duncan228
12-06-2009, 12:59 AM
Nuggets rise with Anthony's rise (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Nuggets_rise_with_Anthonys_rise.html)
Mike Monroe
For the last 10 years, Tim Duncan has been selected by NBA fans to the Western Conference All-Star team starting lineup at forward.
For seven straight years, he was joined at tipoff by Kevin Garnett. When Garnett went East, he was replaced by Dirk Nowitzki or Amare Stoudemire.
Could this be the season Denver's Carmelo Anthony breaks through and joins Duncan, whose popularity among the NBA's worldwide fan base continues to amaze even Mr. Fundamental?
“Everyone votes for who they want to vote for,” Anthony said Saturday morning. “If I get voted in this year, great. If not, we'll see what happens.”
If it doesn't, voters will be passing on a player who has been the league's most valuable through its first six weeks. Anthony leads the league in scoring and is the acknowledged leader of one of the NBA's best teams.
At age 25, Anthony finally is the leader the Nuggets have needed him to be. They are indisputably his team. Even homegrown hero Chauncey Billups says so.
“Without him, we're not one of the elite teams in basketball,” said Billups, whose left biceps declares he is “King of the Hill,” a reference to Denver's sprawling Park Hill neighborhood in which he grew up a schoolboy legend. “I had my time in the sun. I'm just here to help him along as best I can.
“He's playing at an unbelievable level. It seems crazy to say that about somebody who plays at his level. It's tough to see the progression sometimes, but being around him every day, he's just gotten better.”
Most important, said Billups, is what he called Anthony's presence.
“He's taking a bigger responsibility for what goes on out on the floor,” he said. “A lot of people say he's just one of the best scorers in the league, but he's much more.”
Improvement, Anthony said, derives from a fresh body after a summer away from basketball.
Nuggets coach George Karl sees something else.
“I don't think greatness comes in ‘better,'” Karl said. “I think it comes in ‘consistent.' You demand yourself be better in the easy things and consistently do it better and consistently do it every day and at every opportunity.
“I think what you're seeing is a very good player in more situations and more moments and more plays and more different areas, from defense to playmaking to leadership, saying the right things and acting the right way.”
Anthony hasn't always acted the right way, on the court or off, but seems to have grown up nicely and accepted that he is held to high standards. Finally getting a taste of playoff success after never winning a single playoff series made a difference.
“Last year we had a hell of a year, and people wanted to see if we could get out of the first round,” he said. “We got out of the first round, and people said we couldn't get out of the second round. We got out of the second round. Now the question is: Can we win a championship?
“You have to go through that experience to realize the pieces you were missing or what you did and didn't do.”
If Anthony finally understands, even the Lakers should be worried.
He may even be good enough to start in the All-Star Game.
Mike Monroe
For the last 10 years, Tim Duncan has been selected by NBA fans to the Western Conference All-Star team starting lineup at forward.
For seven straight years, he was joined at tipoff by Kevin Garnett. When Garnett went East, he was replaced by Dirk Nowitzki or Amare Stoudemire.
Could this be the season Denver's Carmelo Anthony breaks through and joins Duncan, whose popularity among the NBA's worldwide fan base continues to amaze even Mr. Fundamental?
“Everyone votes for who they want to vote for,” Anthony said Saturday morning. “If I get voted in this year, great. If not, we'll see what happens.”
If it doesn't, voters will be passing on a player who has been the league's most valuable through its first six weeks. Anthony leads the league in scoring and is the acknowledged leader of one of the NBA's best teams.
At age 25, Anthony finally is the leader the Nuggets have needed him to be. They are indisputably his team. Even homegrown hero Chauncey Billups says so.
“Without him, we're not one of the elite teams in basketball,” said Billups, whose left biceps declares he is “King of the Hill,” a reference to Denver's sprawling Park Hill neighborhood in which he grew up a schoolboy legend. “I had my time in the sun. I'm just here to help him along as best I can.
“He's playing at an unbelievable level. It seems crazy to say that about somebody who plays at his level. It's tough to see the progression sometimes, but being around him every day, he's just gotten better.”
Most important, said Billups, is what he called Anthony's presence.
“He's taking a bigger responsibility for what goes on out on the floor,” he said. “A lot of people say he's just one of the best scorers in the league, but he's much more.”
Improvement, Anthony said, derives from a fresh body after a summer away from basketball.
Nuggets coach George Karl sees something else.
“I don't think greatness comes in ‘better,'” Karl said. “I think it comes in ‘consistent.' You demand yourself be better in the easy things and consistently do it better and consistently do it every day and at every opportunity.
“I think what you're seeing is a very good player in more situations and more moments and more plays and more different areas, from defense to playmaking to leadership, saying the right things and acting the right way.”
Anthony hasn't always acted the right way, on the court or off, but seems to have grown up nicely and accepted that he is held to high standards. Finally getting a taste of playoff success after never winning a single playoff series made a difference.
“Last year we had a hell of a year, and people wanted to see if we could get out of the first round,” he said. “We got out of the first round, and people said we couldn't get out of the second round. We got out of the second round. Now the question is: Can we win a championship?
“You have to go through that experience to realize the pieces you were missing or what you did and didn't do.”
If Anthony finally understands, even the Lakers should be worried.
He may even be good enough to start in the All-Star Game.