Old fans love melons, the main reason is to witness the crazy scoring performance of melons that year. As one of the proud sons of the 03 generation, the performance of melons at the peak is still quite terrifying. It was also at that stage that he gained a large number of die-hard fans. But in the years since, melons have slowly faded from everyone's sight. Because the style of play and style are not accepted by the league, melons are slowly becoming without the ball. It was not until rejoining the Blazers that it reminded everyone that the original melon had not yet withdrawn from the stage. And this season with the Lakers, melons have clearly found their own positioning. Many people said that they originally thought that melon was ready to retire in the Lakers and take a championship, but they did not expect him to become a real thigh.
How terrifying is Anthony this season? Averaging 13.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and one assist in 26.6 minutes per game. Shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from three-point range, he averaged 2.3 three-pointers per game. In the case of the Lakers' generally low scoring points, Anthony is one of the few shooter points that the Lakers can contribute to a stable output. Although early in his career, Melon was considered not good at defending. But this season he is also an important defensive interior force for the Lakers. Melons have averaged 0.8 blocks and 0.7 steals per game this season, and it's clear that melons at this time already know what their position is.
What is even more surprising to the Lakers management is that the 37-year-old Anthony is still one of the players with the highest number of guaranteed appearances in the team. Until the end of the season, Anthony's number of appearances ranked third in the Lakers, behind Westbrook and Munch, and was currently the most appearance-making interior player in the Lakers. If you analyze melon's shot heatmap, you'll see that melons are more efficient at hitting than the league average in almost all positions. The last time Melon played a similar efficiency was during the 13-14 season for the Knicks. If you put an anthony and Westbrook's efficiency map on it, without looking at the production, you will even think that Anthony is the starting candidate.
For the Lakers coach, Anthony also has an important task: he needs to punish his opponents with his three-point firepower when the team is behind or at a critical moment to decide the winner. It's a hidden mission, with more than half of all key points this season coming from Anthony. I have to say that signing a scorer with endless tricks on the offensive end with the money from the base salary is really worth it. Of course, Melon himself did not expect to be able to perform this season, because at the beginning of the season, he admitted that he only wanted to be a puzzle rather than a main force, and he felt that he was 37 years old and did not have this ability. It's just that the Lakers' rundown and injuries this season have forced him to take on so many tasks.
To be honest, if Anthony had the determination to make such a shift in the previous years, he wouldn't have been unable to play. Why? Because in the first few years, Anthony was eliminated because his offense could not keep up with the league's requirements, and the defense did not improve in the process of growing up. Remember that at that time Anthony was called an offensive kaleidoscope, defending a mass barrel. When the offense goes down, Anthony becomes useless, but it drags down the team's space. As a player who is only willing to appear in a core identity, Anthony will naturally not be accepted by major teams. So the ending left for him is definitely to be eliminated.
Seeing this, some people may ask Anthony's physical condition is good, why can't he do a good job of defense? One of the most important reasons is that Anthony is really not careful about defense. From the media reviews, it can be seen that Anthony really doesn't care about this kind of thing.
At that time, a large number of media believed that Anthony's defense was not active enough, that he had a very poor attitude when retreating, that he was slow to move laterally, that he was unresponsive, and that he was unwilling to follow the progress of the team's defense to stop the opponent's attack. There is no sinking center of gravity when making up defenses, and it is easy to follow the opponent's offensive rhythm, so it is often shaken by the opponent. Is this situation familiar? This was the trick Anthony used for the first time against Zion. Also, Anthony's defense is often a gamble, he never cares what happens after this failed steal, so it often has indelible consequences for the team. For this, Anthony never thought it was his fault.
In fact, if you just look at the physical advantage of the individual, Anthony has a chance to become a defensive player on the front line. He's physically fit, big enough and strong enough. So even if you face an opponent in the fifth position, Anthony can press the opponent down. Kobe Bryant said before in the game that Anthony is as strong as a cow. This kind of physical advantage, as long as it is standing firmly in defense, the opponent has no way at all.
It is certainly impossible to develop good defensive habits in the beginning and want to eat for a lifetime with a little talent. In his early days, Anthony was physically strong and had a good offensive scoring ability, which masked his shortcomings to some extent. Therefore, the young melon believes that his state is enough to cope with all the scenes, and there is no need to refine other technical means.
But what he didn't expect was that the small ball era would come so quickly. In the small-ball era, the team focused on team efficiency. Melons, whose main output is individual playing style, are difficult to be favored by the team. His offense requires a lot of ball holding, and the team has limited ball power and can't give melons as much freedom anymore. Another point is that the ball holding efficiency of melons has begun to decline with time. Although the offensive skills are accumulating, because of the lack of attention to body management, the melon has begun to swell in the later stages, and the original strong physique has become somewhat bloated during this period. So when you see melons playing on the court, it's always a little bit out of place. Obviously taking a delicate offensive route, how can there be such a bulky physique to limit his play?
Before we said, melon's defense is that the attitude and footsteps can not keep up, after the body shape change, the speed drops again, the defense is even worse. Are you saying that the team is still likely to leave such a player to endanger itself? Definitely not. The previous unbearable behavior has made the melon suffer enough. That's why it seems that this season is back, and how precious the melon is in good shape!