good post man yeah, I’m hopeful that the defense won’t slip too much...I don’t think we’re gonna go from 6th to just average or anything like that, but if we go from 6th to like 10th or 11th, then I will be a little concerned I just don’t have much faith that we can keep up with GS offensively without another star added to the team, and we didn’t get that this summer, so the last thing I wanted to see happen was a slip in defense...if Morey can get another legit 3&D wing to replace Ariza then I’ll be good you’re right that every chip involves luck, and honestly, that’s something I’ve been overlooking...we’re so close to a title, but this offseason has got me stressing from day 1
Again don't mind them. When Melo hits his first gane winning shot they'll change their whole outlook. I love what I am seeing. Melo still has the strength of a Bull! I really hope Harden and Paul can light a fire cracker in his butt! Watching him play the lakers in Denver, you can see a different Melo. He guarded Kobe. He hustled for rebounds and he just went ham! If we csn get about 80% of that we are good. I am also hoping he works on his range. He has a great release. I'd like to see him hit that consistantly from maybe a foot or so away from the 3pt line. He definitely has the strength to do so. I'm ready to see tapes of him Harden and Paul all playing together!
For a lot of people Melo needs to prove he's a positive impact player first, they aren't going to get their hopes up or be swayed by a workout video which like we said didn't tell us much about what he will do during the season. Him working hard is the bare minimum for an NBA player, it isn't a story that an NBA player is putting in work with some workouts in the off-season. If he has a Oladipo body transformation that would be a story and that could get people excited . Doing what you should be doing though that isn't something you'll find people commending. That workout is not him going above and beyond what the average NBA player is doing, so the responses are understandable. Unless it's something drastic in the off-season, there's going to be a lot of wait and see as it relates to Carmelo
Just by looking at this video you can see why those two are some of the least efficient scorers in the league last year. Melo drove to the basket one time in that clip. His whole game is about setting up that long contested long 2s. Every twitch, every fake, every hesitation he makes is him trying to put his opponent off balance for half a second before firing a terribly difficult mid range jumper over contested hands. We don't need that garbage. Melo should either park his ass at the 3pt line or take a smaller guard imto the post. That's it. If I see any Possession starting with a Melo iso that ends with him firing a 21 footer off the dribble I'm going to be angry.
Melo's mid-range was part of a versatile arsenal when he had an elite first step and could get to shoot 7, 8, 9 FTA's a game. In Denver, 40% of Melo's FGA were at the basket. A lot of that was George Karl who always pushed him to hold the ball less and attack quickly and do more around the basket. His first two seasons with NY, it went down to 28%, then age, injuries, and the last 4 seasons, 18%, then his final season with NY, 13%, and last season with OKC, 12%. When the mid-range attack was a means to set up drives to the basket, get him to the line, and part of a versatile array of offensive moves, it was great. Carmelo's change from his best seasons in Denver (year 3 and later) is that he traded attempts at the basket for more mid-range, but also for more three's, so his eFG% has actually stayed pretty constant at an okay 48-49% range, the biggest hit on his offensive efficiency is his lack of ability to draw FT's like he used to. Exclude OKC, his three previous seasons, 47% of Carmelo's FGA came from 10 feet to <3PT, in Denver it was 40%, but in NYK, his 3PAr drastically increased also, from 11.4% from 05-06 to 09-10 with Denver to 25.4% in NY, so with the efficiency of the three, he made up the loss of attempts at the rim (especially since his finishing was declining), but not the FTA which was what really made him an efficient high volume scorer. Melo is not in the class of Paul from mid-range. His best season from mid-range is like Paul's worst. Paul is elite at getting separation, and he hits 50%+ from mid-range. If Carmelo could do that, it changes things, but even at his best he was in the mid 40's, and without either great volume 3PT shooting or a great ability to get to the basket and to the line, you just won't be efficient taking half of your shots from mid-range unless you are the elite of the elite from there. It's going to be the most anticipated thing to see how the Rockets fit him in. His mid-range skills have value, just not at the volume in which he has been used to utilizing it.
Melo’s biggest issue has always been shot selection. It has little to do with ability that’s why you can’t just purely look at his numbers in terms of efficiency. The key is in getting him to take the best shots on the court consistently.
Shot selection is one of the more difficult things to change for a player especially if they are used to a way of playing for a long time. Carmelo is also not capable of getting to some of the spots that he used to able to or finishing as he used to, which is why his shot selection becomes even more important . Anyone who plays knows that we are generally more confident in our ability than the reality. You feel like you could have made every miss, even the bad shots, so you take it again because you could have made it, rinse, repeat. First of all of course the willingness is required, which he seems to have to an extent, but likely he probably needs to drill himself into taking the kinds of shots Houston will want him to be taking. Carmelo isn't the first player to have age and injuries hit at his effectiveness in terms of his play style and ability to maintain it, some can transform their games, some can't as well, we'll see though.
Yeah it’s tough and I think fans and media don’t always understand it mainly because they can’t. Melo will definitely have to understand that the volume just won’t be there anymore and he’s going to have to pick his spots better and I think Paul/MDA will help him with that. Part of what will make him a great long range threat is keeping him engaged with getting his favorite looks. So there’s gotta be some room for him to work on the block or elbow at certain times during the game.
He hit them last year in OKC with a high efficiency - the matter of fact the most he had in his career was last year IMO this guy needs to have his space - give him the second unit and he's a deadly scoring machine, lets not make him into a spot-up shooter ONLY
Why would u be concerned if we go from 6th to tenth. Thats not much off a drop off in my opinion. Plus i bet u we hit mpre n shoot a better percentage from 3 this year. That would be hugh. The offensive boost.
bc it is a big drop off. mediocre defense stands no chance against GS. unless you're happy with not winning a championship and just being a playoff team. then yeah it wouldn't be much of a drop off to you
and that includes holding a warriors team to a total of 12 pts in a quarter. but less defense is needed apparently #newmath
