mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

And this is the other half of basketball, and the main difference between being eliminated in the first round almost every year and winning five championships. DEFENSE.

ChuckBuck wrote:

KnicksFE wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

And this is the other half of basketball, and the main difference between being eliminated in the first round almost every year and winning five championships. DEFENSE.

Now you're cooking! If we had a defensive-minded coach to begin with, not that one trick pony D'Antoni. Good points!

Well Melo had a defensive minded coach in Denver (George Karl and for many years) yet he just started playing defense recently here, He didn’t seems to know that he needs to apply it consistently (make defense part of his game) if he wants to win a championship someday.

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

Well the reason Kobe has had more point responsibilities is that he's a better decision-maker than Carmelo is. One thing, though: You mentioned that Kobe's and Melo's offensive #s are almost identical; so I want to play around a little with the per game numbers.

Kobe: 8.9 out of 19.5 field goals made, 4.7 assists, 3.0 turnovers
Melo: 8.7 out of 19.1 field goals made, 3.1 assists, 3.0 turnovers

So every number except the assists is very similar. It's tempting to overlook how big a difference there is in the assists. Let's say that instead of passing to someone who scored an extra 1.6 times a game, Kobe directly made the shots instead. (I'm not saying the two situations are precisely identical but there's probably not a huge difference in the impact.) Then Kobe would be 10.5 out of 21.1. This would put his career FG% at .498 with Carmelo's at .456. Suddenly their efficiency doesn't look so similar, especially when you factor in the FT shooting advantage for Kobe too.

I am very pleased with the improvement in Melo's A:TO ratio, though. It's given me some more optimism about him.

You can do it man, I know you can..

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

Well the reason Kobe has had more point responsibilities is that he's a better decision-maker than Carmelo is. One thing, though: You mentioned that Kobe's and Melo's offensive #s are almost identical; so I want to play around a little with the per game numbers.

Kobe: 8.9 out of 19.5 field goals made, 4.7 assists, 3.0 turnovers
Melo: 8.7 out of 19.1 field goals made, 3.1 assists, 3.0 turnovers

So every number except the assists is very similar. It's tempting to overlook how big a difference there is in the assists. Let's say that instead of passing to someone who scored an extra 1.6 times a game, Kobe directly made the shots instead. (I'm not saying the two situations are precisely identical but there's probably not a huge difference in the impact.) Then Kobe would be 10.5 out of 21.1. This would put his career FG% at .498 with Carmelo's at .456. Suddenly their efficiency doesn't look so similar, especially when you factor in the FT shooting advantage for Kobe too.

I am very pleased with the improvement in Melo's A:TO ratio, though. It's given me some more optimism about him.

Yes 1.6 assists is not NOTHING. Melo is also averaging 1.0 more rebounds per game so that makes it a little closer. I also think if Melo plays more of the Point Forward and continues to have his shooters like Shumpert hit their jumpers, you would see his assists go way up (like his 6 last night).

Kobe played with crazy good finishers and shooters. Alot better than what Melo was surrounded with. To get assists, you need your guy to hit the shot. That makes a big difference as well.

It's hard to compare the two in a quantifiable way without them having equal supporting casts.

I think that we can probably both agree that Melo can be an excellent passer and we hope he continues to get there.

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

Well the reason Kobe has had more point responsibilities is that he's a better decision-maker than Carmelo is. One thing, though: You mentioned that Kobe's and Melo's offensive #s are almost identical; so I want to play around a little with the per game numbers.

Kobe: 8.9 out of 19.5 field goals made, 4.7 assists, 3.0 turnovers
Melo: 8.7 out of 19.1 field goals made, 3.1 assists, 3.0 turnovers

So every number except the assists is very similar. It's tempting to overlook how big a difference there is in the assists. Let's say that instead of passing to someone who scored an extra 1.6 times a game, Kobe directly made the shots instead. (I'm not saying the two situations are precisely identical but there's probably not a huge difference in the impact.) Then Kobe would be 10.5 out of 21.1. This would put his career FG% at .498 with Carmelo's at .456. Suddenly their efficiency doesn't look so similar, especially when you factor in the FT shooting advantage for Kobe too.

I am very pleased with the improvement in Melo's A:TO ratio, though. It's given me some more optimism about him.

Yes 1.6 assists is not NOTHING. Melo is also averaging 1.0 more rebounds per game so that makes it a little closer. I also think if Melo plays more of the Point Forward and continues to have his shooters like Shumpert hit their jumpers, you would see his assists go way up (like his 6 last night).

Kobe played with crazy good finishers and shooters. Alot better than what Melo was surrounded with. To get assists, you need your guy to hit the shot. That makes a big difference as well.

It's hard to compare the two in a quantifiable way without them having equal supporting casts.

I think that we can probably both agree that Melo can be an excellent passer and we hope he continues to get there.

I'm not sure the 1.0 rebounds is at all meaningful actually. What's better: 5.3 rbs from an SG or 6.3 from an SF? At best, it's a wash. 5.3 from an SG might even be a little better actually.

Not to mention how many of Melo's rebounds are actually of his own misses. I could care less about how Kobe and Melo compare. I do care that the guy we spent major capital to get, sulked and caused us to be fighting for the 8th seed rather than being a leader and helping us lead the Atlantic!!! That's really the most salient point to make about Melo. He showed a major lack of character that is alarming for a teams top player to display. It put the team behind the 8 ball and despite the recent surge we're still not out of the woods.

loweyecue wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Totally agree. Kobe has never been a very efficient scorer but scoring is just one facet of his game. When you play with an edge like he does and flat out refuse to lose regular season game after regular season game and just happen to be an elite defender things like inefficient scoring are easy to forgive. Now Kobe wasn't always like this and he got his fair share of criticism early on. A lot of fans myself included never alluded to Kobe as an elite player or all time great before he started showing maturity and taking on a leadership role.

Agree, Kobe was an immature player early in his carrier, however, he has always being the ultimate competitor which can lead to a lot of winning and improvement in your game, not be redundant but Carmelo just started competing for us a few games ago, so their desire and character are nothing alike (at least for now). Also, at 28 Kobe was already established as the premier player (offensively and defensively) in the NBA, Carmelo has trouble making the top 10 list.

VCoug wrote:

nixluva wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

Well the reason Kobe has had more point responsibilities is that he's a better decision-maker than Carmelo is. One thing, though: You mentioned that Kobe's and Melo's offensive #s are almost identical; so I want to play around a little with the per game numbers.

Kobe: 8.9 out of 19.5 field goals made, 4.7 assists, 3.0 turnovers
Melo: 8.7 out of 19.1 field goals made, 3.1 assists, 3.0 turnovers

So every number except the assists is very similar. It's tempting to overlook how big a difference there is in the assists. Let's say that instead of passing to someone who scored an extra 1.6 times a game, Kobe directly made the shots instead. (I'm not saying the two situations are precisely identical but there's probably not a huge difference in the impact.) Then Kobe would be 10.5 out of 21.1. This would put his career FG% at .498 with Carmelo's at .456. Suddenly their efficiency doesn't look so similar, especially when you factor in the FT shooting advantage for Kobe too.

I am very pleased with the improvement in Melo's A:TO ratio, though. It's given me some more optimism about him.

Yes 1.6 assists is not NOTHING. Melo is also averaging 1.0 more rebounds per game so that makes it a little closer. I also think if Melo plays more of the Point Forward and continues to have his shooters like Shumpert hit their jumpers, you would see his assists go way up (like his 6 last night).

Kobe played with crazy good finishers and shooters. Alot better than what Melo was surrounded with. To get assists, you need your guy to hit the shot. That makes a big difference as well.

It's hard to compare the two in a quantifiable way without them having equal supporting casts.

I think that we can probably both agree that Melo can be an excellent passer and we hope he continues to get there.

I'm not sure the 1.0 rebounds is at all meaningful actually. What's better: 5.3 rbs from an SG or 6.3 from an SF? At best, it's a wash. 5.3 from an SG might even be a little better actually.

Not to mention how many of Melo's rebounds are actually of his own misses. I could care less about how Kobe and Melo compare. I do care that the guy we spent major capital to get, sulked and caused us to be fighting for the 8th seed rather than being a leader and helping us lead the Atlantic!!! That's really the most salient point to make about Melo. He showed a major lack of character that is alarming for a teams top player to display. It put the team behind the 8 ball and despite the recent surge we're still not out of the woods.

Melo is not the first player to do that. You can say the same thing about Kobe, Shaq, Lebron, DWill, CP3, Kidd, Dwight, Ewing, Jordan, Magic, Mchale, and a ton of other players. Would you say that their lack of character is alarming for a teams top player?

Are you kidding me? With the exception of DWill, most of the players above were considered the best player at their respective position at some point during their carriers, some defensive player of the year, others NBA top scorers, MVPs, and championship finalists or champions. Answer this my friend, what exactly has Melo accomplished in the NBA to merit such a break for his character issues?

CashMoney wrote:

KnicksFE wrote:

VCoug wrote:

nixluva wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

Well the reason Kobe has had more point responsibilities is that he's a better decision-maker than Carmelo is. One thing, though: You mentioned that Kobe's and Melo's offensive #s are almost identical; so I want to play around a little with the per game numbers.

