misterearl wrote:The Answer Man Calls Bullsh#t

Bonn1997 wrote:Stop taking the contested mid range shots that he hits at about a 30% rate. It aint rocket science.

Bonn1997 - you offer absolutely no mathematical evidence of Carmelo taking, or making, midrange shots.

If a contested shot is defined as a shot taken with a hand in one's face, I would offer that Carmelo is better than most at that rare skill.

My nephew Lloyd can hit an open jumper.

Here are Carmelo's #s by location on the floor:
http://hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Carmelo%20Anthony
You can see that career-wise from 10 to 15 feet out, he is usually in the mid to upper 30s. At the rim he's in the 60s. This is a great example of the limitations of the naked eye. There's no way a fan is going to notice the difference between a player hitting 38 and 43% of his mid-range shots. You can't possibly keep all the data in your mind to notice that one guy hits one more shot out of every twenty attempts. My guess is that if the guy hitting 38% is taking tougher shots and looks flashier doing it, most fans will think he's the more effective shooter.

Melo is great at getting to the rim and drawing fouls or finishing. If he ever plays to his strengths and accepts his weaknesses, he'll be a true star and a major contributor to teams that regularly go deep in the playoffs. Otherwise, he'll continue to be a very talented but underachieving player with modest efficiency.

People like TripleThreat spend hours passing judgement Carmelo's past and completely overlook the facts of his personal narrative. It's less about basketball and more about how a person has the opportunity to develop and grow in a supportive environment.

Anthony's father, after whom he is named, died of cancer when Carmelo was two years old.

Perhaps that tiny detail could have something to do with his development as a person and professional athlete. Rail on about his past shot selection. Where were the comments on his defense after he dove headfirst after a loose ball? I would rather enjoy the show and share his smiles. I dig the way Carmelo gathers the Knicks huddle at center court after a game.

Have any of us been in the locker room, at practice or on the team bus?

My spider sense tells me that he and Jeremy Lin (and every other Knicks player) are mad cool.

TripleThreat wrote:

misterearl wrote:What does work have to do with it?

TripleThreat - you make some compelling points... Until the last paragraph, where you degenerated into the same negative stereotypes that you identified.

"but I think if (Carmelo) was simply a smarter player, a more crafty and cunning technician..."

Please help me understand (in basketball terminology) what a smarter, crafty or more cunning 6'9 technician would do with such unlimited gifts that were bestowed at birth?

I'm looking at the total of Melo's career, including Denver. Actually I felt I was being complimentary to him. Normally what I see associated with Melo is that he doesn't want to be anything other than a ball stopping chucker and he doesn't want to play defense. When I've watched Melo over the years, I don't see a player who wants to lose, I see a player who wants to win but seems to have a hard time reading an offense or best understands how to break down a defense.

Consider that Melo was probably the best basketball player in any level since he was probably in the 5th grade. The talent gap must have been tremendous. What did coaches probably do? Throw it to Melo and let him figure it out. This is how a lot of lower level basketball is played, give it the best player and let him do his magic, because the talent gap is that wide. I question how often Melo was asked to do anything other than be a volume scorer.

The league is full of guys who lost a step or their athleticism and are out of the league. Iverson. Francis. Starbury. Guys who did not evolve their game and add dimensions to it. Kidd added long range shooting, which he didn't have as a young player. I'd argue Kidd was one of the worst shooting point guards coming into the league, quite possibly ever. He was horrible as a young player. Now he's a very good long range shooter. Grant Hill came back from injuries and changed up his game, he was no longer young and injuries limited him to certain things he could not do anymore, but he evolved and he's still a good contributor to his teams.

IMHO, Melo has consistently been a ball stopper with poor shot selection but has been able to overcome with his raw talent and athleticism. So yes, I think if you could put a Kidd or Hill BB IQ into Melo, you'd have someone who was a lethal scorer to an out of this world juggernaut. I'm not basing my assessment on race, but on my assessment of watching Melo for nearly a decade choke out offense rhythm and at times look clueless on defense.

What are the reasons a player can't improve?

A) They don't have the physical ability

B) They can't adjust to the speed of the game

C) They are lazy or disinterested

D) They are unable to process the non athletic elements of the game at a rate conducive to change

E) Inferior or non existent coaching

I don't see anything wrong with Melo's athelticism or his ability to run with the pace of the game. I'm pretty sure Karl qualifies as a good enough coach. I don't see Melo as lazy. What else is there?

I agree with Barkley, from an ability standpoint, Melo has no offensive weaknesses. This is a guy, IMHO, who should be able to pour it in at will as if he was setting a nuke off against the other team. What else is there besides decision making, NBA BB IQ and shot selection?

