“M-V-P!”
It’s the “I love you” of chants.
“M-V-P!”
It’s simple but somehow suitable for the award of awards; the chant wouldn’t work well with other honors (“Most! Improved! Player!”).
“M-V-P!”
It’s the only chant permitted while a home player is shooting a free throw.
You hear it annually at Staples Center when Kobe Bryant puts on a show. This year, could it be at the Pepsi Center?
For Melo, it should be melodic.
This NBA season is but two games in, and the Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony is playing at a frighteningly high level. The small forward logged 30 and 41 points in Games 1 and 2 and seemed to will his team to tough victories against Utah and Portland.
Reflecting all the way back to his days in Baltimore gyms, Anthony said he’s never felt this good to start a season.
“But really, it started in the offseason. I was telling people all summer that I was feeling great about this season coming up,” Anthony said after Thursday’s late-night victory at Portland. “So far, so good. I know it’s only two games, but two heck-of-a-games. . . . It’s mental. I wanted to challenge myself mentally to pick up where I left off last year, and I feel that I’m doing that.”
This preseason, fans saw glimpses of a player who had elevated his game. Melo shot fearless jumpers over taller defenders, and he got to the free-throw line at a startling rate. He led the NBA in scoring during the preseason and did so with nearly a basket a minute.
Anthony said he approached the preseason like it was the regular season. So far, he’s approaching the regular season like it’s the postseason.
“(He is) trying to move into the level where you’re talking about him as an MVP candidate,” Nuggets coach George Karl said.
When asked if Anthony could win the scoring title, Karl said: “We’ve talked about extending his efficiency and minutes. I would rather see him have his best assist year, his best assist-to-turnover ratio, his best free-throw year. . . . If we have the year I think we’re capable of, I’m hoping that maybe 20 to 25 games he doesn’t play in the fourth quarter, so I think it makes it difficult, compared to guys who aren’t going to have as many blowouts.
“Also, I don’t think a scoring title is on my list of importance. My importance would be — can he have his most triple-doubles and a commitment to be a dominant player in all aspects?”
And for all of Melo’s highlights through two games — and wasn’t that a heck of a dunk over Paul Millsap? — the play that best showcased his versatility and command occurred in the fourth quarter Thursday night in Portland. Standing about 8 feet to the left of the basket on the baseline, he stepped left with a dribble, then quickly spun 180 degrees toward the right while using a dribble and found himself in front of the basket. But when center Greg Oden lunged in his face, Anthony calmly readjusted his body in midair for an off-balance banked bucket in the paint. Ho-hum.
As for the MVP talk, there were already whispers among the media on press row Thursday about Anthony’s ascension. In the Nuggets’ locker room afterward, teammate Anthony Carter said the media has overlooked Melo heading into this season.
“They’re always talking about other people, but they never talk about him,” Carter said. “We made the Western Conference finals, and they still aren’t talking about him. . . . He can basically score whenever he wants to. I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves. It’s like they forgot about him.”
So far, though, his performances have been unforgettable.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Melo off and running
With 71 points in the first two games, Carmelo Anthony is one of five players in Nuggets history to open with 60 or more points through two games. A look:
