‘Melo Said He Felt ‘No Pressure’ Going Into the Playoffs, Is Certainly Playing Like It
‘Melo is as oblivious as ever.
The Knicks were heavily favored to knock off the Celtics in Round 1 on the NBA playoffs, and they may very well still do that, but considering the franchise hasn’t won a playoff series in over a decade, you’d think they wouldn’t be taking anything for granted in New York.
You’d think this team was hungry. You’d think this team was desperate. You’d think this team would have the weight of decades of futility on their shoulders and be bound and determined to be the guys that finally showed up in the playoffs and won one—even just a series—for their long suffering fans
But what once looked to be a sure victory when New York went up 3-0, certainly to the Knicks who dressed in all black pre-game before Game 5 to represent the death of Boston’s season, now seems shaky at best. Basketball isn’t quite the “team” sport that football is, so it’s much easier place individual blame.
And in this case, the blame lays mostly at the feet of the Knicks superstar and supposed leader Carmelo Anthony. Teammate Amar’e Stoudemire recently said of him, “With a leader like him, we like our chances in the postseason. He’s playing on another level right now.”
Which is kinda funny considering in the very same piece ‘Melo, the great leader, said of the playoffs, “I don’t feel pressure. There’s no pressure at all. None.” Apparently he’s already proved everything in his career he feels is necessary and the fact that he’s an absolute playoff dud doesn’t matter in the slightest.
In fact, the word “dud” doesn’t even begin to explain Anthony’s lack of playoff success. His team has made the post season every single year of his career except one, and only once has his team moved on beyond the first round. One would think that would create an awful lot of pressure. But, apparently, one would be wrong.
Against the Celtics in this series, Anthony’s play has run the gamut from solid, to downright abysmal. After an impressive showing in Game 3, the Knicks had a chance to sweep the Celtics, unfortunately ‘Melo decided to take it down about 50 notches. He shot a dreadful 10-for-35, including 0-for7- from the three-point range, and the Knicks lost the game.
In Game 5, with another chance to eliminate the Celtics on the line, again Anthony was terrible. He should 8-for-24 and was 0-for-5 on his threes. Which put his series shooting at 39 percent from the the field and 29 percent from three-point range. Oh, and after the Game 5 loss, ‘Melo again let Boston’s stupid trash talking get the better of him.
Just let it go, dude.
For a man who feels no pressure, he sure lets those boys in green get the better of him an awful lot. Not just on the court, but emotionally too. Someone needs to have a sit down with Anthony and explain to him that old adage about sticks and stones.
Naturally his wife LaLa had something to say about the incident, because she always has something to say, so ‘Melo had to spend part of the day defending her defense of him. Now doesn’t that sound like a recipe for Game 6 success?
The Knicks could very well win Game 6. And even if they lose, they could very well win Game 7. But their star–their leader—has absolutely no record of post season success and has made it clear that it doesn’t really matter to him. So they could just as easily lose both games too.
If ‘Melo doesn’t feel the pressure now, he never will.
The fact of the matter is that Carmelo Anthony’s legacy is on the line in these playoffs, whether he knows it or not—it is. Whether he cares or not—it is. They have the talent to make it to the Conference Finals and if they lose to the Rajon Rondo-less Celtics in Round 1? That’s going to hang over him for the rest of his career and beyond.
