12/13/2010

Melo would Have To Be Robin to Amare's Batman


via NYDailyNews.com


New York, New York, it's a helluva town, especially when you're an NBA scoring machine, the Knicks want you and you're free to come home in just seven more months.
"I had people yelling out the window, 'We need you in New York,'" Carmelo Anthony said Sunday about his two-day stay in Manhattan. "It feels good to hear that."
In midtown, Anthony reveled in the adulation. But inside the Garden, during the Knicks' latest win, it was another world, entirely.
With the game on the line and the Knicks already lucky to have escaped a non-ejection for Amar'e Stoudemire, Anthony was treated like a journeyman backup and not a four-time All-NBA selection when he drove hard to the hoop against Danilo Gallinari.
Anthony is going to make his big money this summer, if not before, even if there's a lockout and the players' wages take a nosedive. He's the best player on the market, hands down. Still, after he was whistled for bowling over Gallinari to help seal the Knicks' 129-125 win, he wasn't about to begin forking over $25,000 to the league by complaining about the call. His coach, George Karl, said it was "kind of scary" to see an NBA game end on a flop call.
"They called it," Anthony said, "and you can't get it back."
Anthony was standing in the visitors locker room in front of another media mob. After scoring 31 points, he was peppered with questions about his plans for a second straight day and was politely evasive.
Our sense is that he still wants to leave Denver but they're scrambling to try to keep him. Insiders say the Nuggets are OK with the idea of listening to Anthony's recommendations on what should be done with the team, which is a good sign for Nugget fans, if, that is, he knows what he's talking about.
Sometimes, even the best players aren't the shrewdest judges of talent or chemistry. Don't forget that Michael Jordan once blistered the Chicago GM, Jerry Krause, for trading off his buddy, Charles Oakley, to the Knicks for Bill Cartwright. As it turned out, Big Bill was the critical missing piece to get the Bulls off on their first three-peat.
If it means re-signing Anthony, then the Nuggets have no choice but to listen to the face of their franchise, who reportedly is in favor of his team parting ways with Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin, all of whom are free this summer.
Anthony could come to New York, if that is what he really wants, but would he be OK with a No. 2 role? Because it's now been firmly established that he would be listed on the Garden marquee under Stoudemire, who has needed only a quarter of the season to solidify his standing as the best Knick player since Patrick Ewing.


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