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Carmelo Anthony Has To Be More Consistent For New York Knicks

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Jim O'Connor-USA TODAY Sports

Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports

The 2-3 New York Knicks have seen some glimpses of improvement in the early parts of the season, but they have also showed signs that they still have a long way to go before they are considered a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference. These inconsistencies can be attributed to a multitude of things, one of those being the struggles of their superstar forward Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony, who made a pact this offseason to remain with the Knicks for the next five seasons, has repeatedly said the rebuilding process and transformation of this team will take awhile, and he is no exception. So far this season, ‘Melo is averaging just 19.5 points per game while shooting a below average 40.6 percent from the field.

And, as the way it should be for a team’s best player, his play has proved to have a strong relationship with his team’s success. In their two wins, Anthony is scoring 26.5 points while shooting a scorching 53.8 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. In losses, those numbers drop to 15 points and 31.6/22.2 percent from the field and from three.

It is tough to blame him for all of the team’s early struggles, especially when they have the second-worst scoring offense in the NBA, but it is somewhat hard not to when he has the ninth-best offensive rating amongst 13 Knicks this season. If Pablo Prigioni and Jason Smith are going to be their most efficient offensive players, this team will be in trouble. On top of that, his defensive rating is in the same position and he is only grabbing four rebounds each outing, half of the career-high eight he grabbed last year.

Like everybody, though, Anthony is human and the transition will take some time for him to adjust. An interesting thing to note is that his passing has already shown improvements, averaging 4.4 assists per game, which would be a career-high for him. As the best player in the triangle offense, Phil Jackson wants him to be its quarterback, going through all of his reads before making a decision. Breaking old habits of isolation for this type of play won’t come easy, but the strides he has taken towards that so far have to be dually noted with his struggles in other categories.

If Anthony continues to play like this, it will only spell disaster for the Knicks. However, as the team continues to grow as a unit and eliminates their inconsistencies, it will start from ‘Melo, who has been their most consistent player since he joined the team in 2011. Grasping new concepts is never easy, so we will all just have to patiently wait for when Anthony inevitably becomes a master of three-sided shapes.

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