knicks1248 wrote:..... and he's been a damn good soldier
I disagree. When people cite Melo being a shotjacker, failing as a leader, failing to move well off the ball, failing to play basic team basketball, failing to play defense, failing at shot selection, failing to not stick his foot in his mouth in the press - it's an acknowledgement of his level of talent and capability.
A guy like Darrell Armstrong was not a highly touted player. He always put everything he had on the floor. He had limitations. He evolved into a very good player, albeit with drawbacks, because he put everything he had into it. If you asked Armstrong to be better on defense, well there's just things a player cannot do even if they want to do it, even if they exert full effort.
Melo has the raw talent to be one of the greatest players in NBA history. He's not a great defender because he chooses not to be. He has poor shot selection because he chooses to play that way. He doesn't move well off the ball because he doesn't put in the effort to do so. He consistently says stupid things in the press ( like panning the Knicks draft because they didn't pick Winslow or some other guy) because he wants to do it. He even did a large article spread talking about his biggest goal is being an "icon" and entrepreneur.
He does not make players around him better.
If he played the game the right way, and did so with everything he had, then that's that. He would get far less criticism.
He does not play the game the right way. And because he does not, the Knick will never win with him on the roster. He CHOOSES not to play the game the right way.
Win or lose, play the game the right way. That's a good soldier.
There are players with 1/1000th of Melo talent but have 10,000,000 times the heart and soul and relentless drive and whenever you see the comparison, it's actually pretty sad and tragic. When an undrafted player like Lin shows more leadership in two weeks than Melo does in his whole career, what does that say? And how did Melo react? By pouting, and not trying until he could kill off the coach that maximized said undrafted free agent who helped the team win. THE TEAM WIN. TEAM WINNING.
Melo cares more about the name on the back of the jersey than the team name on the front of the jersey. No one hates him, but a lot of people detest players who behave like this.
Play the game the right way, be relentless about being a team player and leader and all the things Melo wants like branding and movies and endorsements would all naturally come as well. That's the sad reality of Melo. He pursues things over winning that he'd get anyway if he gave everything to focus on winning.
