Melo Watch: A few takeaways from his debut with the Portland Trail Blazers

Carmelo Anthony is back; let’s take a look at a few takeaways from his debut with the Portland Trail Blazers

Carmelo Anthony is back! The No. 2 active scoring leader made his season debut for the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night in New Orleans against the Pelicans. His state line was not too pretty, scoring 10 points on 4-14 shooting to go along with four rebounds, one block, five turnovers, and five fouls in 24 minutes of action, but are there any takeaways from his first game back?

In total, Anthony played 50 possessions on both offense and defense, with the Blazers being outscored 65-41 in those possessions (yikes). The mass media will continuously bring this stat up, but in general, looking at single-game plus-minuses is not too useful. That being said, he did not add very much value to his team on either end.

Carmelo played strictly as the power forward during his time on the floor (unless you want to count Mario Hezonja as the 4-man at the beginning of the second quarter). Of the 50 offensive possessions, seven were in transition (where Melo is completely not existent) and 43 were in the halfcourt.

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He was involved in the primary action in about half of those 43 possessions (either as an on-ball screener or getting the ball in the post). Whether it be whiffing on screens or failing to score with the ball in his hands, it was quite apparent that Melo was a hindrance to the offense during these times.

At times, it seemed the Blazers were trying to force-feed him. The first two plays of the game were designed for him. The results were ugly no matter who was defending in the post. He got off a couple of decent looks against primary matchup Kenrich Williams, but could not convert.

One play in the third quarter he tried to bowl Williams over and ended up getting a charge called. He also tried to score twice on Brandon Ingram and got swallowed up both times. Same thing for the possession he attempted to score on Jrue Holiday in the post. Holiday has extensive experience guarding Kevin Durant, so that is not a mismatch despite the size difference.

Anthony just lacks any kind of explosion that is needed to gain space in the paint. This was also shown the two possessions that he rolled in the screen-and-roll, he finished once over Nicolo Melli and got rejected by young center Jaxson Hayes the other time. On both of these, he did not have any burst at all once he reached the rim.

Defensively, it looked like the same old Carmelo Anthony. He was hidden on the Pelicans’ lesser offensive weapons like Williams or Frank Jackson and failed to make a positive impact. He had a few moments of good help defense from the weakside, particularly in the first quarter, but otherwise, he was close to a liability.

He will never get through a screen, so he expects a switch every single time. Watch this play as Jrue Holiday walks into an open-three because Anthony dies on the screen and Hassan Whiteside is glued to the paint. His lack of lateral quickness will always be a major issue.

Overall, it was a rough Blazers debut for Carmelo Anthony. This was to be expected, given the 12 month-plus layoff. He looked like he was still getting his legs underneath him. He was often the last player back in transition and at one point had his hands on his knees while guarding a player with the ball. Carmelo also had a few puzzling turnovers, which tells me he is not used to playing in a game with NBA-level intensity.

It will take a few games to really get a good idea into the state of Melo physically. We also need to see what his role looks like in the offense once Damian Lillard comes back from his back injury. With Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Rodney Hood entrenched in the starting lineup, it should seem that a bench role for Carmelo would be more logical.

However, his pride always has to be a major consideration, and perhaps the Blazers just plan on trying to out-score teams. I personally believe he should be taking shots from Hezonja and Kent Bazemore and not Damian Lillard, but that’s just me. Even against mismatches, Anthony posting up is not an effective option anymore.

He does not create enough separation on his man to get clean looks and he puts no pressure on the defense so can set up others. In the possessions that he was spotting up (about half the time in the halfcourt), the Blazers offense ran a lot more smoothly. His catch-and-shoot 3-ball looked pretty good (Olympic Melo back???).

If he embraces this new role (ala Dwight Howard), then maybe things will work out. But it is clear that Melo still just wants to get one-on-one buckets in the post at heart, and I do not believe being with a new team changes that. This is why I am very pessimistic about how Carmelo Anthony will fare this season, but it is nice to have one of the league’s most famous and successful players back.