dk7th wrote: you can't lump these players together like that just to protect melo's reputation-- of course it matters. a savvy student of the game will make a distinction between mere playoff appearances and how far a player leads his team INTO the playoffs and then look at how consistently he does so.

making it to the first round means absolutely nothing in terms of achievement-- the reason is that the nba is a diluted and bloated product that rewards mediocrity and that is what the first round is, basically. that and an easy revenue stream.

what i would ask instead is how many of the players you listed made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs and beyond, how consistently they did so, and did they make a series out of those appearances, meaning 6 or 7 games.

that to me would be a fair measure of the players listed. i challenge you to organize your list accordingly.

It's not about "protecting Melo's reputation", and all about poining out trials and tribulations in regards to all-time greats in which never won an NBA championship. You're the one's attemping to ruin his reputation over a message board, I'm simply poining out how great of an NBA player Melo has been dating back to his rookie season. All-Star appearances galore, for a reason. Two Gold Metals, for a reason. Never missed the playoffs, for a reason. And you must (first) make the postseason before having a chance of winning an NBA championship. Only behind Kevin Durant in scoring, for a reason. Sorry for enjoying our greatest Knick since Patrick Ewing. A pure scoring phenom. 1st place of our Atlantic Division during Melo's first (full) season as a Knick. Something in which we haven't won since 1993-1994. 19 years and counting. It's "Melo's fault". 2nd place of the Eastern Conference during Melo's first full season as a Knick. 29-15 during games in which Melo has played. Protecting his rep? Nah son. Madison Square Garden faithful doesn't scream M.V.P for the fun of it.

You can harp all over first round exits in regards to Melo 24/7. Then tell someone else how to judge a player? When you use no insight what so ever when harping all over #7 to begin with? Well, use some examples. During his rookie season, what was Denver's record the year before Melo was drafted 3rd overall when compared to Melo's rookie season? The difference in games? When Denver lost to Minny, would you care to list the players on the Timberwolves roster? No. Because we all know Melo's Nuggets had next to no chance of winning that series. What about against Boston as a Knick? Who was our starting PG? Who was Melo's starting 2G? Who was Melo's Center? Which players were on the Boston Celtics? How was our bench depth? Is basketball not a team game? Was Melo expected to eliminate Boston? Get real.

We can use David Robinson as one example. But don't forget to answer all my questions above in regards to Melo against Minny and Boston. I have more questions in regards to Melo's postseason failures as well. One step at a time. Lets? But yeah...

Robinson won his first NBA title during his 10th season. Melo's currently enjoying his 10th season as well.

During Robinson's first 9 years in the league, he completely missed the postseason once. Had three first round exits (1-3, 1-3 and 0-3). Had four second round exits (3-4. 2-4. 2-4 and 1-4). During his 6th season had one trip to the Western Conference Finals (2-4). So as you can see, during David Robinson's first 9 years he missed the playoffs once, three first round exits, four second round exits and one trip to the Western Conference Finals. Zero trips to the NBA Finals. More postseason loses than wins. Does this now mean that David Robinson wasn't a top 3 Center alongside Hakeem and Ewing?

During Carmelo's first 9 years in the league, he's made the playoffs each and every season. During his first 7 years with Denver he seen one trip to the Western Conference Finals. Like Robison, during his 6th season in the league, lost 2-4 against the Lakers. 6 first round loses but lets not act as if Denver hasn't lost two first rounders since Melo's been gone. Let's not act like Melo didn't advance to the Conference Finals during his 6th season (as did Robinson). Let's not act like A.) No playoffs. B.) 3 first round exits and C.) 4 second round exits was "good" while using Melo and Denver as the stepping stone. Other than one Finals appearance with Robinson, he couldn't get past the first round three times and couldn't get past the 2nd round 4 times.

But with all that stated? David Robinson was amazing. I respected that man as a warrior. So was Ewing and Hakeem. But David Robinson, like Melo, went through lots of trials and tribulations (including an injury) before finally winning his first NBA championship during his 10th NBA season. Let's see what Melo can do moving forward. His history's yet to be written. Stop acting as if it has been.