A happy and healthy new year to SU’s intergalactic subscriber base. SU caught part of last night’s Knick game as part of my channel surfing as I wanted to see how Carmelo Anthony was received by the MSG crowd upon his return for the 2019 – 2020 season. I must say that I was a little bit surprised about how positive it was and how he was consistently cheered throughout the game. He had a good offensive game (26 points) on 11-17 shooting, and as Clyde Frazier pointed out on a few occasions, zero assists. It was all 1 on 1, but Melo was at his best. Meanwhile, the Knicks played great continuing a recent 6-4 record with lots of passing and ball movement. The new coach, Mike Miller, clearly has their attention and they are (somewhat) entertaining to watch.
But then this morning, SU saw that Melo had suggested after the game that the Knicks consider retiring his number. Apparently, he also feels that the Nuggets should also retire his number for his time there. I don’t know: I am old school. Perhaps the response of “You know, if the organization feels that I made a strong enough contribution during my time there to give me that honor, that would be great” might have been more appropriate. But I know that is not what people say in this era.
But let SU weigh in. NO WAY SHOULD THEY RETIRE HIS NUMBER. You don’t retire numbers for players who scored a ton of points but accomplished little in the way of championships, playoff runs or even how about just playoff appearances? Look, he’s a nice guy and never did anything off the court to embarrass the team. He didn’t pass to Jeremy Lin and managed to ruin that run in the end but hey, he didn’t pass to anyone in his 6+ years in NY. He will go down as one of the great scorers in NBA history and an Olympic champion on the US team. He is generous (see his donation to Syracuse for their athletic facility) but in NBA history, there are plenty of players like this. The rafters at MSG are for players who achieve more than what he did with the Knicks. But feel free to let me know if you disagree, or agree.
SU was disappointed in Michigan’s final outcome vs. Alabama but the game was entertaining for 3 quarters. I must say that I am impressed with how the Alabama players act on the field. No histrionics for a sack or making a first down. Nick Saban runs a tight ship and clearly he wants his players to respect the other team. Of course, SU did note that he wanted that final touchdown at the end of the game where most teams may have taken a knee in the end. But if you don’t like it, then don’t let them score.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Agreed. Not comparable to guys in the rafters.
Like you, I have no issue with the extra touchdown at the end of the game. It is a bowl game and the players want to compete until the clock expires. Many times there are scenarios where “something could happen” and you just want to be sure you have the victory in hand. Happy to see lots of enthusiasm from Georgia this year in the Sugar Bowl as compared to last year. The kids appeared to have fun and celebrate their victory. Bowl games are supposed to be “big games” and even if your team is not in the FBS championship game you should be playing hard in your bowl game. However, it is time for the dumping of the Gatorade on the coach to end. Kirby Smart obviously was not happy that for the next 50 minutes he would be conducting interviews soaking wet, cold, and sticky from lemon-lime Gatorade. His first comment in the post-game interview referenced that they could at least have used a cooler full of water. Not sure how we can move on from the plastic straw hysteria, the ice-bucket challenge, the Macarena, and the Shanahan timeout, but we have to hang on to the dousing of the coach with Gatorade.
No multiple MVP’s, no multiple championships, no saving the franchise from hard times (aka the Kentucky seniors in 1992), so in my opinion #7 should be available to anyone who wants to wear it (and #15 in Denver as well).
Happy New Year to all.
Not a chance! Well, maybe?
Melo put up points but did not make his teammates better or have much success in the playoffs. He is no Lebron, not even close. The best comparison may be to Bernard King, a similar dynamic scorer who did not love to pass. King is in the HOF and Melo will probably get there too. But lifting the number to the rafters should be reserved for champions or lifelong players.
I don’t really understand how this is even a question. I’m sure numbers will get tossed about as they will when he is considered for the hall of fame. (I don’t believe he deserves that either although I’m sure he’ll get there.) I’m sure the scoring numbers will be impressive but that’s it. He didn’t contribute defensively and he didn’t make anyone around him better and he didn’t win. But there’s something even more important to consider: He made the Knicks worse. And here are two pieces of evidence, one short term and one long term.
Long term: The Knicks were actually following a plan to rebuild. Donnie Walsh had a plan and was following it. He had the coach he wanted. He acquired a “bridge” star in Amare Stoudemire to keep things interesting during rebuilding. He was accumulating draft picks, reversing a long trend of hemorrhaging them in bad deals. And then Dolan, local media personalities (yes, Michael Kay, I’m talking about you) and other factors coordinated to force Donnie Walsh to scrap it all to trade for a player he didn’t wanted, who didn’t fit the plan, who could have have been able to be acquired in free agency after that season without giving anything up… And what were the results. Well, they were terrible. They still are terrible.
Short term: The Knicks were in the middle of one of their few (only?) exciting periods of the last ~20 years, Linsanity. This occurred while Anthony was out with an injury. Jeremy Lin emerged, many players contributed, the wins were adding up…for about a month. Then Anthony returned, disrupted the flow that had developed in his absence, and the team stumbled and then failed in the playoffs.
Anthony’s presence ruined the long term progress the team was making and he spoiled the one bit of short term success they had during his tenure. I don’t want to blame everything on him. He seems like a nice guy. And he definitely gave effort on the court. And he was a tremendous college player. But his style of play is not suited to make teams successful in the NBA. He made the Knicks worse. Much worse. I didn’t follow his other NBA teams but I have a feeling that we might be able to say the same about them. This is not the kind of stuff that gets numbers retired.
He made it out of the first round of the playoffs twice when his teams made it at all. He can be happy that he has a legit shot to reach the HoF while being an individual contributor and getting his points but no way is he deserving of getting his number retired.
I’m amazed that he even suggested that his number should be retired.
#20 should be retired by the Mets 🙂
One year does not a career make. Time will tell with this guy.
I agree with everything you said. Besides Mi nesota looks like any meaningful bowl game did not go the Big Ten way…again. Penn State game was not meaningful. SEC again was well represented.