<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Whether Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim's view of the Nuggets' offseason salary dump reflects Anthony's view or is merely an attempt to watch Anthony's back may be academic. Boeheim, clearly, is in a position to say things Anthony can't without causing a public rift within the organization. Boeheim and Anthony are in China as members of the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, Boeheim as an assistant to head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Without Camby, I don't see any way that they can possibly win because he was a key guy for them," Boeheim told me the other day. "Believe me, I watched at least 70 games they played, maybe more. And he was a key guy." So, Coach, shipping Camby to the Clippers and getting no immediate help in exchange didn't make any sense to you? "I'm sure it didn't make any sense to anybody, from a basketball point of view," Boeheim said. "From a financial viewpoint, I guess Wal-Mart's stock is down a little bit, or something. Must be down a couple hundred million dollars, I don't know. I didn't know money was a problem in that family." Nuggets owner E. Stanley Kroenke's wife, Ann Walton Kroenke, is an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune. She was ranked No. 165 on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans last year, with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion. Kroenke, who made his money developing shopping centers around Wal-Mart stores, was ranked No. 204, with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion. "I don't know how you can let Marcus Camby go," Boeheim said. "He was like the heart and soul of that team, when it comes to defense, protecting the basket and rebounding. It's tough to replace him." I mentioned that Anthony, perhaps second only to coach George Karl, is a popular target of criticism for the Nuggets' failure to get out of the first round of the playoffs in any of his five pro seasons, particularly because his 2003 draft classmates, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, have both been to the NBA Finals already. "My belief is, it's about players and about teammates and who you've got on your team," Boeheim said. "You can't do it alone in the NBA. I don't think he's had enough with him to enable him to get his team to the Finals. "Obviously, the West is much more difficult, top to bottom, than the East. Dwyane had Shaq. LeBron had a great run and LeBron's a great player. "But Carmelo won a national championship, so he can win. Dwyane Wade didn't win a national championship (in college). So Carmelo's already proven he can win. I believe he can win in the NBA." Anthony led the Syracuse Orangemen to the 2003 NCAA championship while playing for Boeheim. Most recently, the Nuggets front office banked on the high-scoring duo of Anthony and Allen Iverson to compete for a championship. The team is 1-8 in the playoffs with that combination. "I think it was a good thought," Boeheim said. "I think Allen is a tremendous offensive player, but he's not a point guard that gets other people involved. He's a guy that scores. I think they just don't have enough to win." Implicitly, that evaluation is a criticism of the front office, which tends to take less flak than Karl or Anthony because it's hard to know which of its three heads to blame. What confuses Boeheim is what confuses many of us. The Nuggets' biggest weakness last season was defense. By dumping a player who led the NBA in blocked shots and ranked second in rebounds, they exacerbate that problem. "They're a great offensive team, but in the NBA, in the West particularly, you've got to stop people," Boeheim said. "There are great teams out there. It's hard to outscore those teams. They have not been a great defensive team. "They just have never seemed to be able to play consistently at a high level. Not necessarily defensively, just overall. I don't know enough about them to know all the reasons for that." Amid a slew of trade rumors earlier this summer, Anthony's agent demanded and received assurances that his client would not be moved. If Anthony's camp shares Boeheim's view of the Camby trade, it suggests a widening schism between the scoring star and the team that drafted him five years ago. Anthony can't say publicly what Boeheim says without opening himself up to an ongoing controversy. But even if Boeheim is only watching his former star's back, his unvarnished analysis represents a pre-emptive strike against an organization offering its young star even less help than he had a year ago.</div> Melo's task keeps getting harder - Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News Without Marcus Camby, they wouldn't have won 10 fucking games this year. OK? Not 10. These other guys just aren't ready. They needed him. Without him there, not 10. They wouldn't be here to even have a chance to play this game. And everybody's talking and writing to me about Marcus Camby being overrated? That's the most bullshit thing I've seen in 20 years, and especially because it comes from our people, on our forum. Personally, I'm not really sure this is something Boeheim should be commenting on. I understand he's kept a good relationship with Melo, but maybe he should've just kept his mouth shut.
I had very little respect for Jimmy before this and now I have negative respect for him. How in the **** does someone that coaches a 2-3 zone in college think he knows any-****ing-thing about NBA defense. Plus, if Jimmy wants to talk about the Nuggets problems on defense, he should be bitching about his boy Melo not playing the way he is capable of on that end of the court.
