******** on the Rockets.
Sucks is relative to whoever says it. I can say "Michael Jordan sucks" and in my mind I'm I00% correct. I don't care what people choose to believe. The man is averaging 15pts on 37% from 3pt as a third option. Do those numbers suck? If Hartenstein averaged that you'd claim he was the next Larry Bird. Just because a guy is temporarily blackballed doesnt mean he cant play. Stop chasing narratives & watch basketball, it's a beautiful game to watch
One single person who is probably trolling. Meanwhile, this thread has 8 recurrent posters lining up to get their shots in on Melo. Sorry, but it's in my nature to go anti-circlejerk, regardless of what is being argued. Did Kobe's media attention during his farewell tour also bother you? It's a similar setup - nobody really thinks they are still good, it's more just nostalgia. The one point I'll agree with is Melo winning player of the month or whatever was absolutely ridiculous.
Is it also impossible that Melo could have helped out the Rockets? I always assumed there was something that went wrong behind the scenes rather than it just being a pure-fit nightmare. For everyone clowning the notion that Melo could help our roster, what does someone like Ben Mclemore give that Melo doesn't?
Carmelo has been playing starters minutes all season for the Trail Blazers. Now, I have no idea why as I agree he isn't good enough, but do y'all really need to frame Melo getting picked up as some anti-Rockets media conspiracy? I mean sheesh.
Lets just start with. have you checked out how melo shot here? then take a look at BMac. have you checked out how many minutes BMac usually plays? then take a look at melo. Have you seen the circus attention Melo draws? then take a look at who cares about BMac playing with the Rockets
We can play him for 10 minutes off the bench, or not at all, without hearing a peep about it. So yes, there probably was a behind the scenes issue. He's also a better shooter who knows his limitations. Carmelo is a mediocre offensive player who still thinks he can light people up.
^^ Both good points. I never loved the Melo fit in the regular season, but I always thought he could have been helpful in the playoffs for the stretches where Harden gets gassed and nobody else can create or hit a shot.
No the conspiracy is that despite his trash play, the media believes the Rockets were in the wrong this whole time.
Everybody knew Kobe was washed up during his farewell tour. They knew he was washed up for years before his final year. Nobody argued against it, unlike Melo where you still have people who thinks he can contribute to a winning team.
‘They need to apologize, you know?’: Carmelo Anthony’s Portland validation The first day Carmelo Anthony joined the Trail Blazers, ending a confusing and frustrating year away from the NBA, he became choked with emotion. It was mid-November, in New Orleans, and he swallowed hard and searched for words, hoping the lump in his throat and the throbbing in his heart would subside. “There was a time,” he said as he gained his composure, “when I actually thought I was about to let go.” He played only 10 games in the 2018-19 season before Houston decided to go in another direction, and in the coming days and months, Anthony waited for a call from his agent, an opportunity from a team. Neither came. Instead, there was what he calls “noise.” Chances are, if you are reading this story on Anthony, you’ve heard the noise. And chances are, several of you are part of the noise. “When we got him, everybody had something to say about him,” Blazers star Damian Lillard said. “What he gonna do defensively? … He’s older … He’s done … Where’s he gonna fit in? … How is he in the locker room? … Why didn’t it work out with these other teams?” On Tuesday, in the latest chapter of what is becoming a heart-warming comeback story, Anthony once again provided the answers to those questions. For the second time in three games in the NBA restart, Anthony pushed the Trail Blazers past the finish line with pressure-packed plays that have kept Portland in the thick of the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. On Tuesday, his 3-pointer with 54 seconds left went a long way in deciding the Blazers’ 110-102 victory over Houston. Last Friday, in the Blazers’ restart opener, he hit two 3-pointers in the final 1:24 of regulation to help the Blazers force overtime against Memphis. He then sealed the game in overtime with two free throws with 12.3 seconds left. All that “noise” has long ago been dismissed by the 36-year-old Anthony. But it hasn’t been forgotten by his teammates, who have come to adore the player they once worshipped from afar. “I say everybody who was talking, or said something negative about him, they need to apologize, you know?” Gary Trent Jr. said. “It’s Carmelo Anthony. He went through tough times. He battled, stayed resilient and for him to come back and bounce back like it’s nothing? That’s why he’s Carmelo Anthony and why he does what he does.” Added Lillard: “I just find it real funny and disrespectful how people speak on him. He’s a (future) Hall of Famer.” For Anthony, the noise no longer matters to him. He made sure of that during the trying year he was away from the league, when clearing his mental frame of mind was one of the major hurdles in determining whether he was ready to return. His private workouts told him his body still had it. And after 15 years in the NBA, he felt like he knew the league inside and out. But he found he was consumed by the hurt of being rejected, the anger of being ignored, and the frustration of not being seen for who he was. He knew he if was going to return to the NBA, he had to let the noise go, and then block it out. “I never wavered,” Anthony said in November. “I never thought I didn’t still have it. It was just more so I was letting the media put their narrative on