Melo mum on role
Anthony finds shots in free-flowing offense under former coach, but he doesn’t care to discuss whether he’ll start or come off bench
LAKE CHARLES, La. — As much as others have seemed determined to discuss Carmelo Anthony’s role with the Rockets, he insisted he does not share their enthusiasm for the topic.
With that, he laughed, as he has often through a week in training camp spent playing nearly entirely as a power forward with the second unit, as he explained his reticence.
“I don’t talk about it,” Anthony said through a chuckle, perhaps thinking of times he spoke about it anyway. “I don’t like talking about it. People have always been speculating. So I will continue to not talk about it.”
He might, however, have said plenty about how he feels about his place in the rotation when he was talking about what he thought about his first week with the Rockets.
He said the transition has been the easiest of a career that has made him a 10-time All-Star, even including his five-day stopover with the Hawks this summer among his experiences. He spoke of the Rockets’ offense and his place in it. He repeatedly said he has felt comfortable quickly because he had the time to become accustomed to the move that he did not have when traded to the Knicks and Thunder.
Anthony also insisted that those describing how he feels don’t know because he has not told them.
“I don’t really care about somebody telling me how I think,” Anthony said. “A lot of people talking about me don’t … know how I am, never talked to me before, don’t know how I think. It’s funny to me to hear a quote from somebody saying he feels like this, he feels like that, he should do this, he should do that, he said this, he said that. I haven’t talked to anybody since the exit meeting last year. It’s funny to watch it, listen.
“I chose to be here. Also, the organization wanted me here. It’s a win-win for all parties. Whatever way you spin it, it’s a positive.”
Anthony, however, might have needed his season in Oklahoma City to remind him to block the outside noise. He said that last season he remained unconcerned with opinions about him but paid too much attention to what was said about his play, particularly about his role with point guard Russell Westbrook and the Thunder, a far different role than he had at the face of the franchise in Denver and New York.
“It wasn’t me getting caught up in what everybody was saying; it was me trying to appease what everybody else’s opinion was,” he said. “‘Oh, is he a stretch four? Oh, he should come off the bench. Oh, he should not shoot that many times. Oh, he should just let Russ do this or that.’ It was so much going around, I had to block it out and get away from it and not even think about it.
“It wasn’t so much my game; it was the situation that changed. Going to New York was very different from going to OKC. This situation is a lot different from all the other situations. Each situation is unique. I feel the most comfortable now. I had time to get my feet wet and think about it and visualize what I need to do.”
Anthony’s 16.2 points per game while playing with AllStars Paul George and Westbrook were the fewest of his career, nearly eight fewer than his career average.
When asked after last season about coming off the bench for the Thunder, he said “Who me?” and called a role with the second unit “out of the question.”
With the Rockets, Anthony is most likely to play as a “stretch four,” as Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni preferred when they were together with the Knicks. He has shot extremely well through training camp, but D’Antoni said the priority has been on finding his fit in the offense, an ongoing undertaking.
“Find him where his niche is, playing with Chris (Paul) and James (Harden), where the plays aren’t geared specifically for him,” D’Antoni said. “That’s been a change for him. But he’s a basketball player. He’s figuring it out. The exhibition game we’ll see what we have to adjust to as a team and he has to adjust to individually and find that sweet spot where he is producing in the scheme of everything.
“That’s where the adjustment has to be made. He’ll do some iso, but it will be a little bit different, a little like Chris and James. We still want 3s, layups and foul shots. That’s what we’re looking for, but he’ll have some opportunities.
“He a great basketball player. We just try to make it optimal for him and us. It’s always a little bit of a challenge. But if you asked me the same question about James and Chris I’d say ‘it looks good, I’m excited.’ Same thing with him.”
Anthony said his first step was to adjust to the Rockets’ pace, but that seems to have come easily with Anthony getting shots in transition. With that out of the way, he has found his shots in the Rockets’ free-flowing offense without set plays or many oneon-one touches.
“It’s a thinking man’s game,” Anthony said. “There’s not so many sets, not so many halfcourt, run this play and run that play. You get to your spot, and you play out of that. That gives our game fluidity, and guys move around. It’s not predictable. That makes it a little bit easier.
“Even the first two or three days, I’ve been feeling comfortable with getting up and down and getting to my spot and being able to play out of my spot. A lot of times I’m like, ‘I’m still here, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it in this spot, I can do it in that spot.’ It’s going to come in different packages. It’s not going to be the iso game. It’s not going to just be 3s. It’s a comfort zone we all have to have.”
He achieved that quickly. He repeatedly cited the summer spent getting used to the idea and preparing. Others might not understand, but Anthony said he no longer will concern himself with that.
“I learned a long time ago not to look at the media, not to look at ESPN, not to look at that stuff and just enjoy the game,” Anthony said. “Even last year, I got caught up in what people were saying about me and my game. It’s basketball. I’ve been doing it a long time. I still know how to do it. I just have to make it fun.
“It’s not about me coming in and doing this and doing that and doing one thing in particular. Just come in … and do what’s needed for that game. You look at it and they were so close last year. Even the year before that, they were right there. For me, it’s like, come in here … do whatever I have to do to make it work, have fun, enjoy it, also understand what’s the goal.”