Syracuse Basketball: Carmelo Anthony finding his groove in Rip City

Former Syracuse basketball champion Carmelo Anthony is settling in with his new squad. Here are all the details + looking at other Orange alum in NBA.

One of the greatest Syracuse basketball players of all time made his return to the hardwood. Carmelo Anthony finds himself No.19 in NBA history among leading scorers. The prolific scoring threat made his debut for the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday.

After moving around from OKC to Houston, Anthony was out of the NBA for an extended period, but now he calls Portland home. In Melo’s return, his squad faced off against the New Orleans Pelicans.

In his return, Carmelo had some ups and downs, but overall he was glad to be back competing at the highest level.

"“It felt great to be back in the flow of the game, be back on the court, be back to where I think I belong at.”"

The 10-time all-star and one-time scoring champion is back representing the Orange on the biggest stage in the world. With injuries to the Blazers starting lineup Carmelo is filling a void in their starting five.

In his second game of the year, Anthony increased his production by contributing 18 points against the Milwaukee Bucks. His plus/minus was only -1 compared to -20 in his first appearance.

In his most recent game coach Terry Stotts has not been afraid to play Melo hefty minutes despite his hiatus from the game.

On Saturday night against Cleveland Cavaliers, Anthony played 35 minutes and recorded 11 points.

Now let’s take a look at other Syracuse players in the NBA. First, Dion Waiters is still suspended by the Miami Heat. During his absence, he came back to Syracuse to seek advice. On his visit to ‘Cuse Waiters said the following as seen on RealGM:

"“I just wanted to come up and talk to Coach. I know that’s a person who will always be there for me if I ever need anything. It’s a chance for me to come up, be around, talk to the coaches, things like that.”"

Now sticking with the 2010 Syracuse squad, Michael Carter-Williams is fighting for playing time for Orlando. In the last three fully active games, MCW had a wide variety of success. Against his former Philly team, he had 11 points. In the next two games, Carter-Williams only had three points. Right now, he is competing for playing time off the bench with D.J. Augustin.

As of now, he is averaging 4.7 points a game and 3.1 rebounds.

Most recently, the former Rookie of the Year suffered a minor injury to his hip, which has been an issue for him over the years. He has not played in his team’s last two games.

Former Syracuse forward, Jerami Grant has been involved all season long for the Denver Nuggets. In the past four contests, Grant has increased his rebounding stats significantly by corraling 22 boards in four games. In that same span, Grant added 38 points to his total as well.