April 28, 2008 6:14 PM
Melo: Heart on His Sleeve
The words of Carmelo Anthony will waft through the rafters of the Pepsi Center for years to come. When the Nuggets drafted Melo, I was, like so many, excited about the potential of a young talent waiting to develop. Not any more. He has become another selfish player in a league full of selfish players. The NBA, for me, has been almost unwatchable for years, simply because winning means so little to so many of its stars. Gone are the days of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. Gone are the days when winning a championship was more important than seeing yourself featured on ESPN Sports Center simply dunking the ball.
There are no easy answers to the Nuggets mess. Perhaps Iverson will opt out of his contract early or the Nuggets can make a deal come draft day. It all may be too little, too late for a lot of Coloradans, who like me, have lost their patience with the Nuggets and have something better to do with their discretionary income.
April 28, 2008
8:26 PM
kd writes:
Drew, your thoughts are so sad but so true. I also think Melo's worn out his welcome in Denver as he becomes more and more uncoachable. Other than the same draft year, any comparisons with LeBron James aren't even close any more.
April 29, 2008
1:01 AM
Steve writes:
Seeing the Nuggets this year really makes me pine for the days of Nick Van Exel, at least on those teams there wasn't any wasted talent. To see a player that started off with so much potential like Carmelo Anthony did talking about his team quitting like he did without taking any sort of responsibility for himself was disheartening to say the least.
One of many reasons why I've been a Jazz fan first and a Nuggets fan second for a great many years now.
April 29, 2008
7:45 AM
Mike writes:
Time to trade Carmelo while he's still worth something. He's never going to grow up and be a leader.
April 29, 2008
9:44 AM
Jeff writes:
It kills me to see so many people give up on Melo so quickly. What kind of leadership did/do you expect from a 23 year old kid? He was looked at as some kind of savior when he came in, expectations that are just unfair. What Melo needed, and still needs, is verteran leadership that he can mature under. Bringing in a guy like Jason Kidd would have been huge. I think the Nuggets need to look for a veteran PG to step in and lead the team, allowing Melo to develop into the player he is entirely capable of becoming.
And to the LeBron comparison, don't even get me started as the Cavs would have finished 10th in the West. More similarities between Melo and LBJ then people think.
April 29, 2008
10:09 AM
Jen writes:
Jeff, I agree with you. Melo is 23 years old, he gets paid the big bucks because he can play, then we get mad at him when he does just that. I know that I wouldn't have made the best decisions and statements when I was 23 and on the national stage every moment of my life. Bring someone in to teach this kid!
Have you seen the rest of the team when Melo has the ball? They don't give him targets, they stand and wait for him to shoot. What's Melo supposed to do with that? I don't think his comments after game 3 were smart ones, but he was speaking with heart, he was disappointed. I would much rather have him be disappointed and looking for answers to what went wrong than to see him not care.
The nugs break my heart too, but that means they have my heart. The Pepsi Center was filled with excitement in the 4th last night until the last minute. There may be a bunch of people that are disheartened with professional basketball, but a Pepsi Center full of excitement tells me there are enough of us out there that love the game enough to see if these guys that have heart will brush it off and realize that next year we all start on a level playing field again.
April 29, 2008
10:18 AM
Laura writes:
Getting caught with pot.
Starring in "Stop snitchin'" videos with fellow criminals.
Driving around our community horribly drunk.
Treating employees like absolute crap in a local restaurant incident.
CarMElo's rap sheet is longer than his list of playoff wins.
April 29, 2008
10:54 AM
Jeff writes:
Jen...at least I'm not alone!
Laura, thanks for making my point. Melo HAS had issues and NEEDS that mature leadership around him to help him with his decision making skills. That affects his off field behavior as well, you know? Think about when you were 23...did you ever put your foot in your mouth, hang out with the wrong people, act rude to someone for no reason? I'm not defending his behavior, but I am saying let's take a look at this from the right perspective. He's a kid, and he acts his age sometimes. If we get some leadership around him and he still falters, well I guess I may have to change my tune. Until then, give the KID a break!
