dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

More to the point, do others around Melo believe that they are better than they actually are in reality without Melo when he is busy believing he's better than others actually believe he is? Does Melo believe that Kobe and Durant believe they are better than all other's beliefs combined? Do others actually believe what they say when they are actually saying Melo is better than he believes he actually is during actual practices? When others (like Kobe) who actually play in actual games say that Melo actually is better than he believes he is do they believe their own beliefs?

Does Melo only believe that he makes everything actually worse on all parts of any actual court, or does he just imagine that he does? What if the entire actual NBA is nothing more than Melo's imagination?

Does Rasheed believe in Melo's actual existence? Does Tyson?

jrodmc wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

More to the point, do others around Melo believe that they are better than they actually are in reality without Melo when he is busy believing he's better than others actually believe he is? Does Melo believe that Kobe and Durant believe they are better than all other's beliefs combined? Do others actually believe what they say when they are actually saying Melo is better than he believes he actually is during actual practices? When others (like Kobe) who actually play in actual games say that Melo actually is better than he believes he is do they believe their own beliefs?

Does Melo only believe that he makes everything actually worse on all parts of any actual court, or does he just imagine that he does? What if the entire actual NBA is nothing more than Melo's imagination?

Does Rasheed believe in Melo's actual existence? Does Tyson?

Perfect response to posts that are soaked with the stench of agenda....

Swishfm3 wrote:

jrodmc wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

More to the point, do others around Melo believe that they are better than they actually are in reality without Melo when he is busy believing he's better than others actually believe he is? Does Melo believe that Kobe and Durant believe they are better than all other's beliefs combined? Do others actually believe what they say when they are actually saying Melo is better than he believes he actually is during actual practices? When others (like Kobe) who actually play in actual games say that Melo actually is better than he believes he is do they believe their own beliefs?

Does Melo only believe that he makes everything actually worse on all parts of any actual court, or does he just imagine that he does? What if the entire actual NBA is nothing more than Melo's imagination?

Does Rasheed believe in Melo's actual existence? Does Tyson?

haha...forget NBA, RIGHT NOW, Jrodmc is on my UK top 5

knickscity wrote:When you get done its matchups.

matchups are important but not to the exclusion of these other things-- not during the regular season. where matchups begin to matter most is during the course of a playoff series.

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

I agree with a lot of the points that dk7th make, it makes sense to me, but it might be too harsh for some fans to accept and agree with....

TFK does go a bit over board, at times, but he isn't the only one that does it.
In his defense, a lot of it are built up from: message board wars from different views, opinions, and members here.

Papa Bear on the other hand i think had too many BEERS with some other magical substances

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

He is an undisputable top 5 player so far this season. Since the Howard foul he has dropped to two and then four in Sheridan's mvp rankings but obviously he has been hurt and the Knicks have missed him. How high do you think he was ranking himself? Best +1 for the last month of 2012 and the first month of '13. Or best for all of '13 so far. He has been rated 1 or 2 for the mvp race for every week he has been healthy this year.

i guess i don't think a guy with a winning mentality in a team sport thinks about his chances of winning the mvp. maybe bryant had been thinking about it since he is monomaniacal in his pursuit of jordan's 6 titles, however futile that is. but what ought to drive a player is not pursuit of the mvp but the pursuit of a title.

yes it is a regular-season award and yes it is apparently given to the best player on the team with one of the best records-- but ultimately winning in basketball is about how well you help others on your team play their best. historically it is tough for 3s and 4s to win. they are not positions from which facilitating and contributing to cohesiveness is as possible as from the traditional center or point guard position, with a few notable exceptions like bird, barkley, and garnett. even nowitzki's mvp season he had a better basic overall statline than melo does. on advanced stats he is also better than melo. garnett, barkley, and malone had higher assists and higher rebounds than melo does. even iverson's mvp season, whose game i never liked, had a 1.56 usg rate/ast rate ratio while melo's is a garish 3.3:1.

essentially what i am saying is that melo's chances of winning the mvp are directly linked to his facilitating abilities and the impression that, among voters, he is contributing to the team playing as a team and being instrumental in that ability to play as a team. because that seems to be the common thread in all mvp award winning. it's about helping others get their's as well as he getting his-- and he just doesn't do that well enough.

I agree with your post.

I don't care if is MVP or not. That is fodder for the haters to rag on him or for his defenders to defend.

