We all agree that Harden makes his teammates better and Westbrick makes his worse, right?

Call me crazy but I belive there's a chance that by the mid-season, a lot of guys here will talk about how Ennis was an upgrade over Ariza.

Now let me talk about my man.
This thing with Melo gotten to a point where my friend, a lifelong Melo hater, told me a couple of days ago - "Hey man this is crazy right now, I can't belive everyone's underrating Melo so much right now, it's just silly."

And it really is, from media questioning if he has *anything* to offer on the basketball court to them actually saying Rockets *got worse* by adding him... I mean c'mon now.... like, really?! Dude is just an 24.1ppg career average player, who is coming from 16.2ppg season, his first under 20ppg season ever.... I bet he's done.... yea right.

OKC team was extremely bad coached, Billy Donovan was acting like Ty Lue except that Westbrook isn't LeBron... They didn't have any type of system or team identity. They didn't have enough shooters for the modern NBA. They had 0 bench.

People are like "Melo didn't accept his role" ... Like, whaat? Everyone that watched OKC games last season knows that he did accept role, he did pass the ball, he did play a little bit of defence. What was a biggest problem is him not hitting shots, and that has a lot to do with the fact that large percentage of those shots were out of rhythm shots. It is up to coach and playmakers to find his sweet spots, call some play for him to get some easy buckets 1 on 1 or create a missmach... I mean the guy had 20+ ppg for 14 straight seasons... And he suddenly forgot how to play offence?!

My man has lost a step a little bit for sure, but he ain't no Ryan Anderson...

If there is a perfect fit for Melo, not just at this point of his career but generally, it is with Chris Paul. Melo always needed two things: Experienced vocal leader and good floor general. CP3 is the best in the league in both probably. He's gonna make my man fit right in and shut up a lot of this mouths.

 

Melo is no longer a wing at this point in his career. He's a spacing PF and would be completely replacing the role we always had such high hopes that Ryan Anderson could fulfill for us. Of course he's miles better than Anderson offensively, with an ability to create his own shot off the dribble, score at the paint and in the midrange, and even distribute the ball in a "point forward" fashion. Defensively he can be an improvement over Anderson too! That's how bad Ryno's been the past year (and 2017 playoffs).

With James Ennis you replace half of the regular season production you were expecting from Ariza and LMM. We need one more piece, which is why Bazemore fits in perfectly. As others have noticed, LMM was unplayable in the playoffs due to injury, and we still made things work out pretty well with only Ariza as our wing defender. PJ, Harden, CP3, and Capela were able to close the gaps nicely even without LMM. And who knows, maybe Gerald Green with an entire offseason of coaching can remember who to stick with in a switch-everything defense as well.

Plenty to be optimistic about with this team that the national media has seemed not to grasp. I still project 60-62 wins.

 

I think we've seen in the playoffs that efficiency goes out the window once the playoffs arrive, guys like Anderson, Ariza, Nene and Luc all dip in their FG% because all the plays get broken due to the increased defense. This is where Melo is needed because he will be the only big man on the team who can create his own shot.

When Harden and Cp3 get guarded and all the other guys start acting like headless chickens thats where ISO Melo will show his value.

 

I’m very optimistic about this team. Meanwhile, I hear national guys like Bill Simmons and the Fox Sports people claiming Houston will win 52 games. LOL

 

I agree here, and I also think Melo can be great ultra small-ball C against Golden State.

CP3, Harden, Bazemore, Tucker, Melo would in my opinion match up very well against Warriors line up of Curry, Klay, KD, Iggy, Green.

_______________

Quick comparition:

Draymond Green:
6' 7", 230 lbs

Carmelo Anthony:
6' 8", 240 lbs

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Now Imagine if Butler was instead of Bazemore.....

 

thinly disguised Carmelo Anthony thread

 

Because Melo has been on average a meaningless player on the defensive end with or without Westbrook. That's half of Melo. So on a 100 point rating, HALF (50 points) of his effectiveness is: many scorers would hand pick Melo to guard them. Despite what 1 advanced statistic might say, Utah game-planned to get Melo on the switch for Mitchell or even Ingles to eat up. We can not have that AND Harden on the floor at the same time against the Warriors or even lesser teams like the Celtics and Lakers. And I'm assuming we see the decent Harden defense we got in the playoffs last time around.

So even if he's James Harden on offense, that's still just half. Like if he's 50/50 on offense - a perfect score - then he is still overall a 70ish rated player. Not trying to turn this into silly game ratings, just illustrating my opinion.

On top of all this, Melo is getting old and has not taken care of his body well. He thinks being skinny is the same as being fit >> this after a decade of being a fitness professional. There are no shortcuts, all those years of not treating his fitness correctly shows in the way he walks and jogs. When skinny, he still runs like a fat boy and is not one of those guys who is motivated to make up the difference with effort.

Finally, the IQ/ego is a gigantic factor and there is 10+ years of history to back up how it has led him to the point of bandwagoning on the Rockets while his draft peer Lebron is playing at the max and is considered is a bargain. If he had the mental make up to be transformational, he would have had 20% of Lebron's success by now. He had enough going for him, but he chose home and fame and money over and over again while Lebron chose entire cities burning his jersey, fanbases accusing him of superteaming, playing for an owner who disrespected him, going into an intense plant based fitness program, etc. Melo's best years required his prime athleticism and an entire system designed around and for him and that's never coming back.

So, yes, Paul and Harden are going to give him space and delivery like he's never had but overall there are many factors working against him. My hope is that our great fitness staff mitigate his physical decline and keep working on him till the playoffs + Harden/CP3 ensure him great delivery + there is an uptick in defensive motivation being on the best team he's ever been on + playing against more backups = we get value out of him. As bad as he is, just the effort on transition and PnR defense makes a difference.

What I don't understand is how people rationalize the fact that no one even offered him an MLE which equates to: no one even thinks he will outperform the average NBA salary. 30 teams did not believe he is guaranteed to outperform the average NBA player. Even if that number was 15 or 20 teams, that's a lot. That's a big deal.

 

Me after knowing it was another Melo thread

 

I think it would be cousins instead of iggy, which would make guarding the post a little harder. Good thing PJ is thicc

 

Yea I didn't heard anyone offering CP3 a deal this summer, does that mean that no one wanted him?

 

Take a look at this:
According to a 2013 medical study that identified 18 players who suffered major Achilles injuries over a 23-year span (1988-2011), seven players never returned to the league. Players who returned missed an average of 56 games and saw their PER decline in their first and second seasons back. A 2015 CBS Sports article found that among 14 players who returned from Achilles injuries since 1992, they averaged fewer minutes while both their field goal and three-point percentages dropped, on average. There are very few complete success stories.

 

Morey, do something !

 

What do you think of Batum in that setting?

 

It's because with Melo, just like with Lebron or CP3 or really any established vet in the NBA, most teams know there's only a couple places they want to go, and money might be carry a lower rank in their list of priorities. Most teams knew that Melo had made enough money in his career, and that this upcoming season was about him shoring up his legacy and shedding the selfish, inefficient labels that had been thrown his way ever since he followed Lala's advice and went to the Knicks. His team established the ground rules fairly early on that they'd probably only consider Miami, LA, or Houston, so most others backed off appropriately. Same thing when KD was a free agent and told us not to bother. It's not like Houston wouldn't have moved heaven and earth to acquire him; he just didn't care.

 

All these Melo Fans popping up all of a Sudden. Coincidence? I think not.
Conspiracy.

 

Did folks here actually watch Melo in OKC ? If you did, how can you not know that Melo is done as a shot creator? No first-step, no lift on his jumpshots, nothing. The dude is done as an iso scorer against starters. He is also nothing more than a D-cone on defense. I remember one particular game where Harden repeatedly got him on a switch and just waltzed past him as if he was not there, resulting in Melo berating Adams for not saving his ass. The Utah series was what finally turned the media against him (his mouth-piece SAS himself being forced to admit that the dude is done). Mitchell destroyed Melo repeatedly. With Roberson missing, OKC were unable to hide him and the Jazz coaching staff executed their plan of targeting him perfectly. Let no one fool you with the notion that Melo was marginalized by Westbrook. Melo and PG were given extremely long leashes and Westbrook went out of his way to defer to them. While PG flourished in his role, Melo got exposed. One decided to resign and was celebrated while doing so while the other was thrown away like hot garbage with his cap hit persisting like skunk stench.

 

Yes, if by “we” you mean us rockets fans.

 

D’Tooney: At worst, we are going to be great!! Even Chicken Little agrees!!!

Don’t worry, be HAPPY!!!


Go Rockets!!!
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Definition of hater.

First of all, "dude" is not done as iso a scorer (or any type of scorer) against NBA starters. Take a look at this:



Notice how he isolated against Iguadala, Durent, and the best PF defender in the league - Draymond Green, whom he exposed a multiple times. At 0:36 mark, he got him in the air like he's a little child. So you're here telling us "dude" is done? Nah man take that hater talk outta here.

Second thing, you say Harden was getting him on switches and "waltzed past him as if he was not there"... Ok? So? Do you expect 34 year old 240 PF to stay in front of Harden on the perimeter? I hope you're not honestly. I hope you're not betting on anyone in the league staying in front of Harden...

Next, Melo "berating" Adams ..... yeaa he's locker room cancer, right? I bet he is... But it's just strange that none of his teammates ever said anything similar... In fact, they all liked him as a person, teammate, both on and off the court. But yeah, media and haters would know better....... Just imagine if Melo slapped CP3 hand the way Harden did last year... oh man, media and haters would linch him...

So you're saying Donovan Mitchel destroyed Melo, right? Didn't he destroy everyone who was guarding him including one of the best wing defenders in the world - Paul George? I guess that doesn't matter.

Trust me - you are in for a rude awakening this season - dude.