Well, to be fair, it's not exactly expected. But for all the psuedo-hate he got when he was out and Lin was lighting up NYC, he should be given props for his recent performance. I, for one, was so hopeful that it just wouldn't work out for whatever reason and the Knicks would trade him to Houston. Not going to happen now, of course. In his last 12 games in which the Knicks have gone 8-4, Melo's been on fire, and contributing in other ways, too. 30.4 ppg, 50.4% shooting, 7.8 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.6 spg His faults are still his faults. Can be too unselfish. Not the best defender. But the guy is definitely a superstar player, has historically been a winner, and was just not a good fit for D'Antoni's system or style.
The fact that he can't play/coexist with another ballhandler or under a certain type of offense is the primary reason why he gets criticized a lot. If you're a superstar, you should be one regardless, unless you're a Billups where you need a particular environment. Melo needs the offense to go through him at all time, every time for him to be effective. He needs to play HIS way, and he can only play that one way. He's doing well now b/c he's making shots. Every great scorer goes through a hot stretch and he's in one now. He's not going to shoot 50% as he's nowhere near that for his career. He's playing at a very high level now, but he won't keep it up.
Going through a hot streak offensively does not excuse a career of cherrypicking. Is he now a good defensive player and can be counted on for an honest amount of effort on both ends?
I disagree. Some superstars can adapt to any system, but most superstars have systems modeled after their game. The idea of Shaq excelling like he did in a D'Antoni system is stupid for example. He still would have done well, but it would have been a waste of his talents. Tim Duncan has had a system, modeled after his style of play, in place for his entire career. Dirk - system perfectly tailored for him. You don't see Dirk getting up and down and playing in a motion offense. Cause that'd be r****ded. He excels as a post up mid range offensive threat... and that's where he gets the ball a lot. I concede his style of play can be selfish, but I'd also point out pretty much every superstar has this issue. And it's actually what you would want, no? I mean, I WANT the ball going through Kobe, Durant, Rose, etc. pretty much all the time. the only superstars you can't say that about don't really have superstar offensive games (Dwight) Of course. But he's still been a relatively efficient player throughout his career. His career TS% isn't quite as high as Lebron, Wade or Kobe, but it's close. It's been down this year until recently.
My respect for Melo went way down this year. Where was this effort/performance when Lin/Amare were playing? He knew he wouldn't touch the ball much, and thus he wasn't as effective. His game is dictated ENTIRELY by his scoring. His best stretch is when he's going solo b/c he gets to touch the ball all the time. That's now how a superstar is. If you can't score, you do other things. If Melo doesn't score, he's pretty much useless. Wait till he has a bad shooting game. He will pretty much be a ghost.
Every player needs a system to thrive in. As a coach you have to develop a system that utilized your player's strengths while minimizing his weaknesses. A good example of this is what coach Hollins did with Zach Randolph. He developed an offense tailored to Zach's game. Same with Melo.
yes, but slow paced doesn't have to mean lacking in offense. his 08-09 nuggets team that went to the WCF was 6th in the league in scoring. frankly, for all of his years in denver, they were a top 10 scoring team. There was probably too much scoring in Denver and not enough defense. Criticisms about his defense are warranted. Which is why the Knicks smartly tried to pair him up with Chandler.
He was injured and missed a bunch of games. did you watch? when he came back, he was trying to acclimate to a new Lin-centric Knicks, while still trying to fit into a D'Antoni system that isn't the best fit for him, really. And oh yeah, while coming back from his injury.
Zach Randolph is not a superstar player. Good players can be much better if they're in the right system (Billups for instance). For the most part, superstars are who they are regardless of where they are, and who they play with. No I watch the guy. If Lin was healthy and came back right now, Melo's production would plummet.
melo was limited to a jump shooter with lin. he wasn't getting the ball low in the post (lin would completely miss him which the knicks announcer used to highlight) and a lot of times lin would dribble out the clock and melo would have to create late in the clock. i'm sure an off season could work that out.
Randolph's best year, statistically, was actually 06/07 with Portland. He got all the love with Memphis because he finally won. I guess my point being it does matter what system you play in and who with. Shaq is a great example. He moved around a bunch in his career. Went to the Finals with 3 different squads. Won with 2 squads. And every place, the system was tailored after his game, he wasn't fitting in. You might say, sure, it's Shaq, a huge post up player whose dominance depends on a half-court post up game. But that's the point. Do I believe today's superstars - Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Durant, Rose, Dirk - could thrive in other systems? Sure. but I also recognize they are all thriving in systems that are clearly tailored to their games. Melo with D'Antoni was a mismatch. And the Knicks would be a worse team for it.
He can't coexist with other good offensive presences. He's a volume shooter who doesn't move his feet on D, and I don't like his style of play.
The Knicks will never do anything with Melo as its #1 player. They're stuck in mediocrity b/c he can't coexist with another star.
This is the first year he will have been on a team that didn't finish in top 10 in scoring. Melo's criticism's should be leveled at his defensive game.
Wasnt much pseudo-hate to it, it was legitimate gripes. Knicks had a 12-16 record LAST year AFTER they got Carmelo. Yes they had a decent stretch late last year (similar to this year), but superstars arent supposed to have decent stretches after poor ones just to average out to mediocre. That lackluster record continued into THIS season DESPITE bringing in Tyson Chandler (though letting Chauncey Billups go, dumb move). Whether its Carmelo or the coach's fault, he definitely deserved every bit of criticism. He went to NY to be THE MAN, and being the man in NY means he gets the SCRUTINY.