James Harden, Kevin Durant, Victor Oladipo, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Gotta admit, the list of guys Westbrook can't win a title with is pretty damn impressive.
I might be in the minority here but I refuse to believe that Melo would be this atrocious if he was a Rocket. Maybe my hatred for Westbrook is clouding my judgment but I can't help but to think Melo would be at least serviceable with two great playmakers in Paul and Harden.
The thing is.. we would swap Rhyno for him. That changes perspective and it's clear Melo is an upgrade. I don't know if there is one thing Anderson does better than Anthony except dunking in traffic
Melo teams always get treated with kid gloves by the media. Over 10 seasons of not winning anything and they never call out Carmelo. Harden has a couple of bad games in the playoffs and he is designated public enemy #1.
I disagree. Ryno has been better on defense this season. I know that ain't saying much, but I'd still rather have him than Melo.
Despite what is written here, OKC has been playing pretty damn well lately, and they just lost by 3 points to a damn good Blazers team. 7-3 in their last 10 with super close losses to the Celtics and Blazers. Russ is shooting solid percentages, .452 from the field on the year, and right now they are holding on to the 4th seed. Westbrook, Adams and George have been great, but Melo is clearly on his last legs. Still, I wish that they would drop to the 7 seed to play GSW, because I think they'd have a good chance of doing damage. I'd love karma to finally hit Kevin Durant square in the nuts.
As much as I can't stand Ryno sometimes, he has the ability to catch and shoot a decent percentage from about 5 feet beyond 3 point line. That versatility helps a lot since it completely opens up the Harden/CP3 iso. If you're standing at the 3 point line, good defensive teams can hedge or double on the screen, and rotate quickly enough to close out on your 3. That same close out is impossible where Ryno shoots, so defenses rather take their chances with the iso.
I disagree. I get that Melo has been a better player his whole career and he is still better than Ryno this year, but being able to play a defined role makes a huge difference. I know we've talked about in the past how playing with two great playmakers and his BFF would make Melo adapt to a different style here, but honestly I'm not sure. I'm just not convinced. The guy is a true ball stopper and doesn't make good decisions with the ball. Sure he can give you the occasional scoring outburst and hit the a clutch shot occasionally (clearly not the case last game) but overall it's hard to gauge if he is an actual upgrade. We are 60-14 this season, I don't know if we can be much better than that with Melo on the team. I don't believe it and after watching Melo this year I'm glad we kept Ryno.
I think I agree with you . I don't much care for Melo but in the games I have watched he just does not seem engaged and invested in the team It seems like he just drawing a check Rocket River
Westbrook in March (12 games) FG%: .524 3FG%: .393 PPG: 27.8 RPG: 10.3 APG: 9.3 TPG: 4.6 #WorstPlayerEver
I feel like any of Ryno/Tucker/Ariza/Moute starting at PF would make the Thunder wayyyyyyy better. In Dork Elvis we trust.
Th They've gone 8-4 this month with 4 wins against Phoenix (twice), Sacramento, and Atlanta. Otherwise they're 4-4 against good teams.
well I think it's because coaching stuff ask Rhyno to shoot it farther away. Same thing with EG... even CP started taking more 3pa since coming here and improved vastly in that area compared to his past seasons. OKC is probably goin nowhere and Carmelo knows it. He doesn't care - it's his major flaw. But do you really think motivated Melo couldn't stand and jackup long threes making couple of them a night & occasionaly getting red hot ?Thats like his favourite thing to do. And it's way different playing alongside CP and Harden instead of WB and George. Please remind me how much Anderson improved in catch and shoot while playing with CP and how bad he shoots it on a nightly basis anyway. Additionaly Melo would give us something they try to do with old man Joe Johnson - low post iso anchor givin us another dimension in lesser bodies. Not even mentioning mental breakdowns and colorblind theories about Ryan - Anthony isn't affraid and it will matter in Playoffs.
He wouldn't be. He'd be solid. Look at how many role players Chris Paul and James Harden have elevated. Look how many Westbrook has lessened. This isn't hard stuff
Have you watched the games? Westbrook has been playing unbelievable basketball. Lost by 1 to Boston, lost by 3 and 8 to Portland, lost to Houston. Not at all bad losses for a team that plays Carmelo Anthony and Corey Brewer significant minutes, with no bench to speak of. 4 seed in the West as well, which is FAR from bad. I'd love to see them land GSW...
melo is also a ball stopper and does not generate looks for others. its become pretty clear this year that his ego doesn't allow him to play at the level of play he is in real life. you can believe playing with harden and cp3 will automatically make him better if you want but I won't go with hypotheticals that much. We can judge by whats really happening. They can't make him hit shots. They can't change his ego. Youre gonna spite Ryno and act like he dramatically improved playing with houston. No, hes always been a great shooter. But his ability to shoot is just maximized in a system that caters to what he does best.
If Paul and Harden were on pace to win 46 games, they would be getting ridiculed. But with Westbrook...sooo scary, still a huge threat, carrying an under performing supporting cast, all dem twiple dubbles.
They said the same about CP - i heard all summer about how he is a ball stopper and won't work with Harden. It's really on the leadership Carmelo is not in charge of the cra* happening in OKC. It's all on WB and training staff. They are not utilizing both George and Melo and while it's some of their fault too as a basketball player you need to catch a rhytm and they won't catch it with Russel. Just ask Kevin Durant
