Pretty nice accomplishment considering Bron plays 5 minutes more each game. King James who? lol!! ------------------- PERRY A. FARRELL: Anthony looks like rare talent Revival of Nuggets envy of Pistons fans February 14, 2004 BY PERRY A. FARRELL FREE PRESS COLUMNIST http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/stars14_20040214.htm LOS ANGELES -- He smiled all the way through his freshman year at Syracuse and led the Orangemen to the NCAA title. Now Carmelo Anthony is leading the resurgence in Denver. Long doormats in the Western Conference, the Nuggets are firmly entrenched in the playoff picture at 31-23, and Anthony is a big reason why. He and fellow rookie LeBron James led a team that played a group of second-year NBA players in the Rookie Challenge on Friday night at the Staples Center. The Rookies lost, 142-118, but Anthony scored 17 points on 8-for-19 shooting. He had three rebounds and five assists. Don't let Anthony's smile fool you. He comes from a tough neighborhood in Baltimore and at 19, has many All-Star Game appearances ahead of him, though he was disappointed he wasn't included in Sunday's All-Star Game. "I deserved to be in there," said Anthony, averaging 19.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 35.9 minutes per game. "It's a big turnaround for the Nuggets. We won 17 games last year. Not to sound too selfish, but I was a big part of that. When I saw who was on the reserves, I said, 'Man, I should have been on there.' " Anthony didn't have a problem with Ray Allen's selection for Sunday's game, calling him a "household name." But he did take issue with Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, in part because the Nuggets have a better record than the Jazz (26-27). Kirilenko is averaging 16.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists. "I can see Ray Allen," Anthony said, "but Kirilenko, man. "I was surprised they didn't take anybody from us, but I guess it's Denver. That's why." Anthony, the third pick in the draft, is changing his team's image. And while Pistons fans continue to lament the selection of Darko Milicic at No. 2 instead of Anthony, the 6-foot-8 forward has put that perceived snub behind him and gone about the business of becoming one of the top teenagers ever to play in the NBA. Anthony is second to James' 20.4 average in rookie scoring, and he became the third-youngest player to score 1,000 points, behind James and Kobe Bryant. "We have a team full of leaders, but he's one of our leaders," said Nene, a power forward and center for Denver who played for the second-year players Friday. "He gives us scoring and rebounding from the small forward position. He's a good teammate and a good player. He's one of the players who has made us better." Former Pistons coach Rick Carlisle, now with Indiana, has faced Anthony in two exhibitions and one regular-season game. "He's just a special player and I'm glad we only see him one more time this year," Carlisle said. "They've both been good for our league. I voted for LeBron to be on the regular team because I feel like he has not only lived up to all the hype, but in some cases had exceeded it. Carmelo is also right there. He has great poise and skill." Many consider Anthony a franchise talent. He already has scored 39 points in a game this season, but he is prone to turnovers. He has 158, to 148 assists. Big men usually are responsible for leading teams to championships. The Celtics had Bill Russell. The Lakers had George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O'Neal. San Antonio had Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Only a handful of franchise players who weren't centers can claim they were the key ingredient to an NBA championship: Michael Jordan has six rings with Chicago; Rick Barry was a high-scoring machine that led the Golden State Warriors to a title; Isiah Thomas was the captain of two championship teams in Detroit. So in drafting Milicic over Anthony, Pistons president Joe Dumars had the big-man theory in mind. He still could be right. Milicic, anchored to the bench as an 18-year-old from Serbia-Montenegro, has a ways to go to prove himself, and until he does the debate will continue as to whom Dumars should have drafted. Anthony certainly is a special talent, and if he ever leads the Nuggets to a title the Pistons' critics will howl. But if Milicic progresses from teenager with potential to a star as quickly as Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady did, then the debate will quiet down. Until then, Anthony will continue to command center stage. "I'm just glad to be here playing with my friend LeBron," Anthony said of the draft's No. 1 pick. "He came straight from high school while I went to college for a year because that was something I wanted to do. I think we both made good decisions."
Melo Overtakes Bron in NBA Rookie Rankings Avg. 30 ppg last week Rookie Rankings: Feb. 9, 2004 http://www.nba.com/milk_rookie/rankings_040209.html By Randy Kim The big news in this week's rankings? Carmelo overtaking LeBron for the first time this season? Yes, that's big. But what about second-round pick Luke Walton leading the Lakers back from a 14-point deficit in Sunday's comeback win against Orlando? And on national TV, no less. If nothing else, it shows that while there are stars duking it out at the top, the guys at the bottom are making the most of their minutes. Here's where the rest of the rooks fall in this week's rankings. 1. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets (No. 3, 2003 Draft) Key Stats: 52 GP, 19.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.25 spg, 35.8 mpg Breakdown: Congratulations are in order to 'Melo, who bumped LeBron from the top spot of the rankings for the first time this season (when both players were in the rankings). Over the last week, Anthony averaged 29.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.33 steals. He also had a career-high 39 in a Feb. 2 win against Portland. 2. LeBron James, Cavaliers (No. 1 pick) Key Stats: 48 GP, 20.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.9 apg, 1.48 spg, 40.1 mpg Breakdown: Outside of a stellar 32-point effort in a close loss to the Lakers, King James struggled somewhat this past week. The Cavs went 1-3, and James shot just .367 from the field. Fatigue might have been a factor, as the Cavs played four games in five nights. "We didn't have a lot of energy," James told the Plain-Dealer after Saturday's loss to Washington. "We played Minnesota in a tough game and we had the Lakers in a tough game at home. The fatigue factor really kicked in tonight for everybody."
