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

LMAO, yeah I got on him as well, he fell for the bait.

 

Devil's advocate

What if the Rockets and Melo already met in idk Las Vegas for example and have likely discussed his role?

 

Line had 6 good games and then disappeared with a knee "injury"

It was the game in Miami where the Heatles took his soul and he went to ****.

Meanwhile Melo moved to the 4, D'Antoni was canned and the Knicks finished 18-6 then went 54-28 the very next season without Lin or D'Antoni.

 

Not to concerned. We have CP and Harden. You let him do his thing until it's clear he is not helping. Then bench him. What is he going to do? On the other hand, you kinda have to let him do his thing to make this work. Dantoni was even willing to try out Joe Johnson that way (though not as a starter). IMHO, if coming off bench is not that important, then being a starter is not either.

 

He's probably going to attached to Paul anyway. It's not like Harden/Paul play all game together.

Harden/Paul averaged 19.7 minutes per game on the court together. Basically the first 5 and last 5 of each half.

 

This dude is a ****ing cancer (no surprise) yet we have him on our team and some people actually want him. He has been a “me” guy his entire career what do you guys think wil change?

 

I'm sure this has probably been said at least once but I will repeat. The real question is not whether Carmelo will be willing the take a bench role or a starter. The question is who is a better starter at the 4, Carmelo or Anderson. I think the answer is simple. It's Carmelo. Anderson started and played in the first 60 or so games during the season. The Rockets were very successful during that period. The Rockets played a switching defense then as well so Anderson's lack of defensive ability was a non factor. The reason he played was because of his ability to spread the floor with his deep shooting or the threat of such.

Now let's replace Anderson with Carmelo, a player who when a defender closes out on him has the ability to put the ball on the floor and either get to the hole and finish or pull up for a mid range shot. Carmelo gives the Rockets an additional player who can create and score in a variety of ways. He is not limited as an offensive player, however Anderson is. Neither of them are going to shut down the opposing team's power forward or any other position in this positionless basketball era we are currently in.

Final thought. When it's crunch time like Game 7 and your team needs a bucket of any kind (Mid range, layup, dunk) and you go 0-27 from the 3 point line in a close game, you need a player who historically and currently has the ability to MAKE SHOTS and Not go 0-12(Ariza) or No show at all for the series Luc Mah Bute(Sp?) you gladly take him and play him staggered minutes like you did with Ryan Anderson last year. This time though when you face GS, they can't force you to shoot 3's when you're down to 1 guy who can create his own shot. You will now always have at least 2 guys on the floor barring injury who can do that effectively.

 

I can see this.

 

Anthony is simply explaining his controversial quote from the end of the season. If anything, he is getting more reason to think he would be willing to accept a bench role, not less.

 

This man just gets it honestly...
I'm just gonna say this - "Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

If you think that 19th player on all time scoring list (top 10 by the end of 19/20 season) will be better off if someone somehow convince him he's not able to hit 5 threes in a row, than I don't think you are very smart.
Also if you think Melo didn't have detailed conversation with all the relevant People in Rockets organization, then I also think you are not very smart.

Bottom line is - CP3, Harden, Coach, GM, and pretty much everybody on this team want Melo to be Melo. They want and need his confidence. They know he's best when surrounded with elite passing Point Guards. But some people here just think they are smarter than whole Rockets organization.

 

Quality post. I definitely think helping him gain his confidence back is key. He'll hit more shots and play harder.

 

No. I'm saying Melo should have bought in with the system rather than be jealous that year.

 

100% agree, i absolutely think melo will prove doubters wrong and kill it with rockets!

 

Live look at Melo, Russ and JH reading this thread

 

If the season started today, yeah. There might be more team-building done between now and then. Anderson, I still heartily believe, will not start the year with us. We might be choosing between Carmela and Tarik Black.

 

I kinda disagree here. What do you think how would for example James Harden react if there was some "system" that needs him to stand in corner while for example Eric Gordon (not disrespecting Eric, he's a great player) has the ball and runs "system" ... ? That MAY work but it is not maximizing Harden's skills, right?

As someone already posted here, after D'Antoni resigning Knicks went 18-6 finish season (62-20 if that percentage translated to full season).... They were 54 win team very next season... So they were good without D'Antony and that "system".

Also, I can't stress this enough - Coach should always adjust system to fit personel. At least that is what great coaches do, and most of you here would agree that same Mike D'Antony adjusted his system to fit what Rockets have right now...and I guess that worked out pretty well.

 

I'm with you on the Knicks finding success with Melo during those times. The Knicks found a nice near February then there was some issues in early March which I guess is when Mike quit.

And yeah, my comparison was asanine in this case, Melo was a superstar after all at this stage. Anyways, I guess my real point just lies with what he says. I want it to work out and I hope it works out here in Houston, because ultimately I just want to win a championship.

 

Gerald Green is the 4th star.

 

I hope Melo can get down to that weight again. I hope CP3 and Harden can get him there and to stay there sll season.

 

Of course but It's hard to deny he's fallen from grace fairly quickly. Hopefully we can revive him here