Lesson from FIBA Tournament: Melo Needs a Supporting Cast

It’s been a while since we’ve posted on the Denver Nuggets, and for that, I apologize. We’ve all gone back to school and been quite busy busting out material for the AOL NFL Fanhouse over at AOL, where Sam, Gabe and I have been contracted to write material which you can find here.

Back to the point: The Nuggets, and specifically, Carmelo Anthony. More specifically, the impact playing in the FIBA World Championships has had on Melo and what it means for the upcoming Nuggets season.

If you haven’t been paying attention, Melo has been playing extremely well on the world stage, averaging 19.7 points per game in the tournament. In the game against Italy, Melo scored 35 points, a record for U.S. teams in international play. This tournament is showing the world something many die-hard Denver Nuggets fans already knew: Melo can be a top-rate superstar if he has a supporting cast that can actually shoot the ball.

In last year’s playoff series against the Clippers, it was basically Melo alone who was trying to carry the team into the second round. We all saw how that went for us. But in the tournament there are other superstars — LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, etc. — that can a) pick up the slack when Melo is having an off night, and b) actually lead the way, allowing Melo to supplement an awesome attack.

I know Team USA’s loss to Greece is upsetting to the fans of the team and the team members themselves, but I look at this summer’s tournament as a success in that Melo has emerged as a bona fide threat. A lot of people already knew that around the NBA, but now there’s no denying it and George Karl has the formula for getting the Nuggets over that first-round hump and further into the NBA playoffs.