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Further evidence, as if we needed any, that Syracuse Orange coach Jim Boeheim, knows more about basketball than all of us.
After former Orange player Carmelo Antony and the New York Knicks were ousted from the NBA playoffs, the Syracuse Post-Standard asked Jim B what he thought of the Knicks and their chances moving forward.
Here's what he had to say. (Yeah, sorry. Making you work for it.)
It doesn't take 900+ wins, four Final Four appearances and a national title to see what Jim B. has pointed out. No player can win it all by himself. Not Wilt or Bill Russel. Not Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. MJ needed Scottie Pippen. Shaq needed Kobe. Dwyane Wade needed Shaq. LeBron needed Wade and Bosh. And, of course, Carmelo isn't technically doing it alone. It's just that more often than not, the four other players on the court with him at any given time are little more than warm bodies. None of them are legitimate sidekicks.
I hear a lot of people harp on Carmelo for not getting teammates involved. What, exactly, does he have to work with? Anyone who plays pick up ball knows this feeling. Eventually you find yourself on a team with four scrubs. Sure, you might not be the next coming, but you're better than these guys. So, to put up the best fight, you have to take it over. And, more often than not, you lose. That's Carmelo right now.
And, of course, the blame rests squarely on ownership and management. Ownership for being stupid. Management for not having to <em>cojones</em> to tell ownership that it's stupid. And I get the whole, "New York wants a winner" argument. But, in the end, Knicks fans are just that. They're fans. And, like all fans, the 20-win seasons you endured to properly rebuild will be immediately forgotten when the Knickerbockers are legit contenders again.
A guy I play ball with claimed that, if he can keep playing the way he is now, Carmelo will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, regardless of whether or not he claims any rings. I'm not sure about that, but I am sure that 'Melo is one of the top 5 superstars in the NBA. He's healthy and in his prime. And the Knicks are wasting it.