[ESPN] Can Houston unlock 'Olympic Melo' after OKC's failed experiment?

They don't have to. The better question will be, can Houston unlock Melo to being 1-1.5x the man that Ryan Anderson was before he had the yipps? That answer thus far seems like a yes.

 

we will never get Olympic Melo back, you don't age backwards

I like what I'm seeing from Melo, he's at least trying pretty hard on offense. He's taking the right shots.

However, I don't think he's that great of a shooter, he's very streaky, kinda like Eric Gordon. I actually don't mind letting him post up or even take some open mid-range shots, because our offense has looked really one dimensional, and those CP3 and Harden iso's are just straight up bad

 

"mythical" Olympic Melo??? media conspiracy

 

D'antoni aged Grant Hill backwards once.

 

olympic melo doesn't need to play defense

 

If we have the key to unlock Olympic Melo, does that mean Olympic Melo is the key to unlock a championship?

I now fully understand that "the key to a championship" pitch.

 

That article ending with Melo not being the 3rd star as part of a "Big-3" is definitely alluding to Jimmy Butler to Rockets: confirmed!

Good read. I'm liking what I'm seeing from Melo, including all that happened in the 1-5 stretch. Didn't realize it at the time, but that game against Utah makes a lot of sense. Their strategy in the round over OKC was to attack Melo, which surprised me when I saw it in our game given how early it was in the season to have a gameplan like that. I'm convinced the schedule heavily weighed against us to start this season. Good times ahead! Can't wait for tonight's game.

 

Even if you live your life by analytics, one offensive concept that can work pretty well is a bench of streaky shooters. On any given night, there's a strong probability that at least one of them will be hot. You just have to be smart about identifying which guy that is, in time to win the game.

The downside: At the end of last year's WCF, we saw what happens when literally everyone on the team goes cold.

 

I haven't read this yet, but knowing it's written by Royce Young poisons it for me.

He is the driver of the Russell Westbrook apology bus.

 

Olympic Melo is a myth!!!

 

Just curious, why do you think Harden and Cp3 isos are bad?

 

It does matter, no question about it. Rhythm matters offensively. We frequently talk of players needing to find their rhythm on that end, and I think it's just as important on the defensive end, which doesn't get talked about as much. It's not just effort that's needed on defense. A player can put out all the effort he can give at that end and still be the headless chicken running around the yard, not realizing he's dead - until he gives up an easy bucket to the other team, over and over again.

You have to know the defensive system backwards and forwards, know your role, and knowing that, find your rhythm within it. You can't be "thinking" the entire time on defense. At some point, good defenders know what's needed and act instinctively within the system. We saw that in spades last season, in my opinion.

Under Jeff B's guidance, we dramatically improved our D and it showed, both with the metrics and on the court. Players bought in. Harden, maligned for his defense (sometimes unfairly), made an obvious improvement. It didn't hurt that Chris Paul was like a defensive coach on the court and on the bench. It's why so many of us are excited about Jeff returning in the midst of yet another league offensive experiment. He'll figure out how best to use our guys to combat it, as MDA figures out how to diabolically exploit the new rules offensively.

I'm kind of excited about the whole thing. It may take a while, but we're starting to figure things out, and Jeff B hasn't even arrived yet. Melo may end up being the best vet minimum player in the league before it's over. Fingers crossed.

 

GG need to stop shooting 3s out of full sprint

 

On the cool .. and this isn't popular opinion but Melo has been playing well.

 

If GG went full NBA jamz sprint mode and lept from the 3 point line then finger rolled on his descent it would probably be a higher % shot than what's he's been chucking up. (Would it count as a 3?)

 

Good lord...... the Olympics are a tourney lasting 2-3 weeks or what?

The season goes on to 6 months.

It's easier to adjust to your best in a tournament. It's one of these NARRATIVES yet again!