Carmelo: "I'm not going to (come off the bench) in a situation where I still know my capabilities"

People are really underestimating Harden's and CP's communication with Carmelo. From Feigen's latest article.

Harden compared adding Anthony to last season’s trade for Paul and the way he and Paul meshed in the Rockets’ backcourt.

“It’s all about communication,” Harden said. “Obviously, there are a lot of egos, a lot of talent. But some of that has to be sacrificed for us to get to where we need to go. Everybody in the world knows what Carmelo brings, how gifted and talented he is, and he still has a lot more to go. If he comes to the Rockets, we will bring the best out of him, and I am sure he will bring the best out of us as well.”

 

I'm of the opinion that not only should he start, but he should play big minutes, and no matter how poorly he does we should continue to start him. There is only one way to the championship and it always run through Carmelo starting. Whatever we have to do to get the best of him is what we have to do. This is all in. It's going to take almost a full season for him to fit in so we just have to stick it out.

 

Chill man. Harden knows less than Clutchfans

 

damn this team is going to be a disaster then if it should running through Carmelo. When this team is built around the mvp and the pg next to him

 

Didn't even consider that being a factor. despite that he was still an all star.

 

Fact of the matter is we will need his offense mixed in with both units. Whether he starts or not is a mute point. In the regular season we have a fairly large rotation as it is, a lot of guys get to play. It will only help in the playoffs to have another guy who can score once the rotation shortens.

 

he was named as an injury replacement to Kevin Love in the lowly east. Not exactly anything to get excited about

 

Yup. Disregard every season prior to that as well.

I like you man, we got a lot in common.

 

disregard? Hou isn't getting 2010 melo. Why is the past keep getting brought up as if it defines who the player is now at this current point. Its meaningless.

By this logic we should sign Wade immediately then.

 

You bring up the past a lot in reference to things and it’s get brought up because people are quick to forget. Do you know what an outlier is? That’s what Melo in OKC is.

It’s something we tend to disregard in statistics.

Wade would be a welcome addition as well. Nice veteran presence, championship pedigree but you’re kind of loaded at Guard.

 

please enlighten me on these "a lot of past references"

do you know what declining is? is didnt just start in okc

 

Funny when we benched Lin and started Bev, it was because we needed more defense with the starters but now some of you think with Melo defense doesn’t matter...

It’s the same concept- you look at what players fill the needs best. Melo fits our needs best coming off the bench. He’s a great scorer and doesn’t need anyone to create his own shot. He can be the main man and still partner with either Harden or CP3. If he started he’s basically sitting at the top of the 3 pt line and getting the ball with 10 sec left or less and will likely be chunking a lot of 3’s.

The obvious plan should be for him to run with the second unit. There shouldn’t be any ego involved.

 

Capela and EGo are superstars too. And if you disagree, then just take the word super out. These guys all make highlights regularly, teams have to game plan for them, and they all find ways to contribute easily. They're all starter quality. It's not like Melo is saying he needs to be the man over Harden and CP, he's just saying he's a starter in this league and he is.

Of the top 43 scorers last year, only Lou Williams and Eric Gordon were bench players. And they're the only two real candidates for 6th man of the year. So to me, Melo is either a 6th man of the year type which we already have or he's a starter.

 

lol, not what I meant at all. I may be argumentative, but I'm not stupid.

I meant that Melo is a few years away from still being an elite player. But you don't drop from elite directly to bench. My point is that Melo is still a player who can take over a game and from a does-he-deserve-it standpoint, there's no question that he should be a starter.

The biggest thing it gives us is insurance in take-over-the-game capability if CP3 goes down again (or, God forbid, Harden). Golden State has so many weapons that can each win a game for you, and adding Melo gets us that much closer to having similar capabilities. I know some of you guys don't think he's still capable of dominating a game, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

You don’t watch Knicks basketball, YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE THAT CLAIM. Of course he’s not Melo from 2013/2014 but he’s also not what he was statistically in OKC.

You keep bringing up him in OKC with Russ as to how he’ll play with CP3 and Harden in Houston. But I do remember you saying you do think it’s a way it works but only if he does it the way YOU want him to.

 

at this point as ive posted earlier, its just beyond the bench/starter thing. I just want guys who actually put the team first before their own ego. You obviously have a different set of standards on what melo today is capable of, while many others have legit questions/concerns for him on this team.

The rockets were a 65 win team that had GS on the ropes while being a top offensive & defensive team. They had the elements proven to translate to the most success they've ever had in this GS title era. With a 34 year old declining melo now and losing ariza/lmm are they as good/better. once again I'm not seeing it atm

 

once again this logic is horrible and one of the weakest scapegoat claims to try and make yourself relevant. If you're going to post, don't try to tell anyone what they have the right to do. and please by all means make it all caps next time

now feel free to try again with actual context and logic. if not don't bother

 

that was a great article with harden saying pretty much all the right things... downplaying MVP in light of game 7, acknowledging the challenges of losing ariza and luc but also incorporating melo, downplaying the melo criticism by emphasizing communication and sacrifice and everyone buying into MDA's philosophy and how they said the same thing last year, understanding that the west just got tougher and working his "butt off" to make sure he's keeping up w the increased competition.

this is what you want to hear from your MVP.