Is Melo the odd man out on Team USA?...

by Andrew Feinstein on Aug 14, 2008 8:34 AM MDT

I know it's early, but I have to say what everyone is already thinking: three games into the 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament, Nuggets star forward Carmelo Anthony increasingly looks like the odd man out on Team USA.

We saw spectacular basketball out of Melo during both the 2006 World Championships in Japan and the 2007 Tournament of the Americas in Las Vegas. Some even argued - including USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski - that Melo had been the best player on the team. But in Beijing, he hasn't looked like his past international basketball self.

If you look at the box score from this morning's victory over Greece, you'll see that Melo had 8 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes of play, the fifth highest playing time on the team. But if you actually watched the game (as I did at 6am this morning), you know that Melo looked sluggish, picked up a lot of lazy fouls and was basically a no-factor for the third straight game. All the "and one" plays Melo feasted off of the last two summers seem to have gone to power forward Chris Bosh, who's having a terrific Olympics thus far. And the breakaway layups and dunks Melo was on the receiving end of in past international competition have gone to Dwyane Wade, who's doing a great job making me and a lot of other pundits look stupid for questioning his inclusion on the team.

As a Nuggets fan, I hope Coach K figures out a way to get Melo more involved in the upcoming games. But right now he doesn't look right and I'd hate for Melo to have two bad Olympics in a row.

Meanwhile, Melo's Nuggets teammate Linas Kleiza pulled down the 11 rebounds Melo claimed he'd be getting in Lithuania's victory over Russia today. Unfortunately, Kleiza shot 1-7 from the field to go along with his solid rebounding effort.

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irjnitHe has lead the team or tied for the lead in rebonds the last two games. His job on this team is to spread the floor for guys like Lebron and D-Wade. I think Carmelo is doing a great job not being selfish and knowing his role on the team right now. He wouldn't be getting his minutes if he wasn't doing what coach K and the usa team wanted, example game 1 against china I think he played 14 minutes. I think Carmelo should be commended for taking a back seat to guys like Wade and LBJ for the good of the team and winning the gold. His chance will come. Possibly against Spain and Germany where he'll guard Dirk.

by Kevin on Aug 14, 2008 9:57 AM MDT reply actions

Agreed, Melo will find his place soon enough. He is playing good D and rebounding. They don't need him to score. This is a side of Melo I would like to see carry over to the nuggets. He seems happy even when he is not on the court also.
He will be of more use against stronger teams.

by K-Diddles on Aug 14, 2008 12:08 PM MDT reply actions

I definitely think that Melo is taking a back seat to the D-Wade/LBJ show. To be completely honest, I think that Kobe is "taking" Carmelo's shots in a way. Meaning, that if you take Kobe off that squad (or a phenomenal D-Wade) than that frees up a ton of looks for Melo.
I also think that Melo's job, while spacing the floor, is really to be more of a slasher/ideal power forward. So he should be attempting to post and i daresay, slash, a little more. Instead, he's spent a large amount of possesions sort of drifting to an arc or corner, instead of crashing the boards OR leaking out for easy breaks.
So he should be commended for taking a back seat and not just forcing up bad shots, as he'll have plenty of time and practice with that during the regular season. However, he should also be looking at tapes of what got him to where he was Olympic wise, which is 1)Crashing the offensive boards 2)getting more transition buckets.

by Walter on Aug 14, 2008 1:12 PM MDT reply actions

watching the game it does seem weird watching this "new carmelo" he isnt the same guy who is the star we look to every time down the floor to make the offense go and put the ball in the basket. he realizes his role on the team when his close friends dwade and lbj are insane offensive powerhouses. so I feel that he is letting them do their things. A couple things I didnt like, just as andrew pointed out. shades of the normal lazy melo with stupid reach in fouls come out. his offensive rebounding is lacking as well. their are two things that excite me a little too. one being that he is actually showing a little commitment on the defensive end. I can actually see a little bit of heart behind that USA on his chest. hmmmm maybe his olympic coach has some credit behind that because karl sure doesnt know how to teach defense. so i hope karl takes notes. my final thing which a lot of people may not have seen but I caught it. maybe it isnt that big of a deal but I thought it was cool. at the end of the game they had a close up to some people gathered in the middle and you saw melo waving to players and yelling for them to come over in the middle for a little huddle as a closing to the game. i thought that was awesome because of the leadership role that he is promising to take on this year. with all of those stars, dwade, kobe, and lbj, and kidd even. he was the guy who took the leadership role. also loved that he was up on the bench clapping at every opportunity for his teammates. GO USA!!! and MELO!!!

by bring back rauf on Aug 14, 2008 2:01 PM MDT reply actions

I thought Melo looked physical this morning. He's banging down low hard with arguably the "dirtiest" team in the tournament in Greece. It took a bit out of him. It could be Melo's lunch pail that is getting Bosh the looks.

by Commish CH on Aug 14, 2008 2:36 PM MDT reply actions

It almost seems like Melo is constantly attending to his own agenda. He want's to be a leader, he want's to pull down 10 boards per game, he wants to set the single game USA record for rebounds. What he needs to do is stop, look and listen to whats going on around him and then see what he needs to do because his individual goals tend to throw off the chemistry the rest of the team thrives upon. Also, when you take a look at all the players on this team, Melo is by far the fattest. Now, being heavy in the NBA can definitely be a a good thing but not necessarily for a small forward who's best feature is their jump shot. If I were Melo I would take a look at the other guys around me and try to look a bit more like Lebron or D-Wade. With that said, Melo did hit a couple 3's and actually played descent defense. And if his primary goal is to help the team out through gathering boards then he accomplished that, and good for him.

by goldenusanugget on Aug 14, 2008 6:11 PM MDT reply actions

I think we're all getting a little too concerned. Team USA has only played a few games so far; once the pressure steps up a bit, let's see how Carmelo does. I think he could respond well, and I also think he's still getting a feel for things (which, while not good, is something I've come to accept with Carmelo). Give him a few more games before we get worried and ask these questions

by Joel15 on Aug 14, 2008 10:23 PM MDT reply actions

as a couple of posters have already said, Melo is doing what coach K is asking him to do. He's obviously getting more minutes than Prince or Boozer, so he must be doing something right. The one thing that I have noticed in the few games I've seen him is that he's not knocking down the open 3. If he's not going to go down low and bang for boards, then he needs to hit that open shot to open up the lanes for the other players. Otherwise, teams will back off of him and pack the lane. Really though, I haven't seen too much from the other teams to scare team USA this time. We'll see how they hold up against Spain who will probably be their toughest obstacle.

by micb on Aug 15, 2008 7:29 PM MDT reply actions

Geez- you Nugget Yahoos sure are STUPID! You gripe all year about Melo's lack of team play. He's willingly stepping back & letting other players shine, & some of you idiots, think he's having a "poor" olympics! Funny how Coach K & his staff, who've probably forgotten more Bball in a 1/2 hour, than most of you imbeciles will ever know- like the role Melo is playing! The guy just can't win. And then you have a MORON like goldenusanugget, who basically doesn't think Melo's body is "right" for him! That he "should" have a body like DWade & LJames. What? Are u kiddin' me? This is the level of Bball knowledge possessed by Nuggs fans? & then you wonder why you're perennial LOSERS! FREE CARMELO- TRADE HIM TO THE NETS! Get him out of Denver- where NBA stars go to to DIE!

by kaizer soze on Aug 15, 2008 8:06 PM MDT reply actions

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