Anthony said the Nuggets "quit" in game 3 of the Lakers series, but didn't know why. The answer is that the Nuggets knew they had no chance of defeating the Lakers with the approach and setup for basketball they were running. Unlike what too many think, there is almost no such thing as pro NBA players "quitting" just because they decide to quit out of laziness or some other stupid reason. They quit if and when it is rational to quit, when it is obvious they have no chance. This is entirely normal and actually reasonable, though neither you nor I might like it. This same reality largely explains why Carmelo Anthony is considered one of the top half dozen players in the world in basketball when playing internationally, such as at the Olympics, but can not crack the top dozen in the NBA. He doesn't really think the Nuggets can win a playoff series, or at least not more than one series, so his whole effort from season tip-off to season buzzer is ramped down a little from what it would be if he truly thought the Nuggets could win it all. For the most part, this kind of thinking is not something C Anthony realizes is happening, or realizes is slightly affecting what he does on the court. It is mostly a subconscious thing, except in rare moments such as that game 3 of the series, when it became obvious to Carmelo that neither he nor the Nuggets were trying as hard as they could anymore. In the NBA, the man is coasting and blaming his coasting subconsciously on the perceived shortcomings of the Nuggets franchise. He probably rationalizes that he is too young and lacking in managerial experience to be able to do much fixing of those complicated problems with the franchise. But all players including C Anthony know that the USA can win the Olympics, so you are likely to see a 100% effort from all players there. So Anthony plays better in international because he tries a little bit harder, because he is completely confident the USA can win. The other main reason he is better in international is that he is part of a system that makes more sense than any system he has played under in Denver. Editorial Note: This was another preview of an upcoming full report topic, seen here first. I'm not sure about doing these "spoilers". On the plus side, this is a great way to make important notes on days I get some ideas, but I am not doing much writing. Also, not everyone here reads my full reports, or is it hardly anyone reads the full reports, word for word, lol? (I'll get more readers with the new editing plan.) Those who can't read a lengthy report will see some of my important stuff here instead of never. On the other hand, anyone who reads complete reports will be getting a little repetition later on. I promise though, that there will be more evidence, more flavor, and more context in the full report than you see in any short post like this.
And when C Anthony just before the 2007-08 season said that the Nuggets had a very good chance of winning 60 games, there were two main reactions. Most of the Nuggets' brain trust, the Charles Barkley types who don't like Allen Iverson, and anyone down on the Nuggets in general, simply dismissed it and claimed Anthony was exaggerating and not fully realistic. Meanwhile, the most enthusiastic fans of the Nuggets and of Anthony welcomed the prediction and more or less believed it to be realistic. The thing is, whether subconsciously, or consciously and on purpose, Anthony revealed what he really thought about how the season would go by what he did not say, not by what he said. He didn't say anything about the playoffs! Here you had a team that had for 4 straight years won just one playoff game each year, the ultimate lack of movement and improvement, and yet one of the most important players of that team said nothing about doing better than that in the 2008 playoffs. And with one of the most expensive and talented teams no less. Anthony was really saying, whether knowingly or not, and probably not, that no matter how well the Nuggets would do in the regular season, it was not safe to predict even winning just one playoff series. Which means he had little if any confidence that the Nuggets could actually win a series. But this revealing assessment by him blew right by everyone during the start of the season festivities. In other words, Anthony faked everyone out with his deceptively optimistic preseason statement, maybe himself included. Until now.
