Charley Rosen: Team USA improves, but Carmelo Anthony is a disgrace

[Evilmav2]

USA improves, but Anthony is embarrassing

Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 1 hour ago


Team USA was expected to rock and roll Thursday against Australia, one of the weaker teams in the Olympic tournament. But until the fourth quarter, the only rhythm they could manage was a stumble-footed waltz.

All in all, Team USA did show some improvement. Yet, to beat their next opponent (a talented Lithuania team), the Americans will need to improve their energy, awareness, and execution by quantum leaps.
Let's review the plusses and minuses of the U.S. squad's latest ugly win:

Against Australia's 2-3 zone that doubled Tim Duncan's every touch, the Americans still relied too heavily on dribble penetration. As ever, this tactic had limited benefits until late in the game when USA's superior depth wore the Aussies down. For the most part, however, the interior passing was much improved.

The proper way to help on defense is to show and recover — assume a wide, arms-active stance in the appropriate help spot, and yet retain the capability of quickly returning to the original defensive matchup or else rotating to another preordained spot. Time and again, though, the USA players were overcommitting to the initial help position and weren't able to recover.

Too often, in the immediate aftermath of being forced to switch on defense, the Americans actually left the ball unattended while they scurried to relocate the player they'd started out defending. The result was several wide-open shots, most of which the Aussies converted. Also, Dwyane Wade was so intent on defending his man face-to-face that he often had his back to the ball and was unable to help when an Aussie guard dribbled to the hoop unattended. (These were the only occasions in which the Americans were not mesmerized by the ball.)

Another basic defensive principle is to stop the ball. Yet Shane Heal was frequently permitted to carry the ball to the basket from the outskirts without being stopped or at least turned.

The U.S. still had difficulties dealing with screen-and-rolls and Australia's perpetual weakside screens.

Bad shooting is definitely contagious as each shooter tries to compensate for this team-wide shortcoming by over-touching his shot. Allen Iverson is the only player who seems to be comfortable (hit or miss) shooting 3-pointers.

The atrocious defense-offense transition continues. When one guard penetrates, the other guard must retreat. When both guards penetrate, the player (or better yet, players) farthest away from the basket must retreat (even if they're bigs).

Carmelo Anthony is a disgrace. After complaining about not playing, he's forced shots and passes, and played only imaginary defense when he took the court against both Greece and Australia. He belongs right where Larry Brown has put him — on the bench. But even when he's glued to the pines, Anthony is embarrassing himself and his country. AI was taking a blow when the U.S. was trailing Australia by double-digits, and he showed his competitive intensity and his fiery disappointment by cursing after the Aussies scored again.
Meanwhile, two seats away, Anthony was laughing. Also, after the final horn, Anthony had to be forcefully summoned by Stephon Marbury to join the traditional postgame camaraderie between the two teams.

OK, what did Team USA do right this time? Play with intensity even when they were behind. Unselfishly share the ball. Ball-hawk without an inordinate amount of foolish gambling. Make several mid-range jumpers. Control both backboards. Take full advantage of the Australians' late-game fatigue.

And beat a less-than-mediocre team by playing 10 minutes of alert basketball.

Bill Russell led the Celtics to 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons, thereby proving that defense can generate all the offense a championship team requires. It's a lesson that Team USA is slowly comprehending. Let's hope that their learning curve is acute enough for them to cop the gold.

Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the next one being A PIVOTAL SEASON -- HOW THE 1971-72 LA LAKERS CHANGED THE NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.

[fin4life]

Carmelo should be happy to be there... he is possible the least proven player there (along with lebron), and he is complaining about minutes and refusing to shake the other team's hands. C'mon Melo!!!

[kg_veteran]

How dare anyone question Carmelo? After all, he's on the cover of NBA Live 2005! He doesn't need you hatas!

[TripleDipping]

Man... this kid is turning out to be a real a$$. I guess winning isn't on the top of his priority list.

[samoan-maverick]

I'm a Lebron Fan so i can care less about what this punk has to say.

[rakesh.s]

this guy has been arrogant since day 1 with saying he should be the no.1 option on denver...i hate his personality..

this guy is the second coming of glenn robinson..give him some time and you'll see

[mavsman221]

jordan chose a few bad people to put on team jordan, i like melo but the players he chose for team jordan aren't representing their message well and they complain alot

[Jamisonite]

Melo is a damn baby that doesnt cry when he gets his way

[FilthyFinMavs]

I'd hate for Carmeelo's downfall to be his attitude. He's JR Rider waiting to happen.