Kobe: 8.9 out of 19.5 field goals made, 4.7 assists, 3.0 turnovers
Melo: 8.7 out of 19.1 field goals made, 3.1 assists, 3.0 turnovers

So every number except the assists is very similar. It's tempting to overlook how big a difference there is in the assists. Let's say that instead of passing to someone who scored an extra 1.6 times a game, Kobe directly made the shots instead. (I'm not saying the two situations are precisely identical but there's probably not a huge difference in the impact.) Then Kobe would be 10.5 out of 21.1. This would put his career FG% at .498 with Carmelo's at .456. Suddenly their efficiency doesn't look so similar, especially when you factor in the FT shooting advantage for Kobe too.

I am very pleased with the improvement in Melo's A:TO ratio, though. It's given me some more optimism about him.

Yes 1.6 assists is not NOTHING. Melo is also averaging 1.0 more rebounds per game so that makes it a little closer. I also think if Melo plays more of the Point Forward and continues to have his shooters like Shumpert hit their jumpers, you would see his assists go way up (like his 6 last night).

Kobe played with crazy good finishers and shooters. Alot better than what Melo was surrounded with. To get assists, you need your guy to hit the shot. That makes a big difference as well.

It's hard to compare the two in a quantifiable way without them having equal supporting casts.

I think that we can probably both agree that Melo can be an excellent passer and we hope he continues to get there.

I'm not sure the 1.0 rebounds is at all meaningful actually. What's better: 5.3 rbs from an SG or 6.3 from an SF? At best, it's a wash. 5.3 from an SG might even be a little better actually.

Not to mention how many of Melo's rebounds are actually of his own misses. I could care less about how Kobe and Melo compare. I do care that the guy we spent major capital to get, sulked and caused us to be fighting for the 8th seed rather than being a leader and helping us lead the Atlantic!!! That's really the most salient point to make about Melo. He showed a major lack of character that is alarming for a teams top player to display. It put the team behind the 8 ball and despite the recent surge we're still not out of the woods.

Melo is not the first player to do that. You can say the same thing about Kobe, Shaq, Lebron, DWill, CP3, Kidd, Dwight, Ewing, Jordan, Magic, Mchale, and a ton of other players. Would you say that their lack of character is alarming for a teams top player?

Are you kidding me? With the exception of DWill, most of the players above were considered the best player at their respective position at some point during their carriers, some defensive player of the year, others NBA top scorers, MVPs, and championship finalists or champions. Answer this my friend, what exactly has Melo accomplished in the NBA to merit such a break for his character issues?

Character issues? Other than not getting along with MDA exactly what character issues are you talking about? Melo is one of, if not the best, pure scorer in the game, best rebounding SF in the game and is clutch.

Haters can keep blaming Melo for our playoff seeding all they want but at the end of the day basketball is a team sport. Unless I'm missing something I'm pretty sure that Melo doesn't play 48 minutes a game, doesn't take 100% of the shots, doesn't commit 100% of the turnovers and doesn't defend every player on the opposing team.

You clearly didn’t follow Melo’s carrier, otherwise you would know that while an all-star, he still is an immature player, also I could understand that he didn’t get along with MDA but by his own admission he not always gave full effort in the first half of this season. THAT IS LACK OF CHARACTER ON HIS PART.

I SEE, SOME PEOPLE JUST LIKE TO LIVE IN DENIAL.

VCoug wrote:

KnicksFE wrote:

CashMoney wrote:

KnicksFE wrote:

VCoug wrote:

nixluva wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

I think Melo can still be thought of as a great player by the end of his career.

I strongly agree with this but he will have to learn the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

And people who say Kobe won three rings before that are ignoring the fact that Shaq would have won three rings with Sprewell, Houston, Starks, Shumpert, me, Joe Bob, Bob Dole, Al Gore or Mike Tyson as his shooting guard from 2000 to 2002. Shaq was that good.

I don't think it would have worked with you as SG.

There is some legitimacy to the criticisms of Kobe for being inefficient. Poor shot selection is really the one thing that separates him from legends like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. He's always been a more efficient passer than Melo, though.

Good points Bonn. Kobe also has played Point forward for alot of his career while Melo played with a PG. Hence the better 3.1/3.0 vs 4.7/3.0 (+1.7). Melo was always tasked with "just score". He happens to be a very good passer but definitely not as good as kobe.

Also, Melo's assists to to ratio is far better this year at 3.7/2.7.

I also like that he is playing crazy lock down defense now that he has to be accountable (like Stat) and I hope that continues. Any mention/comparison between him and Kobe ends as soon as defense is mentioned.

