Its natural to wonder whether Baker ponders what might have been

New York Knicks president Phil Jackson said Carmelo Anthony?can play the role that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant played in their teams triangle offenses, but he believes that Anthony sometimes breaks a team rule by holding on to the ball for too long.Carmelo a lot of times wants to hold the ball longer than -- we have a rule: If you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop, Jackson said in an interview with CBS Sports Network that aired Tuesday. That is one of the things we work with. But hes adjusted to [the triangle], he knows what he can do and hes willing to see its success.Jacksons comments were prompted by a question about whether Anthony can fit in the triangle offense. Jackson made it clear he believes Anthony can.He can play that role that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant played, Jackson said. Its a perfect spot for him to be in that isolated position on the weak side, because its an overload offense and theres a weakside man that always has an advantage if the ball is swung.Anthony is playing well through the first 21 games of the season, averaging 23.5 points (43.6 percent shooting), six rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He scored 35 points to help the Knicks beat the Miami Heat?114-103 on Tuesday night.At 12-9, New York is three games over .500 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.Were kind of a team thats learning who we are, Jackson said in the interview with CBS Sports Network, which aired before the clubs win over the Heat. ... Were just starting to get a groove into who we are.The Knicks play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, the first meeting between the two teams since LeBron James took offense to Jackson referring to his business associates as a posse.Jackson said that he regretted talking about another teams player when he made the comments about James in an interview with ESPN.coms Jackie MacMullan.We are not supposed to discuss other teams players in this position that I have here. So I violated one of the tenets of our thing, Jackson saidIn addition to addressing his comments about James, Jackson also shared his thoughts on the resistance to the triangle offense in the modern NBA. Jackson ran the triangle while winning an NBA-record 11 championships with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. The Knicks, though, have struggled with the offense, winning a total of 49 games over the past two seasons. That lack of success has led to public backlash of the triangle.I think there are two reasons, Jackson said of the resistance to the offense. One is its always a little bit of a pie-in-your-face type of thing to say that this [the triangle offense] has been the reason for winning. The reason for winning, obviously, is good players. And when good players want to play together and they join in a form or a format to play together, then really good things happen.I think the other thing is, simply, it becomes something to attack, Jackson added. And I think its easy to attack it because it doesnt promote basic basketball thats being played now in the NBA, which is an open floor. Keep the lane open, allow the opportunity of guard play, screen roll play ... big men rolling the lane, and then 3-point shooting. But theres a place for it. It doesnt matter. Its still basketball and theres still a place for it.The Knicks are running aspects of the triangle offense under first-year coach Jeff Hornacek, but scouts say that they are running it much less than the previous two seasons.Hornacek confirmed this, as well, saying late last month that the Knicks were running the triangle nowhere near 50 percent of the time.Some Knicks players expressed their displeasure over the offense earlier in the season, according to sources, because they felt it didnt suit their personnel, particularly point guard Derrick Rose, who has traditionally thrived when using pick-and-rolls.Triangle aside, Jackson also gushed over Kristaps Porzingis, the player who has emerged as a rising star after the Knicks drafted him in 2015.Hes a unicorn. Hes just a standout guy. You dont see people like this playing basketball with the grace, speed and athleticism that he has. And the ability to shoot the ball as well as he can shoot the ball, Jackson said.Porzingis is averaging 20.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game for New York. He was booed by some Knicks fans on the night Jackson and the teams brain trust selected him with the fourth overall pick.Kristaps turned out to be that unique player, that one that has things you just dont see on the basketball court, Jackson said. He does things that are unique almost in every game. His size is defining. Defensively, he changes the game a little bit. Hes still not a great strength player, post player. Offensively, he shoots 2-pointers, he can run the court; theres a lot of things hes still learning what he can do. Air Jordan Baratas . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Zapatillas Nike Baratas Imitacion . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. https://www.zapatillasbaratasspain.es/ . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Replica Jordan España . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Zapatillas Mujer Baratas . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brian Baker is not among the collection of highly ranked players and Grand Slam champions playing tennis at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Baker was supposed to be one of those stars, though -- or at least appeared destined for big things as an up-and-coming teen who reached No. 2 in the world junior rankings and was the French Open boys runner-up in 2003.Hes a great ball-striker. Always has been. Still is, said Jay Berger, who will coach Baker and the rest of the U.S. mens tennis team in Rio, where competition begins on the hard courts Saturday. He has an incredible understanding of the game and where the ball is going.Ah, but Bakers body has been the problem. Repeatedly. To the tune of 11 operations. Procedures on both hips. His right elbow. His back. Surgery for a sports hernia. Four repairs of his right knee.Instead of giving up, he has mounted comeback after comeback after comeback. The latest return happened at the Australian Open in January, when he played his first match in nearly 2 1/2 years after recovering from a torn meniscus in his right knee.Its an incredible story. Its unfortunate everything hes been through. We all say that if he had stayed healthy, easily hed be a top-20 player, if not top-10, U.S. teammate Denis Kudla said. Its just that his body hasnt really done him any favors. But its going to be a special moment for him, knowing maybe he never got the chance to represent his country, even though he probably felt he could have been doing it for the last 10 years.Baker will play 107th-ranked Yuichi Sugita of Japan on Saturday, when others in first-round action include major champions Venus Williams, Serbias Ana Ivanovic and Croatias Marin Cilic in singles, and Serbias Novak Djokovic in doubles.Its natural to wonder whether Baker ponders what might have been.I mean, you probably think about it, but at the same time, I cant do anything about it. I did get injuries, Baker said.I would like to have thought that I would have had a pretty successfuul career and done well.dddddddddddd But Im not going to say, like, `Oh, yeah, I would have been top 10, he continued. But sure, I would hope that I would be able to have a successful career, be a top-30 guy, year-in and year-out. But who knows?That, indeed, is the question when it comes to Baker, a 31-year-old who reached a career-high of No. 52 in the ATP rankings in 2012, and is currently No. 334.So how did a guy that far down get a spot on the four-man U.S. singles roster for the 64-player draw in Brazil?First of all, it helped that two Americans, John Isner and Sam Querrey, chose to skip the Rio Games. And Baker took advantage of a rule that allows injured players to use whats known as a protected ranking to enter nine tournaments of their choosing when they return.To those who think Baker shouldnt be in the field, Isner offered this answer: Look, its all within the rules. ... So good on him for getting into the Olympics and earning this spot -- and hopefully he can do something with it.While tennis players in Rio will earn neither prize money nor rankings points, Baker decided this was too rare an opportunity to let pass.Obviously you want to be able to utilize your `protected ranking to try to help get your ranking back up, said Baker, who spent time during his most recent rehab stint finishing his degree in general business with a finance concentration from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he also coached tennis. But I think the Olympics is a different animal.He recalls watching Andre Agassi win a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games.Theres not many things like the Olympics. Its a different thing. Youre not there just playing for yourself; youre playing for your country, Baker said. Its going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.One worth waiting for.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '