carmelo is playing like a boss...hustling on D. he may not be good at it. But he is trying his damn best, at least keeping some good guards from driving on him, and giving them the jumper. he'll never be good. but without him we wouldn't have won both the last games.... let me go ahead and say it. he's going to shut all the damn haters on this board and all of america up this season. For all he lacks on D, he is that good at offense. just like harden. He is a cornerstone of this team. and after this season, we're all going to wish we can keep him at the veterans minimum. he is exactly the post player i wanted even before last year. and you need him against many good teams, including the warriors. his post up is a much better option that the damn james harden, step back-travel-fadeaway that was our best option last year. which he can miss seven in a row at times.
His D hasn't been as bad these last two games, well after CP3 lit up the whole team. In general, he does have those defensive moments that make you wonder why he is so bad, but then he follows it up with no effort defensive lapses. I hate how he closes out, he rarely seems to raise his hand on a close out. I also wish he would step in for a charge to compensate for his shitty defense in the paint. I know we didn't bring him to be a defensive specialist but he at least has to be slightly below average against playoff teams. We need him to actually contest on close outs and sacrifice his body and attempt to take a charge occassionally.
I’m with you on everything except the harden step back. That’s a lethal move and he converts at prob a better rate on a effective fg% than a Melo post up. We lucky to have both those moves as well as cp3 mid range game. Rockets need all three to be hitting there go to moves if we want to even have a chance against the warriors.
I wonder if they weren't trying to put a square peg into a round hole with Melo early on …. asking him to play almost exclusively on the perimeter. He's a throwback player , not a modern NBA prototype wing. Sure he can shoot a solid percentage on spot up 3's …. but his strengths are in the post. Playing him with Cp3 and the 2nd unit without Capela on the floor allows him to create mismatches on the blocks .... where he can still beat opponents more often than not. That allows him to get going .... which seems to affect his play on both ends. He's still going to be a liability defensively against a lot of teams , especially GSW but who can really match up with Durant ? That guy is literally un-guardable , moreso with todays rules all favoring the offensive player.
The close out part I agree with but it dangerous to ask a guy to try to take a charge for the first in his 15 year career. You can end you season if you don’t know what you doin. Taking charge is a personal preference. You never force a player to do that against his own will. But I noticed the same thing about close outs. He doesn’t put his hands up.
it can be lethal when its on. but when its our last option, he's going to force it and miss it just as much as he makes it.
True, but our offensive options are gradually increasing. This reduces the pressure to some extent for James to do it all. Defense is another story. Additions have to be made. I'm realistic to realize that Jimmy Butler is not likely to be a Rocket.
I give him credit that he singlehandedly made the bench at least respectable. The bench is borderline horrible without him.
I just hope that EG can get his act together too. His performance against the Nets was promising. Melo is finally fitting in. Kudos to MDA for realizing that Melo can be far more effective if he isn't expected to just shoot 3's.
In the playoffs, he will be posting up a lot more with his unstoppable around 10 ft shots. And teams would be foolish to let him shoot that instead of the low-percentage 3s. It will create open space for shooters when they double-team him. It is too early to see if Melo can do this for a complete schedule, but I'm liking him to see his long arms after shots by defenders. When Hartenstein made that hustle play on defense to get a jump ball, Melo was the first to hi-five him. Playoff Melo can't wait.
You guys are fawning over 17 points on 14 shots with poor defense. You're going to be in here ******** on Ennis or MDA or Morey or someone soon. Just know right now: if he keeps taking that shot, it will go through looooooong droughts, and it is 100% Melo's responsibility. There's no corner-turning after 17 years of taking that shot. He is going to miss it a lot. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green will snatch the ball out of his hands mid air. Needs to keep taking those 3's and get some FT's the rest of the time. Luckily some of those mid range shots fell in this game, but it's playing with fire. He is getting more points per shot on every other type of shot he takes. Why would we encourage him to take his current and historically least efficient shot?
I think the return of Ennis helped Melo. Ennis makes it easier because now Melo can come in & just score. I'm surprised in how easily Melo gets his points too. One thing I mentioned during our losing streak, give him the ball in post early to get his rhythm. Obviously it worked because his numbers went up
last night he was 1-7 on 3s it is arizesque post play ads variety to our offense and thus raises percentages of other players thus its more efficient even its less efficient shot per se! TAKE THAT FOR DATA
This is like a "fire the coach" thread. It's going to ping pong back and forth after every win and loss.
Maybe all he haters should just go follow another team and hate on them. This isn't how to support your team. Go follow Golden State if you want, and hate on them. I really hate these negative kinds of threads and posts on our fan forum. Melo is 3rd in FG% on this team BTW, behind Clint and James. I couldn't expect more, especially for his salary.
