Um yeah, Melo was a real "beast" against the Lakers after game two. It was just my imagination he went 22/60 (3/17 from long range) the last 4 games and was the main reason the Nuggets lost the series. I will admit he wore out the tanking Hornets and the overmatched Mavs in the first two rounds.
David Thorpe has a nice piece comparing the two according to shooting, scoring, making teammates better, on-ball defense, secondary defense, rebounding, and intangibles. Ultimately, he gives Durant a slight edge. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=thorpe_david&page=KDMelo-100303
it's about time after 3 terrible games. melo and durant are basically on the same level right now, and that speaks volume about how much growth durant has shown this year. if you take a poll of all the GMs right now on who's a better player, i think durant would win though. he'll finish in the top 3 for MVP.
Obviously anyone in their right mind would take Durant over Melo if they had to pick. Durant's only 22 and only improving (which is amazing to me).. but the better player right now is Carmelo. In fact, if he didn't get injured around mid season I would've gave him my vote for MVP IMO.
i take durant right now even if they both were the same age. both of them are poor playmakers and average defenders. durant shoots a better %, 3s much better, fts much better, and rebound more. the only advantage melo has on durant is the post game. and that's it. durant has him beat in basically every other category. and this is not a slight to melo. it's just that durant has raised his game to another level so fast that it's not even funny.
Durant is clearly much better already, and has more upside to boot. Melo's efficiency is worse, he can't hit from the outside, getting less rebounds, less steals, less blocks, fouling more often, hitting fewer free throws... need I go on? Durant every day and twice on Sunday. No doubt about it, one of the top three players in the game--and Melo's not one of them.
Since we're probably not making the playoffs, I hope OKC wins a championship. Stick it in the faces of the Lakers and Cavs.
I guess this is where we differ than. I don't really see it as the post game phase of his game being "that's it". The post game for a SF is very important asset to their position. Not many SF these days carry a mean post game, they rely more on driving to the basket and shooting jump shots. K-Dur is 2nd PPG., Melo is 3rd. Durant shoots a better 3 % and does shoot a better FT % (87% to 82%) but Melo is a better passer (and I think he's a better defender). Their stats for this year are very similar. If you take away age it's a really a toss up... but the 2 main reasons I want Melo on my team is his post game and his playoff experience/success.
He's still injured. Anybody mind looking up the stats before his injury? Sure I will. Suffers Minor Hand and Elbow Injuries Dec. 29, 2009 Pours in 34 Against Sacramento Dec. 29, 2009 Held to 16 Points on Sunday Dec. 28, 2009 Another 30+ Scoring Performance Dec. 26, 2009 Pours in 41 Against Memphis Dec. 20, 2009 Scores 38 Against Rockets Dec. 17, 2009 Scores 31 Against Thunder Dec. 15, 2009 Posts 32 Points on Suns Dec. 13, 2009 20+ Point Streak Ends at 20 Games Dec. 8, 2009 Scores 20+ in 19th Straight Dec. 4, 2009 Team High 25 Points on Tuesday Dec. 2, 2009 Drops 32 on T-Wolves in Loss Nov. 30, 2009 Scores Career-High 50 Points Nov. 28, 2009 Flirts with Triple Double Nov. 22, 2009 Leads All Scorers With 37 Points in Loss Nov. 21, 2009 Leads Nuggets with 25 on Friday Night Nov. 14, 2009 Leads All Scorers With 30 Points Nov. 7, 2009 Named Western Conference Player of the Week Nov. 3, 2009 Scores 30 in Debut Oct. 29, 2009 Scores 45 Points in China Exhibition Game Oct. 11, 2009 http://www.nba.com/playerfile/carmelo_anthony/index.html
durant has an AWESOME midrange game and does have a legit post up game (though not as good as melo's). they both go to the line at the same rate too. i think durant has been a better player than melo this year, and you'll see durant on the all-nba 1st team this year.
Carmelo for now, but Durant has the potential to be better than even LeBron. But right now, I give it to Carmelo for the simple fact that he shows consistency on the defensive end. Something about the Olympics changed his whole outlook on the game. He is a more complete player than Durant, IMO. But the future is far brighter for Durant..
Look I'm not taking anything away from Durant. Actually, just the other day me and t_mac1 were debating the reason for OKC success and how much of a roll Durant has played into it (a very big one at that). I just think it's completely unfair that some people have forgotten how well Melo was playing during the first half of the year. They see ESPN talking about Durant's streak of 25+ points and they automatically think, hey that sounds pretty impressive he's top 3, Lebron, Kobe and Durant. That's not fair, give credit where credit is due. Not to mention the Nuggets have a better record. (Don't give me the "Billups" argument because you could easily make the same case with Westbrook's play of late).
i think you forgot where i said: it's not a slight to melo (he's been awesome too), it's just that durant has been a "little" bit better. it's like saying durant is freakin' awesome this year, but lebron is just out of this world and even durant is not even close to his stratosphere. you get what i'm saying? you give the thunder a big man like nene and they will have a better record than the nuggets (i guarantee you that). :grin: ultimately, both are awesome players playing at the top of their game. it's just incredble to see a 21 year old like durant being in the conversation as one of the best. the last i've seen to do that was lebron, kobe, and tmac. that's how rare it is.
put down the pipe. at 21, lebron put up 31.4, 7.0, 6.6. and he took them to the finals. and 18, he made them into a 35 win team w/o another good player on his team (if u consider Z). durant will NEVER surpass lebron. that's a fact.
You said it yourself, I think your forgetting about a guy named Jeff Green (I'm not saying he's equal to Nene but he's not too shabby). It's crazy that when you talk about OKC success, one mentions Durantula, Westbrook and Green... but many people forgot that they have a top 3 pick in James Harden that hasn't even began to develop yet. How good is this team going to be in the near future? Anyways we could debate all day. I just think this game for me sealed my case for now. Melo kinda owns the Thunder too. :grin: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Id6lkaXMtA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Id6lkaXMtA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