April 29, 2008
11:07 AM
Jeff writes:
errr...off COURT behavior...isn't it football season yet :-)
April 29, 2008
11:26 AM
Mike A writes:
We have to remember melo is only 23. this would have been his first year out of college. no way we get rid of melo. he has been top 5 in scoring the last couple of years. Our offense neeeds work.. night after night i see players standing around waiting for the ball, instead of moving around creating a play. this makes it easy for teams to defend us. we take to many bad jumpshots because of this. The problem isnt the players... it's coach karl. he is to easy on the players and doesnt seem to care. we need a coach like larry brown who is defensive minded and disciplines his players. like he did melo when he benched him on team usa. same thing will keep happening to this team until we get a new coach. all i can say is im heartbroken that we got swept like this with as much talent as we have. to see the players and coahc watching the nfl draft at halftime. im at a loss for words.
April 29, 2008
12:14 PM
Kurt writes:
Atleast Carmelo has the guts to come out and say the truth, the nugs did quit!
If anyone should go, its Marcus Camby, so what if he was the leading shot blocker, he was made a fool in this series. He doesn't have the size or heart to hit the borads or put a body on somebody, and he has no inside game. He was dominated by the Lakers big men.
Nene looked much tougher in his actual 20 minutes of playing time.
Props to JR, he is the only nug who came to play in this series. By no way am I saying that carmelo had a good series, but there were others who played a lot worse
The nugs need a coach who actually has a pair!
Iverson, Camby and George...Hit the road!
April 29, 2008
12:16 PM
Laura writes:
Yeah, I will think about when I was 23. I wasn't out starring in videos with felons who promote cop-killing. I wasn't running around with drugs. I wasn't throwing metal objects at restaurant workers to belittle them because they weren't bringing me enough booze. And I wasn't endangering the lives of my entire community by driving around completely drunk.
Yeah, 23. That's NOT a kid. It's an adult. It's FIVE YEARS into adulthood. Quit babying this jerk. If you want to feel sorry for a kid, try feeling sorry for that poor child that CarMElo and Lalalala had out of wedlock. Good luck to that poor kid.
April 29, 2008
1:08 PM
Steve writes:
Let the whole team go and start over with some young kids who don't have that me mentality. The Nuggets are selfish players who have to get their share of points or they are not happy. Get some players who pass the ball around and who aren't looking at the stat books but looking towards building a Championship Team. There is no "I" in Team.
April 29, 2008
1:38 PM
Ilegal sports nuts writes:
Forget the Nuggets...get on with the Rockies wasted team effort especially paying them such huge salaries. Very bad bunch of players now...even if it is a young season. The Worst Pitchers I've ever dont want to watch again for a while.
April 29, 2008
7:19 PM
Andy writes:
Well, it took the state of Colorado long enough, but I think you have finally cracked the code on why the Detroit Pistons passed on drafting this complete loser.
The Pistons actually passed on him, drafted Darko, traded Darko for nearly nothing, and are a far better team after all that.
The Nuggets are a bunch of circus side-show clowns who cannot and will not ever, ever, ever play as a team. It's all about Iverson getting his 30, and Carmelo getting his 30. Other players be damned.
Anytime a game comes down to Marcus Camby heaving up a desperation corner 3-pointer, it's over. This "team" needs to be drawn and quartered, and sent packing.
Everyone.
Now.
Stan, get out your checkbook and start eating contracts by the half dozen.
Watching Kenyon Martin hide under his towel at the end of game Monday was one of the most cowardly acts I've ever seen. Carmelo yapping at the refs and fouling out was comical. Way to "Man Up, Melo."
I don't blame George Karl a bit. When a bunch of multi-millionaire players who are in desperate need of a diaper change decide not to play, there's nothing a coach is going to do to change it.
I pray that Carmelo gets traded to the Charlotte Bobcats and withers away into nothing and is out of the NBA by age 25. That would be justice.
Good riddance to the No-Guts.
April 30, 2008
9:17 PM
Nicole writes:
Uh....Jeff....Troy Tulowitzki is 23 as well. Everyone is constantly praising him for his leadership abilities. You would never catch Tulo doing the things that Melo is doing. Now Troy isn't perfect but I think he knows how to carry himself as a sports star and public figure. Plus he has a team around him that would knock his ego down a few notches if it got out of control like Carmelo's.
The Rockies draft for character. The Broncos did it this season. Time for the Nuggets to take notice. I want to watch guys like LaPhonso and Antonio and Dikembe again.