I have said all along that I think that Melo is as could or could be as good as Paul Pierce and he has never one an MVP. What he did win is a finals MVP and that award is the one the I covet.

Melo is averaging a career low assists this year, the year people are stating that he is being more of a team player. Last season he was at his career high(ish) (3.6) and everyone thought that it was his most selfish year. Go Figure.

Uptown wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

He is an undisputable top 5 player so far this season. Since the Howard foul he has dropped to two and then four in Sheridan's mvp rankings but obviously he has been hurt and the Knicks have missed him. How high do you think he was ranking himself? Best +1 for the last month of 2012 and the first month of '13. Or best for all of '13 so far. He has been rated 1 or 2 for the mvp race for every week he has been healthy this year.

i guess i don't think a guy with a winning mentality in a team sport thinks about his chances of winning the mvp. maybe bryant had been thinking about it since he is monomaniacal in his pursuit of jordan's 6 titles, however futile that is. but what ought to drive a player is not pursuit of the mvp but the pursuit of a title.

yes it is a regular-season award and yes it is apparently given to the best player on the team with one of the best records-- but ultimately winning in basketball is about how well you help others on your team play their best. historically it is tough for 3s and 4s to win. they are not positions from which facilitating and contributing to cohesiveness is as possible as from the traditional center or point guard position, with a few notable exceptions like bird, barkley, and garnett. even nowitzki's mvp season he had a better basic overall statline than melo does. on advanced stats he is also better than melo. garnett, barkley, and malone had higher assists and higher rebounds than melo does. even iverson's mvp season, whose game i never liked, had a 1.56 usg rate/ast rate ratio while melo's is a garish 3.3:1.

essentially what i am saying is that melo's chances of winning the mvp are directly linked to his facilitating abilities and the impression that, among voters, he is contributing to the team playing as a team and being instrumental in that ability to play as a team. because that seems to be the common thread in all mvp award winning. it's about helping others get their's as well as he getting his-- and he just doesn't do that well enough.

I agree with your post.

I don't care if is MVP or not. That is fodder for the haters to rag on him or for his defenders to defend.

I have said all along that I think that Melo is as could or could be as good as Paul Pierce and he has never one an MVP. What he did win is a finals MVP and that award is the one the I covet.

Melo is averaging a career low assists this year, the year people are stating that he is being more of a team player. Last season he was at his career high(ish) (3.6) and everyone thought that it was his most selfish year. Go Figure.

Just goes to show you that winning cures all and hides deficiencies. With that said, he handled the ball alot more last year, especially early on when we didn't have a pg. Melo is still moving the ball plenty this year, as is the whole team so his pass usually leads to the assist.

Yeah - I would love to see a hockey assist stat.

I don't think he is passing as much because his is in a shooting zone while last year he had less confidence in his shot

dk7th wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Uptown wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote:

TeamBall wrote:

dk7th wrote: i just don't like players who are not aware that they are not as good as the hype. i don't like bryant either for the same reason. there's confidence and then there's conceitedness. he believes in his own hype and he plays like it.

What hype exactly? Before this season, barely anyone outside of NY thought Melo was any good due to the team's struggles at the time. If you add the fact that fans like TKF and yourself never thought he was that good to begin with, then there really wasnt much hype for him to believe in was it? If you're talking about this year's hype then I still dont see the problem since you just said that he is playing very well (though you attribute it solely to his 3 point shooting).

the stern-era nba is nothing if not a hype-machine. part of that machine is being grossly compensated and being surrounded by handlers, yes men, posses, etc. carmelo has been immersed in this nba hype-machine culture his entire life. think about that for a second-- his entire life he has been spoon fed the nba, inundated by the nba, and eventually immersed in the nba.

fans are not immune to the hype-machine. far from it. carmelo anthony has been similarly lauded for an all-star career and making the playoffs every year of his career by a majority of new york fans. that he has been a hugely divisive figure is proof of the extreme feelings... not the exactly what you are conveying here.

You can take out Carmelo and substitute it with several other players in the NBA and that paragraph would still hold true. But you're saying what makes him a "vain douche" is that he believes hes good at basketball?