Thank you Mr. Boeheim and Mr. Krieger for revealing some definite facts and some probable facts that are very important: 1. A probable fact. Boeheim received the approval from Anthony of his observations before he made them. If true, Anthony is probably going to be leaving Denver when his current contract is up, which odds are will be good for him. 2. A definite fact. The Nuggets are in deep trouble without Camby and I don't see how they can win more than 43 games maximum with what will be one of the worst defenses in the League. Yes, it would be great if Melo forced a lot of misses instead of just a few, but even so, he's a 2 or a 3 on a scale of 0 to 10 on defense overall, not a 0 or a 1. For one thing, he has proven to be a pretty good defensive rebounder. Camby was a 10 on blocking and at least a 7 overall defensively. The worst Nene case scenario is that Nene does not play again, and this would leave the Nuggets with maybe 27-37 wins. The best Nene case scenario, that he plays all season and is at his best, gives the Nuggets 35-45 wins, with the exact total depending on other wild cards such as JR Smith. 3. A definite fact. Mr. Boeheim, about your comment that no one thinks the Camby off loading made any sense from a basketball view point, it made sense to cpawfan here at Sports Two, and there were a relatively large number of Camby style haters in evidence elsewhere on the net, so it was a lot more than nobody. What I want to know is whether the Camby haters are chipping in to a fund that can be tapped to refund season ticket money if the Nuggets tank without Camby, something which the Camby haters say will not happen. So they should be willing to donate about $100 each to the season ticket refund fund, which according to them will not have to be used, because the Nuggets will still be very competitive without Camby. If the Nuggets are almost as good without Camby, they will get their donation money back in Spring 2009, so they should be ready to put their money where their mouths are. 4. A definite fact. The Kroenke's are not rich; they're filthy rich. I had no idea the wife was unbelievably rich also. They should be very embarrassed about demanding sudden, immediate luxury tax relief. A 2-4 year gradual elimination of the tax would have kept the damage to the Nuggets to a low level, versus how the immediate elimination of the luxury tax is kind of like dropping a grenade into the locker room. 5. A definite fact. On the one hand, Boeheim indirectly signals that he agrees with the tremaine point guard doctrine, clause A, which states that the point guard role is mandatory and can not be distributed amongst other players. But it seems he may disagree with clause B, which says that if you are a team without an obvious, great point guard, you must choose the guard who can play the position the best, regardless of his style, and specifically regardless whether he is a high scoring guard or not. In the great majority of teams caught without an obvious, great point guard, the guard who must be chosen to play point guard is the best guard on the team, regardless of style or scoring rate. Unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Boeheim has fallen into the huge trap set by Larry Brown for the basketball consuming public, the alternate universe type trap where Iverson, who was rookie of the year playing point guard, can not play the position at all a little more than a decade later. Shame on you Mr. Boeheim for being right about everything except for your "Iverson can't play PG" statement. Just kidding, I'm actually quite impressed you got everything correct except for that, and even more impressed that you spoke up about the self-destructing Nuggets. For my next investigation, I'll try to find out if Brown is actually a zombie alien from outer space, sent to torment the USA National Team, the City of Philadelphia, Allen Iverson, and numerous basketball fans who like alien zombies keep repeating over and over again: "Allen Iverson is not a point guard." "Allen Iverson is not a point guard." "Allen Iverson is not a point guard." ..... And so on, over and over again, both while they are awake and when they are sleeping. Whether or not Brown is an alien, C. Anthony and J. Boeheim are Champions, pure and simple, regardless of what anyone says about what has happened to them since 2003.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Aug 13 2008, 11:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I had very little respect for Jimmy before this and now I have negative respect for him. How in the **** does someone that coaches a 2-3 zone in college think he knows any-****ing-thing about NBA defense. Plus, if Jimmy wants to talk about the Nuggets problems on defense, he should be bitching about his boy Melo not playing the way he is capable of on that end of the court.</div> Dude's been coaching for 25+ years.. I think he know a bit (I mean a lot) about basketball.. and he's certainly forgot more about the game than either you or I know.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Aug 15 2008, 01:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Aug 13 2008, 11:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I had very little respect for Jimmy before this and now I have negative respect for him. How in the **** does someone that coaches a 2-3 zone in college think he knows any-****ing-thing about NBA defense. Plus, if Jimmy wants to talk about the Nuggets problems on defense, he should be bitching about his boy Melo not playing the way he is capable of on that end of the court.</div> Dude's been coaching for 25+ years.. I think he know a bit (I mean a lot) about basketball.. and he's certainly forgot more about the game than either you or I know. </div> Yeah, they said the same thing about larry the clown before he fucked up the 2004 Olympic team.
