by A.J. Coltrane

Joe Posnanski hits the essence of the Carmelo Anthony trade on the head:

Many people are asking whether the Knicks made a good trade for Carmelo Anthony. It’s an interesting question, but I think there’s a related question that’s more interesting. I don’t think it matters too much what good players the Knicks gave up for Anthony. I think only one thing matters, and it is this:

Is Carmelo Anthony a franchise player?

….And so we come back to the question that interests me: Is Carmelo Anthony an all-time great player, the kind of player who could lead a team to a championship, be their best player, be their star? If he is that kind of player, then it doesn’t really matter what the Knicks gave up for him, because he was worth it. If he’s not that kind of player, then it doesn’t really matter what the Knicks gave up for him, because the Knicks are likely to get stuck in a cycle that will make it very unlikely for them to win a championship anytime soon…

I’m very firmly of the opinion that Carmelo is not “The Man”. I started to write a post about how Carmelo = Allen Iverson.. a very very good (and overrated) player who wasn’t quite good enough to get the 76ers a championship.

Then I was listening to Mike and Mike a couple of days ago. They brought up an interesting stat:   there have only been two players traded during a season while having a higher scoring average than Carmelo-  Wilt Chamberlain and Bob McAdoo. I was thinking “Wow, McAdoo is another excellent comp.” McAdoo was a great, physical scorer who played somewhat indifferent defense. McAdoo eventually won championships as the 6th man for the Showtime Lakers, but prior to that his career was kind of a disappointment due to a lack of having “won the big one.”

The third player I’m inclined to compare Carmelo to, and this is damning him with faint praise, is Antoine Walker. Antoine Walker wasn’t as good as Carmelo, though his reputation was similar. They both dribble too much, neither is(was) much of a rebounder or really much interested in sharing the ball or playing defense.

The fourth comp, and the first one I thought of, is Patrick Ewing. Great player, just not quite great enough.

What it comes down to is that Carmelo has one outstanding skill. He’s pretty mediocre at everything else. Both he and Amare are basically one-dimensional scorers.

I don’t think that will do it.

by A.J. Coltrane

I was watching the Orlando-Boston game before the Super Bowl this past weekend.  Dwight Howard got the ball on the low block and put together a series of spin moves and scored.

My reaction:  “That’s the Dream Shake!”

Hakeem Olajuwon has been working with big men since 2006, including Kobe Bryant, Rashard Lewis, Yao Ming, and Dwight Howard. Check out #1 on the highlight reel for a great example of the “Dream Shake.”

I thought two things are interesting from Hakeem’s wikipedia entry:

If I had to pick a center [for an all-time best team], I would take Olajuwon. That leaves out Shaq, Patrick Ewing. It leaves out Wilt Chamberlain. It leaves out a lot of people. And the reason I would take Olajuwon is very simple: he is so versatile because of what he can give you from that position. It’s not just his scoring, not just his rebounding or not just his blocked shots. People don’t realize he was in the top seven in steals. He always made great decisions on the court. For all facets of the game, I have to give it to him.

—Michael Jordan

More recently he has been working with Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, helping him diversify his post moves and encouraging more mental focus.

I thought that was interesting… “more mental focus.”  That sums up Howard’s main weakness pretty well — he doesn’t always appear to be thinking when he’s on the court. (That, and his offensive repertoire has been limited to dunks.)

If he ever does figure it out though — look out.