Well the reason Kobe has had more point responsibilities is that he's a better decision-maker than Carmelo is. One thing, though: You mentioned that Kobe's and Melo's offensive #s are almost identical; so I want to play around a little with the per game numbers.

Kobe: 8.9 out of 19.5 field goals made, 4.7 assists, 3.0 turnovers
Melo: 8.7 out of 19.1 field goals made, 3.1 assists, 3.0 turnovers

So every number except the assists is very similar. It's tempting to overlook how big a difference there is in the assists. Let's say that instead of passing to someone who scored an extra 1.6 times a game, Kobe directly made the shots instead. (I'm not saying the two situations are precisely identical but there's probably not a huge difference in the impact.) Then Kobe would be 10.5 out of 21.1. This would put his career FG% at .498 with Carmelo's at .456. Suddenly their efficiency doesn't look so similar, especially when you factor in the FT shooting advantage for Kobe too.

I am very pleased with the improvement in Melo's A:TO ratio, though. It's given me some more optimism about him.

Yes 1.6 assists is not NOTHING. Melo is also averaging 1.0 more rebounds per game so that makes it a little closer. I also think if Melo plays more of the Point Forward and continues to have his shooters like Shumpert hit their jumpers, you would see his assists go way up (like his 6 last night).

Kobe played with crazy good finishers and shooters. Alot better than what Melo was surrounded with. To get assists, you need your guy to hit the shot. That makes a big difference as well.

It's hard to compare the two in a quantifiable way without them having equal supporting casts.

I think that we can probably both agree that Melo can be an excellent passer and we hope he continues to get there.

I'm not sure the 1.0 rebounds is at all meaningful actually. What's better: 5.3 rbs from an SG or 6.3 from an SF? At best, it's a wash. 5.3 from an SG might even be a little better actually.

Not to mention how many of Melo's rebounds are actually of his own misses. I could care less about how Kobe and Melo compare. I do care that the guy we spent major capital to get, sulked and caused us to be fighting for the 8th seed rather than being a leader and helping us lead the Atlantic!!! That's really the most salient point to make about Melo. He showed a major lack of character that is alarming for a teams top player to display. It put the team behind the 8 ball and despite the recent surge we're still not out of the woods.

Melo is not the first player to do that. You can say the same thing about Kobe, Shaq, Lebron, DWill, CP3, Kidd, Dwight, Ewing, Jordan, Magic, Mchale, and a ton of other players. Would you say that their lack of character is alarming for a teams top player?

Are you kidding me? With the exception of DWill, most of the players above were considered the best player at their respective position at some point during their carriers, some defensive player of the year, others NBA top scorers, MVPs, and championship finalists or champions. Answer this my friend, what exactly has Melo accomplished in the NBA to merit such a break for his character issues?

Character issues? Other than not getting along with MDA exactly what character issues are you talking about? Melo is one of, if not the best, pure scorer in the game, best rebounding SF in the game and is clutch.

Haters can keep blaming Melo for our playoff seeding all they want but at the end of the day basketball is a team sport. Unless I'm missing something I'm pretty sure that Melo doesn't play 48 minutes a game, doesn't take 100% of the shots, doesn't commit 100% of the turnovers and doesn't defend every player on the opposing team.

You clearly didn’t follow Melo’s carrier, otherwise you would know that while an all-star, he still is an immature player, also I could understand that he didn’t get along with MDA but by his own admission he not always gave full effort in the first half of this season. THAT IS LACK OF CHARACTER ON HIS PART.

I SEE, SOME PEOPLE JUST LIKE TO LIVE IN DENIAL.

I can't even tell what you're trying to argue. You're trying to say that Melo has character flaws because he coasted for part of this season which apparently makes him unfit to be the #1 guy; but when I give you a list of players who are considered #1 who also coasted during the regular season under coaches they didn't like, and two (Kobe, Lebron) who coasted during the playoffs, something, something, something it's OK when they do it.

Well not that it’s OK, but considering what they have accomplished Kobe (five rings), Lebrom (2XMVP, 5XAll NBA first team, 3XAll defensive team and more) they deserve the benefit of the doubt sometimes (nobody is 100% perfect).
Look, there will always be issues in any work environment (is human nature); but when Melo gets to the level where I think his talent suggest he could be, I will give the guy his props, (believe me he is a Knick and rooting for him).
I just don’t follow the Knicks, I follow the entire NBA and when I see other players having great years statically or lifting their teams to new highs, I wonder why Melo is never mention along with them. He definitely has the talent, he will be 28 in May, the time is now.