Ex-Miami Heat forward Shane Battier suggested New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony hasn't upgraded his game and called him out for being predictable to guard against.
Battier finished his NBA career last season with Miami, where he cemented his reputation for defense. When Anthony's name came up, Battier wasn't shy about calling the All-Star out for not changing up his game.
"I had some success against him," Battier said, via NBC Sports. "The numbers really play out with him, and as he's gotten older, he has not been about reinvention. The last two years I played him, he did exactly what the scouting report said he was going to do, every single time.
"A lot of players will deviate - Kobe was so tough in his prime, or Durant or LeBron. But Carmelo, I knew what he was doing. He was on the left block, he's going to dip his right shoulder and go to his left hand every single time - he travels every time, by the way; he travels every single time. But if I made him use his right hand and go over his left shoulder, he didn't want to do that. And as a result, I was able to drain his efficiency."
While Battier has traditionally defended Anthony well, one game stands out: the 2013 game when Anthony dropped 50 points against Battier's Heat team. Despite the big game, the analytics-minded Battier dismissed it as a one-time anomaly and pointed out none of Anthony's 50 points against him came in the paint.
"The only time he got me was, he had the most unbelievable game," Battier said. "This was like, the outlier of all outliers in terms of the numbers and analytics. He scored 50 points, and didn't have one paint point. So, yeah. I was really feeling good about 'any long non-paint two is a good shot' after that game, right? He scored 50 points on me, ZERO paint points."