[GP]

I don't think Rosen has thought this completely through. This should be combined with the Brown thread because I think both are entertwined. Brown was lashing out at everyone, especially Anthony. I think Brown may be one of the most insidious, cunning and conniving human being there is. What was his motivation to say the things he did? From my vantage point, I see a man who hates Carmelo for no reason other than he picked Darko (who can't play a lick) over him. I think his motivation is to prove to everyone that he is right and that Anthony is somekind of malcontent and not a team player. Unfortunately, Anthony is just a young naive 20-21 year old who has never had to deal with a manipulator on Browns level before and played right into his hands. You guys should let the kid play a couple of years in the league, be busted multiple times for dope and totally blow off practice and games before you label him the next JR Rider. If anyone is the disgrace here it is Brown and Rosen for trying to destroy this young mans confidence and image. Remember, it is rumored that Rosen only prints what Brown wants him to and has no regard for the truth.

[Murphy3]

Remember, it is rumored that Rosen only prints what Brown wants him to and has no regard for the truth.

Talk about someone that's completely kissing the butt of a player for no apparent reason. Come on, GP, alot of this has been painfully obvious watching the games. Anthony has been an embarrassment.

[OzMavs]

Olympics are all about the spirit and enjoyment of the game. Right now, I would say Melo has shown neither.

[GP]

Murphy3, maybe from your perception I am; however, the truth is that I really have never been a fan of Carmelo's. In fact, I thought he wasn't going to be as good as Glenn Robinson and I am still not sold on him at all. I just think that Brown engineered a lot of this Anthony controversy to have a scapegoat in case the team fails to win the Gold. As a teacher I don't believe in letting anyone including athletes like Anthony get away with petulant non-productive behavior. However, sometimes there is a root cause that needs to be addressed so I feel that Brown should not be let off the hook either. Frankly, Anthony missed a couple of shots in one or two games so he gets tagged as a selfish, new age ballplayer. News flash, this team has Marbury and Iverson who happen to be two of the most selfish ballplayers I've ever heard of or seen play. For sure Anthony's behavior has been intolerable; however, I do believe it is a reactionary response to being singled out by Brown as the reason this team may not win.

[GP]

Originally posted by: OzMavs
Olympics are all about the spirit and enjoyment of the game. Right now, I would say Melo has shown neither.

I wouldn't single out Melo on this issue at all. From what I've seen of them play none of the players are enjoying themselves. Maybe it is because they are under pressure or maybe its because they have a coach who is a miserable person. I just don't know the answer to this but next time they ought to try to hire a coach like Rudy T or even Dell Harris. Guys who have class and don't rip their players in the media.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: OzMavs
Olympics are all about the spirit and enjoyment of the game. Right now, I would say Melo has shown neither.

It's hard to believe that I could actually like Allen Iverson better than another player in the NBA. But right now, it's easy. Melo is a disgrace.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: GP

I wouldn't single out Melo on this issue at all. From what I've seen of them play none of the players are enjoying themselves. Maybe it is because they are under pressure or maybe its because they have a coach who is a miserable person. I just don't know the answer to this but next time they ought to try to hire a coach like Rudy T or even Dell Harris. Guys who have class and don't rip their players in the media.

Anthony's the worst of the group. So yeah, there's nothing wrong with singling him out. It's not like anyone else on this site is building up other players for their exceptional play and good attitudes.

So yeah, rip away.

[GP]

Honestly Murphy3, the only players on team USA that I actually like to watch play are Duncan (I would never, ever rip him) and Lebron James. Iverson is the most competitive player of all so he usually puts on a good show too. However, I can't stand players like Marbury, Odom and Jefferson but I don't think they ought to be ripped by their coach during the Olympics. Brown should at least wait to find out how everything shakes out before placing blame. In fact, I barely can watch the games because I hate this group of players so much.

[dmavsfan]

Did anyone see the TV show (I don't know the name of it and it was a few months ago). It is a reality show where they do some stuff and it is all caught on camera (something about being Punked???) Hope someone knows. Anyway 2 guys set up this thing with Carmelo and a couple of his friends (associates?). I didn't get completely what it was about (a girl was involved too), but Anthony showed real bad attitude. Cursing at this and that. Getting aggressive with the guy who was bugging him, etc. It showed Anthony as a big spoiled baby. Did anyone else see this?

