FistOfOakley wrote:there was similar research done with allen iverson way back when... probably the most polarizing figure based on stats vs scouts thinking. he typified high volume / low efficiency.basically it all depends on who you surround talented but inefficient scorers like iverson and carmelo. iverson on those sixers team had dikembe, eric snow, aaron mckie, tyrone hill and george lynch and they made the finals. they were all guys who were smart and efficient players who knew their limitations and take good shots on offense all while being stalwarts on defense. they were 5th in defense that year but they were a surprising 13th on offense. i say surprising only because guys like eric snow and aaron mckie aren't going to drum up visions of the showtime lakers.
this all really changed when iverson went to the nuggets. it combined 2 high volume low efficiency shooters on the same team. melo was the alpha dog here as he was on the upswing and iverson on the downswing but melo actually had a positive effect on iverson as he improved his fg% when he went to the nuggets. this didn't translate into too much added wins until you brought in a more low volume high efficiency player like billups. they went from playoff fodder to actual contenders.
so yeah.. i see amar'e and melo almost like iverson and melo. it might a few wins, maybe even a handful but we'll basically be those denver nuggets teams only the pre-billups version. melo's best fit would probably be the rockets.
Except Amare ranks pretty high on efficiency, even when we're just running iso's for him. He's even more efficient when he plays off-the-ball.
Pairing an elite wing with an elite big man has always had good success in the NBA. Whether that gets us to a championship depends on the defensive role players we surround Amare/Melo with, but I see no reason why we can't build around those two as a core.
