One of the benefits ( and maybe a drawback) of Melo is that he is offensively complete WITH THE BALL IN HIS HANDS. He can do it all from a physical standpoint. He can shoot from long range, kill you in the post, kill you in transition, take you in isolation. I think this has been a plus and minus in his career. It's a plus because most players are simply not as offensively gifted. It's a minus because it means Melo never really had an aspect of his offensive game he felt he needed to work on.

Is he a good decision maker? No.
Does he move well off the ball? No.
Is he an elite and saavy passer? No.

Could he be? Sure, he has the talent.

Will he be? Probably not. The only thing that seems to motivate Melo is ego and money. He's had several chances to set himself up with a better and more talented team situation in exchange for losing some money on his contract, he's always chosen the money. He played hard after Pringles got whacked ( thanks to Melo dogging it, which IMHO is just unforgivable) to prove the decision was correct. I think he exerted a bit more last year because he knew it was a contract year.

I think Bill Simmons of Grantland is right, when he said Melo is the kind of player where you need EVERYTHING around him just perfect and meshed exactly right to hope to win a ring. His Team USA play is a little disturbing to be honest, not that he wasn't lethal on offense and productive, but that the methodology seemed to be - Just score and we will do everything else. And the impression I got was it was because he wasn't trusted or seemed capable to do all the other little things that teams need to win.

How can you change someone who doesn't value winning above all else? If he did, he wouldn't have pushed his way to NY, gutting the teams assets just to squeeze his max deal before the labor war. If he did, he'd have gone to Chicago, albeit on a paycut, where the team was nearly complete to cover for all his other deficiencies defensively and with team ball functions.

I remember reading an article where Jerry Rice would strap parts of a car engine to a body harness and run up a hill. And when he was not fully satisfied, he had someone rig a parachute to create more drag for him. He was also ordered to eat more fat, because his checkups showed his body fat was too low, it was risking his health, because he was a clean eater and in such good physical condition.

Have you ever seen Chuck Hayes play? Whatever he's got, he's leaving it all on the floor. He simply willed himself to be a better NBA player than his talent would suggest. In a league full of thugs, wannabe rappers, wannabe Jay Z moguls, rapists, criminals and prima donnas, Hayes played every game like his last.

Here's a quote from the film, Walk The Line, that I really like, I think it encompasses when someone has true passion for what they are doing. When they are committed, heart and soul and body, to their goals.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358273/quotes

[after record producer Sam Phillips stops Cash's band a couple of verses into their audition]

Sam Phillips: You know exactly what I'm telling you. We've already heard that song a hundred times. Just like that. Just... like... how... you... sing it.

Johnny Cash: Well you didn't let us bring it home.

Sam Phillips: Bring... bring it home? All right, let's bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing *one* song. Huh? One song that people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin' me that's the song you'd sing? That same Jimmy Davis tune we hear on the radio all day, about your peace within, and how it's real, and how you're gonna shout it? Or... would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' *you* felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people. It ain't got nothin to do with believin' in God, Mr. Cash. It has to do with believin' in yourself.

Have you ever seen Melo play like it was his last game ever and his last day on Earth? You can't have someone coach that into you. You aren't going to get a pep talk from a guy with 11 rings to get it. You have to make the choice to drive for that yourself.

The Knicks HAD that once recently, it was with Jeremy Lin. The Knick kept the wrong guy. You can win with Jeremy Lin. Because Lin was about the team and winning. Every game was a statement of joy and love for the game. Every minute on the floor he played like it was his last. And even though the Knicks didn't have a ton of talent around him compared to some other teams, all those guys went to war with him.

Melo is just some guy who won the genetic lottery waiting to cash his next check and getting his makeup done to get some profile shot on his wife's stupid reality show.

You can't change Melo, if he does something different to help this team, odds are there's something directly in it for him.