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Chris Paul defended Carmelo Anthony and his addition to the Houston Rockets this season, claiming that his good friend and 10-member star team had been the target of unwarranted criticism.
"Obviously, I'm a bit biased because he's one of my closest friends," said Paul at Houston training camp during an appearance on ESPN, The Jump. "But, you know, the lack of respect that is sometimes blamed on him is amazing, you know what I mean? So for us, having one of the best players to have ever played the game in our team, Is obvious.
"I think it's up to us all, you know, some of the smart guys to play the game, to find out how to make it work."
The Rockets, who set a franchise record with 65 wins and qualified for the Western Conference finals last season, are betting on Anthony's talent and experience and say they have every intention of shape his style of play so team in the running for the championship.
The Rockets have not yet made a decision on Carmelo Anthony's departure this season, but the All-Star 10 times has not ruled out the possibility of leaving the bench for the first time in his career.
James Harden, speaking of the addition of Carmelo Anthony to the Rockets lineup, said that "it will be easy" thanks to "talented types of high IQ who like to communicate and love to understand what is going on."
Mike D'Antoni says that Carmelo Anthony will be a "better fit" with the Rockets than he has been with the Knicks, and that it will have no problem to entail The veteran striker in Houston after his quarrel six years ago in New York.
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"I think we just hooped," said Paul. "I think it was a good thing to bring in different players who played in different systems, Hell, me last year, I went into a different situation, I saw him." [Mike D’Antoni] had talked about it. But it's different from playing in the system.
"With Melo, we just skate, you know what I mean.If you're open, you shoot it, otherwise you succeed, you dribble – it's a fun way to play basketball. "
Accommodating Oklahoma City's thunderous attack was a challenge for Anthony last season, when he recorded a record average in terms of minutes, points, percentage of success and goals. # 39; audience. Anthony signed with the Rockets in August after an exchange with the Atlanta Hawks and the subsequent purchase of a contract.
"Carmelo is an extremely talented player.He is a Hall of Fame player," said Rockets general manager Daryl Morey at The Jump. "And our coaching staff, Chris, James and them all working together – he's going to have, I think, his best season that he's had in a long time."
Despite Morey's confidence, Anthony's role in the Rockets offensive could be even smaller than with the Thunder. According to Second Spectrum, Anthony was ranked 37th in a stand-alone game last season after being ranked in the top 10 in each of the previous three seasons. Paul and the Rockets protect and the most useful player in the NBA, James Harden, was ranked first and ninth in the Isos per game standings last season. These two players together would have ranked first in the NBA if they formed their own team in iso per game.
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Chris Paul told The Jump that the basketball court was his "happy place" and that his thigh injury made him enjoy the game even more.
"I think it's up to us all, you know, some of the smartest guys to play the game, to find out how to make it work," said Paul.
According to advanced statistics from the NBA, Anthony scored 461 goals in midfield last season, the fourth-highest total in the NBA championship. The Rockets recorded 562 mid-range attempts, 256 fewer attempts than any other NBA team.
But D'Antoni said that Anthony and the Rockets were "all on the same page".
"Dealing with great players who want to be here and want it to work, it's easy," said Antoni. "He, James and Chris, they kind of understand how they want to play and how they can play against each other and what will be most effective, and then they try to integrate what we do in all of this. , and until now, everything is fine. "
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Mike D'Antoni answers questions about Houston's defensive potential.
Rockets striker PJ Tucker, who is looking to share his playing time with Anthony, whether he is starting out or coming off the bench, said Anthony's addition was not difficult.
"Honestly, this has not been a process, for me -" said Tucker to Rachel Nichols and Tracy McGrady of ESPN. "With this team, we do not really play center, small striker, powerful striker, it's more like we fill posts, you know, and often it's the one who keeps you. That's what counts.If you're going to be in the game, if you want to set the bottom screen.What happens, we do a lot of match-based.
"So he can occupy any of these positions … With our attack, it's so easy … Chris and James, it's so easy."
Tucker mentioned having known Anthony since the age of 16 or 17.
"Everyone is a friend forever, so you know, the personalities are very equal," Tucker said. "Once you get together, have fun – apart from basketball, and once you're in the field, you're just gelling."
Information from ESPN's Tim MacMahon and ESPN's Stats & Information was used in this report.
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