[Rod1975]

I was really offended when after the win versus the Greeks, Anthony had his shirt off during the post game camaraderie. He's already bought in to the egocentric ways of pro basketball. I hope Anthony stays on the bench and pouts.
It's too bad they can't all have Tim Duncan's attitude.

[Rod1975]

Originally posted by: GP
I don't think Rosen has thought this completely through. This should be combined with the Brown thread because I think both are entertwined. Brown was lashing out at everyone, especially Anthony. I think Brown may be one of the most insidious, cunning and conniving human being there is. What was his motivation to say the things he did? From my vantage point, I see a man who hates Carmelo for no reason other than he picked Darko (who can't play a lick) over him. I think his motivation is to prove to everyone that he is right and that Anthony is somekind of malcontent and not a team player. Unfortunately, Anthony is just a young naive 20-21 year old who has never had to deal with a manipulator on Browns level before and played right into his hands. You guys should let the kid play a couple of years in the league, be busted multiple times for dope and totally blow off practice and games before you label him the next JR Rider. If anyone is the disgrace here it is Brown and Rosen for trying to destroy this young mans confidence and image. Remember, it is rumored that Rosen only prints what Brown wants him to and has no regard for the truth.

IMO you're wrong about Darko. He'd get minutes on a lesser team. And let's not forget how young he is.

[Sinn Fein]

Originally posted by: dmavsfan
Did anyone see the TV show (I don't know the name of it and it was a few months ago). It is a reality show where they do some stuff and it is all caught on camera (something about being Punked???) Hope someone knows. Anyway 2 guys set up this thing with Carmelo and a couple of his friends (associates?). I didn't get completely what it was about (a girl was involved too), but Anthony showed real bad attitude. Cursing at this and that. Getting aggressive with the guy who was bugging him, etc. It showed Anthony as a big spoiled baby. Did anyone else see this?

I did. I agree 100%. Melo was being a complete asshole. Sure it was a bad situation, but he was being racist and just incredulously rude and a utter pric.

I HATE Melo. He is a Glenn Robinson, spolied, black hole baby. Hey Melo, you can't shoot. His J sucks, but he thinks its good. When he gets in the olympic games, he doesn't pass it around, he just jacks up J's. He is so overatted talent wise. WHAT does he do? He scores....on volume shots, terrible fg% and low PPS. His D is ok, but he only plays D when he wants. He turns it over. He rebounds decently. He DOESN'T pass. More to's then assist last year. So ALL he does is score, and even that he does poorly and inefficently!

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: dmavsfan
Did anyone see the TV show (I don't know the name of it and it was a few months ago). It is a reality show where they do some stuff and it is all caught on camera (something about being Punked???) Hope someone knows. Anyway 2 guys set up this thing with Carmelo and a couple of his friends (associates?). I didn't get completely what it was about (a girl was involved too), but Anthony showed real bad attitude. Cursing at this and that. Getting aggressive with the guy who was bugging him, etc. It showed Anthony as a big spoiled baby. Did anyone else see this?

Yea, I saw that. It was Punk'd and it was my irst time getting a real glimpse of Carmelo. You see him on TV and he seems like a kid with his head on straight like. But all it took was for me to see him on Punk'd and how he reacted and this is the same way he has acted in the NBA and for the US team. It's really no suprise but I atleast thought he wouldn't act an ass in front of the world. To describe what happened on the show it was similiar to what Kobe is going through right now. Carmelo come sinto his room and it's trashed. A underage girl comes into his room and Carmelo asks what is she doing in his room and she said she forgot her purse and she claims she was partying with Carmelo earlier and Carmelo gets pissed. I guess Carmelo had a reason to be pissed but this is just who he is.


And for the guy who has his panties in a bunch because I said Carmelo is JR Rider waiting to happen well he is if he doesn't change his attitude. Look at Lebron for an example of what Carmelo should be acting like.

[thewillis12]

didnt some of his teammates call him out during the season?? i remember someone on the team having a problem with him.

[dmavsfan]

My apologies to Carmelo. If that is what they really did on Punk'd I think that that is terrible. No wonder he got upset, especially with the Kobe thing going on. He might have a bad attitude and all (maybe)...but I can understand him being really upset with that set up. That is not cool.

[freestyle]

Yeah, but I think he was upset she was leaving. ;-)