Tim Duncan is a lot stronger than Garnett, and that's where Tim Duncan makes his money in the league. He's probably the only player who is strong enough to have a chance at guarding Shaq. That's what makes him a superstar. Stockton is a great point guard no doubt, but he isn't a dominating player. He was better at running his team than almost anyone in the history of the league, but that doesn't make him a dominating player, it just makes him one of the best at what was required of his position. Carmelo isn't as physically gifted as LeBron, I don't think you will find any scout in the NBA who will deny that, even the few who may have drafted Carmelo first. Carmelo equals a 6'7" small forward who at his best may grab 8 boards a game and score 25 points a game. That's a very good player maybe even a superstar, but that is what small forwards are supposed to do, score and grab a few rebounds. LeBron is a 6'7" point guard with the court vision of a Magic Johnson and 40" vertical leap. That equals special out of the ordinary.
Bingo. It's effortless for him. He just goes out there, does his thing and the next thing you know, dude has 18 points and 7 rebounds to go with his 5 assists.
I see Carmelo as being in the top 10 players this year and moving into the top 5 by next year. There is nobody in the league that can shut him down. He's that good. And he's backed it up with his play. It's not like he doesn't bring the credentials. He's outplayed everyone on every level. And he did it as a kid. We are not talking about a Senior here. He was a kid. A freshman. He's just that much better than everyone. Even Lebron. And I think he;s so good that he will carry Denver on his back. Forget about supporting players. He's going to carry them on his back after about 5 years.
Hyperbole homie... He'll be good, but settle down. We'll have to wait and see. I think it's pretty clear that right now Carmelo is better and is in a better situation to be ROY. Lebron has the potential, the explosiveness, and all that, but I don't think he'll be ROY this year due to his slower adjustment and team situation.
Hard working, working hard, no matter how you put it, this is the most important thing for a rookie. Talent w/ hard work give you a super star like MJ. Less talent w/ hard work give you a Ben Wallace/Carlos Boozer, maybe even a Bird. Talent w/o hard work...that'd be Kandi, Eddie Griffin, D Miles... Odom at best. LeBron is more gifted than Melo. But I won't say it'd make much difference. If LeBron doesn't put extra effort to improve his jumpshot and quickness, he'd be called a bust by the end of this season. Same for Melo, no matter how completed his game is considered right now, he still has alot to improve. He wasn't know for his work ethic (gained weight(not muscle) for two consecutive summers)... Maybe alot of you won't agree....but Kobe is not a very physically gifted player, he doesn't have 40" vertical, is not super quick or fast. But this guy works hard. And that's why he's one of the best players in the NBA.
remember when everyone was blasting the nuggets when it seemed like they were heading to be the next clippers. that was like last year wasn't it. i'll have to say that i am very impressed with what their management has done, i guess they knew what they were doing. carmello is an absolute stud and will hands down win rookie of the year. but he'll never be as good as yao so there. couldn't keep the denver love up too long.
How stats become inflated when playing for Denver... 2002-03 statlines: Juwan Howard - 18.4 ppg / 45 FG% / 7.6 rpg / 3.0 apg James Posey - 14.1 ppg / 37.3 FG% / 5.8 rpg / 3.1 apg
I don't know about Posey, but Juwan has averaged 18.0 and 8.0 his whole career. Not really inflated. I'll give you the fact that anyone playing in Denver would have slightly inflated stats and an extra inch on there vertical, but nothing comes easy in the nba, you earn your points.
PSJ - Juwan Howard in 31.3 mpg at Dallas = 12.9 ppg Juwan Howard in 34.9 mpg after same season trade to Denver = 17.9 ppg
Of course, the fact that you have Dirk, Nash and Finley on your team does mean something also. A word of fairness... to get double digits as a fourth choice arguably means more than 18 as a key scorer. Having said that, you do have a point - being counted upon as a primary scorer on a lousy team does tend to inflate your stats. However, one quick indication of whether the player is legit or whether he simply gets a large volume of shots (anyone can score 20 on 30 shots a night) is his shooting %. Check out CA. He's getting his points on remarkably high percentages. He's for real.
I personally think that Carmelo will be ROY...he has been awesome in the preseason and seems to have adapted easier...although Lebron may be the better player when its all said and done, Carmelo will have the more immediate impact on his team
For those who watched the Rockets and Nuggets game last night, you might have seen what I've been writing about Carmello in three simple words. NO FIRST STEP Unless your name is Larry Bird, to be a dominant scorer in the NBA from the wing, you have to have a first step. You have to be able to blow by your man. Kobe, McGrady, Vince, Steve, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Michael Finley, and so on can get by their primary defender with their first step to the basket. Carmello can't. He couldn't even drive by Nachbar who has been lit up consistently this pre-season. Twice in the game he tried to drive by Nachbar and drove right into him when Nachbar step in his path. Carmello is a smart basketball player who understands the game, and has a great feel for it. He is a good post up player, and maybe he'll be back to basket player because he is definitly stronger than the a lot of threes in the NBA. He will not survive only being able to shoot mid range jump shots, NBA defenders are to good for that.
Thank you. Finally, someone who does not hop onto Melo's nuts. Melo will be a nice 15-20 ppg player, but he doesn't have the star potential that you'd like in a #3 pick. He isn't really great at anyone thing offensively, which I think will hurt him.
I didn't think he was going to average more than 20 ppg. Maybe you don't consider that a star (5 point differential? ), but that's pretty damn good. He does lack the first step and the explosiveness, but I'm sure he has more of a post-up game than Antoine Walker, and he was a "star" in the other sense of the word. Carmelo is also going to get a lot of love because he's on a crappy/young team without other scorers.
Let's hold off the accolades just yet. Pre-season and the regular season are two different beasts. Let's see how he stack up when he plays the assorted collection of veteran All-Star SF/SGs in the NBA. Plus the so called rookie wall.
A first step = creating space for your shot. Carmelo can already do that. So he doesn't need one. He has body control.
Can you name one wing player currently who isn't considered to be explosive, who's also a top 25 player in the league?
