Melo time

Some of you who may know that my favourite basketball player is Kobe Bryant. He has often been compared as the modern day Michael Jordan (the blogs light up with this heated discussion), and regardless of peoples opinion, is one of the greatest players at the end of the game. It's all about the 'clutch' baskets he scores in the final minute of the fourth quarter. When the game is on the line, it becomes Kobe time. He demands the ball, an isolation and dominates his defender with a long range drive, pull up jumper or fade away. It's incredible to watch and his reputation has become folklore. If the Lakers are close at the end of a game, there is always a chance, however fleeting, that they can win.

Now I have become a fan of the Knicks it has become rather obvious who the heir apparent is in the trail of Kobe's greatness. The Knicks very own superstar, Carmelo Anthony. He had started a reputation of his own over in the hills of Denver. I had seen these so called heroics against meagre opposition in a meaningless game and was less then impressed. Then he decided (or I should say 'forced') to take his talents to South Beach the Big Apple. Noticeably at the start of the season Amare Stoudemire was the man in the fourth quarter (he was the NBA's highest point scorer in the 4th quarter of games for the first half of the season) but after his injuries and the firing departure of Coach D'Antoni, it fell on Melo's shoulders to reign supreme once again. With Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin (New York's newly crowned saviour) on the sidelines Melo became a force to be reckoned with. None more so than yesterday's game at the Garden when he showed a vocal Sunday afternoon crowd why this was his city, his town:

That shot was legen.....wait for it......(I hope you're not lactose intolerent)......dary! This sent the game into overtime - my very first one at the Garden (it's awesome when you get another 5 minutes of basketball absolutely free)! And just to prove this was no fluke he decided to repeat the brilliance at the end of OT as well:

Un-freaking believable! With a hand (literally) in his face he pulls up for the most exciting basketball moment I have been there in person to witness. The crowd went up as one, chills ran up my spine into a buzz of ecstasy. That's what you hope for all season. Be a witness to one of those moments that you will tell everyone who will listen about but can never quite explain. This confirmed my belief that Melo could fill the mantle once owned by my hero, and in the fourth quarter of any Knicks game, I'll be setting my watch to Melo time.