Melo has a really good chance to steal the ROY away from LBJ, despite all of the hype that Leborn gets...........If I had a vote I'd throw it Melo's way......seems like the deeper we get into the season the stronger Melo gets, can't really say the same for James.
Actually if anything the hype HURTS your ROY chances. Look at Yao last year- he had all the hype in the world, & LOST ROY even though he had the SAME exact stats as Amare Stoudamire. Yao's Rookie Stats 13.5 ppg 8.2 Rbnds 1.7 Assts Amare Rookie Stats 13.5 ppg 8.8 Rbnds 1.0 Assists Plus brons 9 pts in the 20 pt HOME LOSS vs the Nets, or his 16 pts in the 20 pt HOMELOSS to the Mavs isnt helping his case. The cavs have also lost 5/6 in the process losing most games in DOUBLE DIGITS. Brons atrocious defense isnt helping the Cavs out. Its also tragic that all the Bron hype is taking praise away from deserving rookies like Dwayne Wade & Melo. Dwayne gets 31 pts last night & NO ONE talks about him. Its a TRAVESTY to the game. King james who?
I think LeBron and Melo are both going to break KAJ's scoring record (Soon to probably be Karl Malone) when their on the peaks of retiring. What kills me is, that Carmelo is probably going to catch up in scoring with Bron, and beat him in rebounding, but then voters will look at Melo and Brons assists and say LeBron deserves more. That is just going to piss me off.
Yeah I think it sucks that all the hype has taken away from Wade and Melo. But the NBA sees James as a cash cow and as long as those jersey keep selling and the ratings are up for CAVs games he's going to be the front runner for ROY.....even though I think a lot has been put in place to ensure that James does well, you got to admit he is one hell of a player
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cArMeLo15:</div><div class="quote_post">I think LeBron and Melo are both going to break KAJ's scoring record (Soon to probably be Karl Malone) when their on the peaks of retiring. What kills me is, that Carmelo is probably going to catch up in scoring with Bron, and beat him in rebounding, but then voters will look at Melo and Brons assists and say LeBron deserves more. That is just going to piss me off.</div> The voters value WINS more than a few more assists, & Melo is DOMINATING bron in that category. All the voters know that the Nugs & Cavs both finished with 17 wins last year. They also know its a much bigger accomplishment to do well in the tough West that it is in the weaker east. You dont even have to be .500 to make the play offs in the East. Its mainly biased Cavs fans who know nothing about sports & basketball, or Nike tools who have been brainwashed by the hype & "king James" ads who think that a few assists is more important that 12 more wins in the WEST.
although i hope they both win it, based on last year voting, it seems (rookie idol ) judges value those who win more than don't... clearly melo's team winning gives him the edge over lebron... but putting wins aside, i think lebron should win it, because he leads this team, he brings a lot of intangibles to the team, defense, leadership, composure, confidence, encouragement... all at such a young age makes it even more amazing... anthony could make his own similar case but his impact IMO is not as big as lebron has on cavs... anthony has other veterans who have won and know how to: camby (knicks to finals in '99), lenard (heat playoff teams), barry (lakers, kings), and boykins (won games for GSW with strong 4th quarter performance more than any other player last season).... in other words, anthony can breathe easier than james and this is the only case that james could win it over melo, but i don't think it's gonna happen....... exxxceppt if the cavs explode in the second half and make playoffs... well, it's gonna be co-roys or james over anthony.... right now, it's clear: Melo for ROY!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting kingmelo15:</div><div class="quote_post">Actually if anything the hype HURTS your ROY chances. Look at Yao last year- he had all the hype in the world, & LOST ROY even though he had the SAME exact stats as Amare Stoudamire. Yao's Rookie Stats 13.5 ppg 8.2 Rbnds 1.7 Assts Amare Rookie Stats 13.5 ppg 8.8 Rbnds 1.0 Assists</div>Last season's ROY race was decided by the Suns edging out the Rockets for the las play-off ticket. IMO: 1. LeBron is having a better year than Melo. He is more of an all rounder than Melo is. 2. AK47 deserved the ASG selection. He is a defensive MONSTER!
Who's to say that LeBron and Carmelo can't share the Rookie of the Year award, like Francis and Brand did in 1999? In any case, I'm glad to see Carmelo doing so well. Dropped 35 in last night's heartbreaker in Orlando.
^ You can't forget Lebron dropped 32 as well. I think that they can share the ROY award, Lebron gets it with the hype and Melo gets it with his team in the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">^ You can't forget Lebron dropped 32 as well. I think that they can share the ROY award, Lebron gets it with the hype and Melo gets it with his team in the playoffs.</div> 32 to go with 11 rebounds. If LeBron gets it, it won't be because of hype, he's playing well. I personally say a Co-MVP. I'm not gonna make myself sound like Melo is the only reason the Nuggets are winning, but he is the main part of their success and you just can't let that pass you by. While on the other hand, LeBron is playing amazing ball. His has improved this Cavs team a lot, and I wouldn't be suprised if they made a push for the playoffs. Bron is also basically averaging around 20-6-6, isn't their only like 5 players in the league that avg 20-5-5? He's only a rookie and he's already up there with the top guards in the league. I say they share the award.
^that is correct, in fewer games because he was hurt. kingmelo will not be welcomed back to JBB after admin sees this. Thread closed.
