Carmelo Anthony is Bad

[aaronweiner]

Disagree. Anthony used to be consistently good but fell off dramatically last year.

Problem is he needs the ball in his hands. A LOT. He'd be a really good second team captain at this point but not much else.

[scottsdale_joe]

Carmelo is the farthest thing from captain material as there is.
And, yup, he needs the ball, so playing with Lebron ain't gonna be happening.

[usnspecialist]

Carmelo is the farthest thing from captain material as there is.
And, yup, he needs the ball, so playing with Lebron ain't gonna be happening.

I think he meant being the leader and focal point of the 2nd unit, which he can be at this point (if he accepts the role).

[scottsdale_joe]

Carmelo is the farthest thing from captain material as there is.
And, yup, he needs the ball, so playing with Lebron ain't gonna be happening.

I think he meant being the leader and focal point of the 2nd unit, which he can be at this point (if he accepts the role).

OK
But do you see Carmelo doing that?
Not me.

[RonCo]

I still can't see how the question of where Carmello Anthony is going to play will make any difference in the NBA season.

[Ted]

I still can't see how the question of where Carmello Anthony is going to play will make any difference in the NBA season.

This was my point more than anything. There's was a mini explosion of news about it, and I get name recognition and all, but when a bunch of "analysts" started fawning over how he could be an asset to a bunch of the top teams, it was ridiculous.

[usnspecialist]

Carmelo is the farthest thing from captain material as there is.
And, yup, he needs the ball, so playing with Lebron ain't gonna be happening.

I think he meant being the leader and focal point of the 2nd unit, which he can be at this point (if he accepts the role).

OK
But do you see Carmelo doing that?
Not me.

i dont see him doing it, but that is the perfect role for him at this point (and he would be good at it if he wanted to).

[Ted]

I don't even think he'd be good in the role you are suggesting, simply because being a ball stopping volume scorer who plays bad defense is not good in any unit. At all. And that's what he is. He was such an amazing scorer early in his career that he could make it work, with the right players around him. But as he is now, and even as he was for the last half decade or so, it's bad. You can't win with a player like that. Anybody who has actually played basketball has played with a guy like this. You lose. Basketball is a sport that is about keeping a team engaged, moving, working for each other.

[RonCo]

I still can't see how the question of where Carmello Anthony is going to play will make any difference in the NBA season.

This was my point more than anything. There's was a mini explosion of news about it, and I get name recognition and all, but when a bunch of "analysts" started fawning over how he could be an asset to a bunch of the top teams, it was ridiculous.

My view is that the top teams are going to win no matter what Carmelo Anthony or almost every other player does. The news folks talk it up because there's money in this weird thing fans have about pretending that anything in the NBA matters. You can probably name the final four right now. And probably the winner. No games played.

[RonCo]

But you're not going to find a sports reporter who will keep their job for long if they just say, "look, none of these guys make a difference."

[Ted]

But you're not going to find a sports reporter who will keep their job for long if they just say, "look, none of these guys make a difference."

I kind of think this isn't entirely true. I think there's a good deal of the reporter establishment underestimating fans. People consume the news that is given. Fans will do so, regardless of quality, because they'll take what is there. They then talk about what was reported, and in so, reinforce the idea it was interesting in the first place.

Look at the LaVar Ball example. Every single poll I saw about it had like 70% or more of people saying "stop giving this clown a podium. No one cares what he thinks." I saw some as high as 90%, which for a sports poll, is insane. A good portion of people that wanted more LaVar Ball only wanted it as comedy. But people kept clicking, because that was the news they were being given. And the reporters and other media people kept spewing out more dumb garbage about him, because they saw people clicking and reading.

There's definitely a market for "The NBA has a parity problem." "Carmelo Anthony is at best a limited role player." There could be better analysis on non household name players. Some of my favorite articles are the ones breaking down player movement, football style. There needs to be more of this. Look at the mileage fangraphs is getting out of picking apart players "no on cares about".

Assuming basketball fans are stupid and wont enjoy the same is wrong and shortsighted. It's actually bad for the league, as it makes it less interesting. People will consume bad news and a bad product, but only for as long as something else doesn't show up.

[RonCo]

I'm apparently not a good enough writer to get across my point. I'll bow out of the conversation.

[usnspecialist]

But you're not going to find a sports reporter who will keep their job for long if they just say, "look, none of these guys make a difference."

I kind of think this isn't entirely true. I think there's a good deal of the reporter establishment underestimating fans. People consume the news that is given. Fans will do so, regardless of quality, because they'll take what is there. They then talk about what was reported, and in so, reinforce the idea it was interesting in the first place.

Look at the LaVar Ball example. Every single poll I saw about it had like 70% or more of people saying "stop giving this clown a podium. No one cares what he thinks." I saw some as high as 90%, which for a sports poll, is insane. A good portion of people that wanted more LaVar Ball only wanted it as comedy. But people kept clicking, because that was the news they were being given. And the reporters and other media people kept spewing out more dumb garbage about him, because they saw people clicking and reading.

There's definitely a market for "The NBA has a parity problem." "Carmelo Anthony is at best a limited role player." There could be better analysis on non household name players. Some of my favorite articles are the ones breaking down player movement, football style. There needs to be more of this. Look at the mileage fangraphs is getting out of picking apart players "no on cares about".

Assuming basketball fans are stupid and wont enjoy the same is wrong and shortsighted. It's actually bad for the league, as it makes it less interesting. People will consume bad news and a bad product, but only for as long as something else doesn't show up.

completely agree on lavar ball being a joke, I can not wait to see him run his mouth about LeBron and having LeBron (who doesnt play with that crap), just completely shut him down.

As for the growing trend in sports journalism, I have been distressed for some now about the rising trend in "hot take artists" gaining more and more prominence at national outlets. Guys like colin cowherd, Stephen a smith and (especially) skip Bayless are all that is wrong with sports media and if they could all go away I would be a happier man for it.

[agrudez]

@Ron. The NBA has never really had parity (my lifetime has been Jordan->Kobe->Lebron->Warriors), but that doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch and enjoy. I enjoyed the AI Sixers even though they never really had a chance at a championship. I'm *really* enjoying the Process Sixers (both when they were bad and now that they are good) - more than any sports team I ever have, probably. And they seem like a distant 2nd in the East behind Boston with no prayer against the Warriors in a hypothetical finals. Sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination... trust the process.

[RonCo]

I don't have any issue with people watching and enjoying the game. That's not what I'm commenting on.

[scottsdale_joe]

I don't have any issue with people watching and enjoying the game. That's not what I'm commenting on.

You bowed out

[RonCo]

Commenting to Kyle's direct comment to me.

[scottsdale_joe]

Commenting to Kyle's direct comment to me.

Ah