Watch Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis sometime. Curry moves well without the ball, is a lights out shooter, has good shot selection, can move within the flow of his offense. Ellis is a chucker. He's an inefficient chucker. Compared to Curry, Ellis could jump through the gym at will. But the Warriors are trying to move Ellis and keep Curry. Why? Because it's really hard to win with a chucker. I don't think Ellis wants to be a chucker. I think Ellis doesn't know how to do anything else but be a chucker. That's his ceiling.

TripleThreat, think about it ... If you broke up your posts into 12 separate post, your post count would go flying into Bip territory. How great would that be?

Bonn1997 wrote:What are your thoughts on the shot selection stats I posted?

Bonn1997 - your research was outstanding.

The only shot stats that matter to me are those stats from Carmelo's first full, season in New York. This season. More important, Melo's efficiency playing next to a lead guard named Jeremy Lin (or Baron Davis) is what we should be most concerned about. The past is the past.

Certainly, Carmelo has been in the league longer... think of it this way... if Lin fell into a perfect opportunity where the planets aligned just right in New York.... and he has the opportunity to grow into his role as the straw that stirs the drink... who can say that Carmelo cannot adapt his unique skill set as an essential ingredient for a winning team concept?

Bonn1997 wrote:The thing that frustrates me though is that I don't think he realizes that a contested 20 footer with 18 on the shot clock is a bad shot.

Bonn1997 - Can you really cite one instance where Carmelo has taken a shot six seconds after it has been inbounded from the backcourt?

The level of Carmelo resentment you just described is borderline obsessive.

C'mon Man!

Bonn1997 wrote:

misterearl wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:The thing that frustrates me though is that I don't think he realizes that a contested 20 footer with 18 on the shot clock is a bad shot.

Bonn1997 - Can you really cite one instance where Carmelo has taken a shot six seconds after it has been inbounded from the backcourt?

The level of Carmelo resentment you just described is borderline obsessive.

C'mon Man!

It was an exaggeration. But he does take a bad contested jumpshot about once a quarter. Drop the part I mentioned about the shot-clock then. I don't think he realizes that a contested a jumpshot is a bad shot.

you can look at the positive or negative here... the negative is obvious. the positive is that he can make that shot. I'd like to see him pass in those situations too. But in a June game with less than 10 seconds remaining, that's the only hsot you'll get. In that case there is no one in the league I'd rather have take that shot than Melo

Bonn1997 wrote:It was an exaggeration. But he does take a bad contested jumpshot about once a quarter. Drop the part I mentioned about the shot-clock then. I don't think he realizes that a contested a jumpshot is a bad shot.

In Anthony's four games with Lin as the starting point guard, he's averaging 16.8 points on 43 percent shooting. He is taking an average of 15.8 shots per game. For the year, Anthony is scoring 21 points on 40 percent shooting, taking an average of 18.3 shots per game.

Bonn1997 - are you really trippin' this hard over your four "contested jumpshots" per game?

How many of those inexcusable shots were good?

When Bernard dropped fidee against the Pistons in the playoffs every single shot was contested. There was little complaining.

This ain't ballroom dancing.

Bonn1997 - please stop being permanently stuck in the past.... last time I checked Carmelo was 9-16 against Cleveland. That is more than 50 percent from the field. Fidee. Sheesh.

It is NOT about Carmelo's potential, it is about the Knicks winning basketball games as a team.

Anji wrote:

Stevo718 wrote:

Anji wrote:

JCrusher wrote:

Anji wrote:To take the next step the knicks need this guy.........

Ooops, bad iso kobe!!!!!!!!LOL

What can I say, if this coach is smart he will understand that Lin is a sideshow to keep the other guys happy. The main event is getting your best player the ball and punishing teams for letting Kyrie Irving or Ramon Sessions guard Carmelo................... which I saw alot last night but we ran some play that ended with fields or Shumps taking a jump shot.

"Lin is a sideshow" I tell you for a sideshow he seemed like he saved our season. our main event wasn't main eventing anything earlier in the season

Come on dude, Lin is a great find, but if this team goes anywhere it will be because we get Melo back to playing like he was before the injuries. Lin will better when he understand that on the court.

13 games does compare to 9 season young padawan.

You mean to get wins over the Heat or Bulls in the playoffs we need Melo to be phenominal? Yes I agree... but Lin is the one getting us there not Melo. Right now Lin is the bread and butter and Melo is the icing.

Bread and butter with icing........WTF???

Like I said, if this coach is smart he will understand that Lin is a sideshow to keep the other guys happy. The main event is getting your best player going.

Lin is a sideshow to keep the other guys happy? You mean he is giving his teammates massages and happy endings after games? Wtf ARE YOU talking about bro?
Why can't you recognize that Lin is providing the cohesion and positiveness to a team that was in danger of missing the playoffs? Brother... LIN IS the main event right now, the whole point of this team right now is that there are no sideshows... everyone and anyone CAN BE the main event on any given night... that is the beauty of this team.