It may not look like it on paper, but Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks believes the team is competing for a championship this season.
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Don’t tell that to Anthony. But rebuilding doesn’t mean we’re not trying to win right now’.
“That’s always going to be the goal”.
It would be an adjustment — Lopez spent the last few seasons doing the dirty work while Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge racked up All-Star appearances — but it hasn’t taken long to convince coaches and teammates that he’s embracing the opportunity, displaying the focus and intensity that got him to this point. “At 19 years old and 7-feet tall, he’s actually still growing”. But Anthony doesn’t seem disappointed or dispirited, and he certainly hasn’t been demanding – at least, not publicly.
“I think it’s a concern for all of our players, but in particular young players that are still kind of developing as men”, Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. After Melo their number two option is probably Arron Afflalo and beyond that there are a lot of question marks about who will score. The Knicks also need time to jell. But Anthony can’t, or won’t.
“For cautious reasons I didn’t practice”, Porzingis said.
“For me to know that I wasn’t able to do something I really love and enjoy and I’m passionate about, and it was kind of taken away from me unfortunately, you miss it. You see it differently”. Only thing I can control is what goes on on the basketball court. “Everything else is out of my control”.
Porzingis and the Knicks hope that it’s not a big deal.
He played 1-on-1 games this summer with Anthony, who reiterated again that he supported the Porzingis pick even though reports after the draft said he didn’t. Either way, no temper tantrum appears imminent. “Other guys – not Melo – other guys around the league are for sure signaling to management what they want and what they need”.
With that in mind, Thursday’s sight of New York’s prized rookie sitting on the sideline with ice strapped to his knee was a discouraging development in just the third day of training camp. ” “I think that’s contagious and if that can spread to my teammates that’s wonderful“. He’s won a championship before as a player in college and he wants to win one as a pro”, he continued.
Carmelo Anthony seems to like the signing as he has said that he didn’t like to play against Lopez because he thought he set illegal screens.
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Robin Lopez is known as a defensive center but this season the New York Knicks plan to get him more touches on offense than he’s ever had. “I’m a little heavier”, Porzingis said.
