Carmelo Anthony is pissed. Finally.
I’m not going to blame him, either. If I were him, I’d be pissed too. Like, really pissed.
Following the New York Knicks’ 109-106 loss to the Houston Rockets at Madison Square Garden Anthony tried to sidestep questions regarding the no-call on his desperation three late in the fourth quarter, according to CBS Sports’ Ken Berger. The play in question happened off an inbounds pass. The Knicks were down by three, with no timeouts left, and after employing Hack-a-Howard, the Rockets decided to retaliate.
James Harden fouled Anthony so that he couldn’t get off a shot, but as the whistle blew, Anthony heaved a long three up towards the rim…and it went in.
Replays showed that Harden clearly fouled Anthony before the shot, negating Anthony’s basket. That’s a rule. That’s how it goes. Coach Mike Woodson argued it, but he didn’t really have a case.
Personally, I’ve always hated that rule. Late whistles shouldn’t impact that kind of a play. As the whistle blew, ‘Melo got the shot off. That should be what matters. Not his fault the referees didn’t blow it sooner. And until they actually blow it, continuations should be fair game.
But again, that’s not the rule. And Anthony himself indicated he understood that by not commenting on the play in question.
“My thoughts on that don’t matter at this particular time,” Anthony said, via Berger.
When asked if he had seen the replay of the call, he said he had.
“Yeah, I saw it multiple times. I don’t want to see it again.”
Silence, however, wasn’t an option for ‘Melo when he started talking about foul calls in general.
“You see how guys get their calls,” Anthony explained. “Me, I’ve got to get cut. You’ve got to see blood for me to get a call down there.”
This is where I tend to agree with ‘Melo. Dating back tho his Denver Nuggets days, I remember seeing his headband move around or come off altogether when he would attack the basket, suggesting he gets hit in the head. To this day, it happens all the time, yet the whistles come relatively sparingly. That’s something I never understood.
Even this early, there’s already a stark contrast between the number of free throws ‘Melo attempts compared to the shots he takes. Kevin Durant leads the NBA with 13.1 free-throw attempts per game, despite taking just 17.4 shots. Anthony, by comparison, attempts just 6.9 to his 22 shot attempts. Shot selection obviously comes into play here—Durant could simply attack the basket more—but that’s still a significant difference.
Part of me also wonders if another superstar gets that continuation. Maybe it’s just the New Yorker fan in me, but if that was LeBron James, Durant, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose or even Harden, I could see them getting that call. In my humble opinion, Anthony always been expected to absorb more shots because of his bruising play style, and it appears those expectations are starting to eat at him.
But it doesn’t matter. You cannot blame the refs for the Knicks’ loss. There were other opportunities the Knicks had, mistakes that they made, ‘Melo included. He fouled Dwight Howard off the ball inside two minutes to play, allowing Harden to take a free throw and the Rockets to receive the ball after.
The game just got out of reach. Now it’s time to see how ‘Melo responds. How the Knicks responds.
Now it’s time to see if New York’s finest will harp on this loss, on the supposed no-calls, or if they’ll band together, and right a roster that just hasn’t been good enough early on.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