me. My thing is people put narratives out there about who they want to put it out there on. If they want to change the narrative, they could change the narrative. It’s a copycat league, that goes from the media to teams. “I always felt like I was a guy who … people were afraid to write something good about me,” Anthony said. “I always felt that. If it was a good story, it was always but … there was always a but. So I kind of distanced myself from that, and that’s what’s helped me mentally.” Much of this season, Anthony has steered the conversation to his mental approach. He talks often about the perspective he gained from being away, and the appreciation for the little things he perhaps took for granted in those first 15 seasons. He found he liked the bus rides to the arena, the plane rides after games, talking trash to teammates and just being in the locker room. So as the Blazers’ signing him as an emergency free-agent to cover for the loss of an injured Zach Collins turns from an experiment to a hearty embrace, Anthony has enjoyed the ride with a certain zeal. He was good before the season was postponed — averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 37.1 percent from 3 — and he has been even better in the restart, averaging 16.3 points and 7.0 rebounds while hitting 7-of-14 from 3-point range as Portland has gone 2-1. But more than the stats, and the camaraderie with his new teammates, he said he has appreciated something he never would have imagined years ago. “Clarity,” Anthony said. That clarity Anthony speaks of comes in different forms. He said he has been able to hone his focus on the Blazers’ task: winning enough games to give them a chance to qualify for the playoffs. He said what he has seen in practices, and the first three games, tells him the Blazers are nowhere near the team that struggled with defense and depth before the restart. “We’ve shown we are a different kind of team since we’ve been here,” Anthony said. But his clarity and focus comes into play in other ways. Jusuf Nurkic, the Blazers’ standout center, said after Sunday’s loss to Boston the team was “pissed” as they sat in the postgame locker room. Nurkic in particular was stewing over two close-range misses late with the Blazers trailing by one, and also a long inbound pass that sailed out of bounds with three seconds left, ending the Blazers’ chances. “He came to me and said, ‘Get over it.’ He talked me through it, said that’s going to happen,” Nurkic said. “We all have bad moments and some bad decisions. I don’t mind if people blame me for losing the game or something, but I care about my teammates, and the way he came up to me and talked me through it and what we need going forward … he was there for us. That’s the best way to put it: He is always there for the fellas.” His clarity and perspective have accentuated an already warm personality. His presence has been one of the uplifting aspects of an otherwise dreadful Blazers season, as the players have found there is a depth and warmth behind his Hall of Fame resume. “He’s a thoughtful guy,” coach Terry Stotts said. “He’s a deep thinker. He’s involved in the community. He’s much more than a basketball player, I guess is what I’m saying.” His second night with the Blazers, he took the team to dinner in Cleveland and paid the bill. And other nights if he wasn’t taking a solo walk to reflect, he was counseling youngsters like Trent Jr. “It’s a blessing to have him on our team,” Trent Jr. said. “I can’t even put it into words, to be honest with you.” Lillard said he knew Anthony was going to be a good fit when one of his first conversations with him was void of Anthony playing the blame game about his year out of the NBA. And since that first conversation, Lillard has only been more impressed. “He got to us, and he was just laid back, a good teammate, good for our younger players,” Lillard said. “And when he’s on the floor, he’s talking whether he’s having a good or bad game. He’s just all about the team.” And he’s been all about crunch time. “I don’t think you lose that,” Anthony said of his late-game approach. “You have it. And it’s something you have to want to do.” Earlier this season, he won a game in Toronto with a jumper in the final seconds. And twice in Orlando he has made game-defining plays. Shoot, on Tuesday against Houston, he made two stellar defensive plays with the game tied at 100 — slapping the ball away from James Harden and then diving on the floor to gather it for a steal, and then later blocking a 3-pointer by PJ Tucker, which led to a go-ahead 3-pointer from Trent Jr. But his biggest impact is felt by Lillard and CJ McCollum, who have been blitzed and throttled by playoff opponents the last three postseasons. Teams could pressure the Blazers backcourt because they didn’t feel the Blazers wings could consistently hit outside shots. Now that Anthony is at small forward since Collins returned, he has been even more of a release valve for Lillard and McCollum. Tuesday’s shot came after McCollum passed up a shot and swung the ball to Anthony. “Making those shots — not in an arrogant way — but it’s something I’ve always enjoyed. And I still do enjoy that moment,” Anthony said. “My teammates believe in me to get me the ball in those moments. All I have to do is deliver. And I’ve been doing that.” And to think, he almost gave it up, almost let go of the game he loved so deeply. But here he is, beloved by his teammates, hailed by the coaching staff, and delivering in big moments. All of it while smiling and soaking in every detail. “The one thing about Melo is he loves the game,” Stotts said. “He loves the camaraderie, he loves being in the NBA. At this stage of his career, I think he is able to savor a different part of the NBA that wasn’t necessarily the same that he had earlier in his career.” It’s the part of the NBA that comes without the noise.
