Would the Rockets be this good right now if we had Carmelo over Anderson?

If OKC continue their nosedive he’s a potential buyout candidate. Maybe not this year, but certainly during the summer if/when PG13 bolts and the Thunder are left trying pick up the pieces after this massive failure.

Maybe we’ll get the opportunity to see both wearing the same jersey.

 

I'm still not sure. I was leaning Melo, but I don't know. Melo takes some really silly shots in OKC. Rockets have a system that I think Melo can still work in. I think Melo's game breaker ability is a real thing and would have benefited the Rockets in the playoffs.

I've convinced myself that Melo is playing the way he is because Billy D has no Idea what he is doing and Westbrook is not a PG

Anderson may not have stepped up in past playoff appearances, however, I think his connection with CP3 is a real thing and we will see a different player.

 

I wonder if Maury will try to cut Ryno loose midseason if there's a B-Grade player available. I think Darrel has tempered his asset trading ways, but that didn't go well when he did the postseason after a WCF showing.

Pretty hard to rock the boat, but you don't pay 20 million when he played fifth option in the playoffs and the team was hoping for him to show up at least every other game.

 

OKC just isn’t a place where you’re gonna see guys playing their best ball which is why I still haven’t completely written off Melo and still believe that he would be better here

I mean, if Ego were in OKC for example, he definitely wouldn’t have been playing as well as he has been in Houston

Russ is no Harden or CP3, and Billy D. is no D’antoni

 

Catch-n-Shoot 3s
Melo: 40.4% on 4.9 attempts
Ryno: 42.1% on 6.3 attempts

Pull-Up Jumper 2 pointers
Melo: 43.7% on 5.7 attempts
Ryno: 75.0% on 1.1 attempts

Melo can do what Ryno does, and do it better imo. He's just as deadly in terms of catch and shoot ability as Anderson is. Anderson has a little extra range while Melo has a quicker release. Against the Warriors, Melos release is probably more valuable.

But Melo might think he's too overqualified for the "Ryno" role. It's tough to say for sure, I think CP3 being on this team would help Melo to take a "less is more" approach. His ISO pull-up 2s are simply low percentage plays and goes against our general offensive philosophy of layups and 3s.

I'd still prefer Melo but it's a tougher decision than I thought in the off-season.

But honestly, I think I'd prefer Luc over either Anderson or Melo as the PF vs. the Warriors Death Lineup.

 

Yes and even better. Houston have a solid game plan and system, Melo would fit right in. The Thunder don't really have a system

 

And the Rockets need MORE inefficient iso players?

 

Wait, your number shows that Ryno shoots 2% better than Melo from 3 with more attempts and you say that Melo can do what Ryno does and do it better?

I totally agree with this post. We really don't know what Melo would do here. It's all speculations. Some of you talk like you know it as fact.

I tend to agree that Melo would do better here than what he is doing in OKC. But that's not the question. The question is, would the Rockets be better with Melo than with Ryno? In other words, even if Melo would be playing better than he is now, would he make the Rockets better than they are now? I don't think anyone can answer this question with any certainty.

 

If this new and improved Ryno holds up, his contract wouldn’t need to be “rid of.”

The current Ryno is exactly the piece we need for this system.

 

When you take into account that Melo isn't getting fed in a D'Antoni offense by Paul/Harden, it more than makes up for the small percentage differential. Melo would be getting much better looks here because there's an actual system in place and Paul/Harden to set him up.

 

Melo's shooting the 3 at 37.1% this season with 6.4 attempted/game which is very good, and can play SF/PF or even center a small % of the time. I think it's close between Ryno vs Melo straight up (was that ever a realistic possibility?), but it all depends on whether Melo would be insistent upon taking a lot of inefficient shots that should be going to other players. I think the main advantage Melo would have over Ryno is that he would be a nice player to have as usage insurance if god forbid something happened to Harden or CP3.

Otherwise, you just want Harden, CP3, and Capela handling most of the usage and having Ryno out there to space the floor to avoid double teams and taking other team's bigs out of the paint. Most teams in the league (outside of GSW) lack the proper roster construction to handle the Rockets who are front loaded at PG/SG and have the dynamic front court of Capela/Ryno.

 

Melo would be a lot better in this system because the Rox need a selfish volume scorer. If you watched any of the 7SOL Suns they want as much attempts as possible, even forgoing the quality of the shot as long as they put out as much attempts as possible.

You can't use their %s in a direct comparison because Anderson is playing in the best possible system and Melo is the opposite. Give Melo 2 playmakers in Harden and Cp3 I'm sure his FG% will go up. Same is true for Anderson, he might play like Home Anderson every game if he had Westbrick and OKC offense.

And most important of all, you are forgetting the playoffs. Melo has performed better historically in the playoffs than Anderson who has a track record of wilting under pressure.

 

Morey got it right.

 

There is a reason The Moray Eel wanted Melo on this team and I trust the Eel.

 

We were getting Carmelo for the PLAYOFFs not the regular season

anything that happens the regular season with Anderson is pretty meaningless

 

Agreed. Regular doesn’t really matter to teams competing for titles. GSW will take it to the next lvl in the playoffs and close out hard on Ryno. How will he react? History says he will disappear....let’s hope his improvements are legit

 

Ty Lawson Ty Lawson Ty Lawson


For a 1st round pick...

 

This board constantly proves how much of a homer many of you are. Carmelo in this offense would be deadly and keep in mind he gets to the free throw line which is needed in the playoffs. For the polling to be that we are better off with Ryan Anderson is absurd.

 

Harden wanted Lawson. More only got him to appease him. Melo is actually playing ok with OKC.