As for your other point, it doesnt really apply to me. As you can see from my username, I dont like to attribute a teams success to one individual (unless that actually is the case like Lebron's Cavs). Basketball is still a team sport. But that "hype-machine" you're referring to is still a little confusing to me. Until recently, Stern has long since abandoned trying to hype up Melo so is the hype just Knicks fans?

he is a good basketball player-- let's start there. but what i have been saying is that he believes he is better than he actually is, and plays as though he is better than he actually is. this has been a problem his entire career so far as i a concerned-- again my opinion. you can't have a "usage rate"/"ast rate" ratio like carmelo's and not come across as a selfish player. this season alone it's a whopping 3:1. this season his assist average is at a career low. during his most successful season do you know what that ratio was? 1.66:1 in 2008-2009.

you have a wonderful username. as you probably know i treasure teamwork and defense. let me ask you this: do you believe that melo thinks he makes others around him better on either end of the court? or a different question: do you believe that melo makes others around him better on either end of the court?

He is an undisputable top 5 player so far this season. Since the Howard foul he has dropped to two and then four in Sheridan's mvp rankings but obviously he has been hurt and the Knicks have missed him. How high do you think he was ranking himself? Best +1 for the last month of 2012 and the first month of '13. Or best for all of '13 so far. He has been rated 1 or 2 for the mvp race for every week he has been healthy this year.

i guess i don't think a guy with a winning mentality in a team sport thinks about his chances of winning the mvp. maybe bryant had been thinking about it since he is monomaniacal in his pursuit of jordan's 6 titles, however futile that is. but what ought to drive a player is not pursuit of the mvp but the pursuit of a title.

yes it is a regular-season award and yes it is apparently given to the best player on the team with one of the best records-- but ultimately winning in basketball is about how well you help others on your team play their best. historically it is tough for 3s and 4s to win. they are not positions from which facilitating and contributing to cohesiveness is as possible as from the traditional center or point guard position, with a few notable exceptions like bird, barkley, and garnett. even nowitzki's mvp season he had a better basic overall statline than melo does. on advanced stats he is also better than melo. garnett, barkley, and malone had higher assists and higher rebounds than melo does. even iverson's mvp season, whose game i never liked, had a 1.56 usg rate/ast rate ratio while melo's is a garish 3.3:1.

essentially what i am saying is that melo's chances of winning the mvp are directly linked to his facilitating abilities and the impression that, among voters, he is contributing to the team playing as a team and being instrumental in that ability to play as a team. because that seems to be the common thread in all mvp award winning. it's about helping others get their's as well as he getting his-- and he just doesn't do that well enough.

I agree with your post.

I don't care if is MVP or not. That is fodder for the haters to rag on him or for his defenders to defend.

I have said all along that I think that Melo is as could or could be as good as Paul Pierce and he has never one an MVP. What he did win is a finals MVP and that award is the one the I covet.

Melo is averaging a career low assists this year, the year people are stating that he is being more of a team player. Last season he was at his career high(ish) (3.6) and everyone thought that it was his most selfish year. Go Figure.

Just goes to show you that winning cures all and hides deficiencies. With that said, he handled the ball alot more last year, especially early on when we didn't have a pg. Melo is still moving the ball plenty this year, as is the whole team so his pass usually leads to the assist.

Yeah - I would love to see a hockey assist stat.

I don't think he is passing as much because his is in a shooting zone while last year he had less confidence in his shot

the ratio of usage rate to assist rate pretty much gives you an idea of how much he accrues the hockey assist stat. he has the ball in his hands on 34% of the team plays while he participates in an assist for a teammate 10.3%. it's hard to imagine he is getting a whole lot of those when the ratio is 3.3:1 and trending higher. kidd is at 0.63:1 which is closer to point guard territory and felton is at 0.85:1.

even bryant is at 1.37:1 which is close to his career average.

melo at 3.3:1 reinforces the iso melo image i'm afraid.

First, I imagine Kobe's assist numbers are up mainly because he's been playing without a pg all year, similar to Melo last year when his assist numbers were up. On top of that, Kobe has never played with a pure pg his whole career. Would love to see Kobe's assist numbers once Nash settles in.

Second, you do watch the games dont you? If your watching, you know that it has not been strictly iso Melo this year. Of course he will get his share of iso plays, but so does every elite player in the league. As far as his assists being down, how much do you contribute to the majority of his teammates having career lows in FG%?

Felton 39%
Novak 41%
Smith 41%
Brewer 37%