TBF to Melo - I do think he did try but none of us know what was promised to him in terms of a role and what he was willing to adjust to. I don't think any of us has been put in a position like him. Being the guy and one of the elite scorers in the NBA. He was the primary guy on a team that went to the WCF and did lead the Knicks to the 2nd round before losing to a superior Boston team. Now that was several seasons ago, but he was an all-star two years ago while averaging 22 ppg. While his scoring is down due to fewer shots and not being the primary option his efficiency has gone down as well which is the disappointing part. I mean mentally that must be the most difficult thing to do - accepting that you are not the star you used to be, and thats something a lot of stars have a hard time adjusting to. The only HOF level players that I've seen do it well of recent note was Tim Duncan and Dirk. Kobe, Shaq, Pierce, Garnett, Kidd, etc have all had their really bad seasons where they still thought they were productive but were not. IMO I think the Rockets need right now off the bench isnt another scorer, they have that in Gordon but more 3 and D guys. Melo cannot reinvent himself (especially at this stage and age) into a 3 and D guy. He never has been a decent defender let alone good one. I think they asked him to take even a lesser role (IE: Gerald Green role) and thats where he declined to do so. So its really up to him now if he wants to actually win then he would take the lesser role OR if he just wants to play his way and his style then go sign with a young team the same way Carter and Crawford did so they can get mintues and still play even if they aren't going to be in playoff contention let alone a ring.
i've gotten on pringles in the past for his stupid short rotations and overall stubborness, but in this case he has made the correct moves rotationwise to get our defense back on track. and i was against the melo signing from the start, but he has given effort on D and generally tried to fit in. methinks this is all just a case of melo being unable to produce anymore offensively and never having been a capable defender. couple that with the suspension, laundry list of injuries we have, guys being out of shape, newly added scrubs being bonafide scrubs -- and you get our current crappy record and the grief that goes with it. i don't mind keeping melo as long as both sides agree that he only plays in certain matchups where we can use him, not unlike gerald green's situation with playing time.
Yeah I've seen those, but I think he was just out of gas. I don't think he anticipated how much running he'd be doing, and how little jab stepping within a 2 foot radius. I think he genuinely gave the most effort he's given in recent memory on defense, and still it wasn't good and he ran out of gas. I don't have a huge problem with that off the bench for the minimum, as long as the rest of the time he's attacking the basket, taking a 3 or passing to Gordon/Paul. He would be so good, he would rack those points up in no time and drive opponents crazy. Is that really so much to ask? lol Can you please take the shots you are statistically better at making? Can't believe that.
The whole question doesn't make sense to me. For one, it presupposes the Rockets just went to Melo and said "ok, you're really not that good, we're cutting you". And we know that's not what happened. Rather it seems to be a bit of a mutual thing. From The Athletic article, Melo sat at his locker for 10 minutes just staring. If we're making assumptions, I'm assuming Melo went to management and said this isn't working for me [either]. He doesn't want to go out 0-11 on a bad team. So, if anything, they're scapegoating each other. For two, and perhaps more importantly, if Melo stays on the team, maybe the team improves a tad, but on the whole its basically a much worse team, say in the 5-8 range with Melo being the "meh" that he is, and then he's not resigned after they flame out in the 1st round, nobody is "upset" at Rockets management for not resigning Melo. Most people would probably think what we all think now - he's just not a good modern NBA player anymore and in fact since he is too inefficiently offensively AND horrible defensively he's a net negative and that's why it hadn't worked for years in NYC, didn't work for OKC, and didn't work in HOU. Sure, it's not ONLY Melo's fault, but the chemistry issues are clear.
Just technicalities, but I think his maximum capacity is just unacceptable, which at least looks lazy. I doubt he has tried harder than this anywhere else. Regardless, it's just not sustainable given his mediocre offensive production.
If there are chemistry issues why are the team leaders calling Melo trying to get him to stay and come back?
Good points. Another thing to consider is that most stars who continue to be relevant after their physical peak is behind them are guys who have either adopted a new skill (J. Kidd adding a 3pt shot) or adapted to a lesser role (Dirk, Kareem). Or in some cases, both. When you do neither, you become Dwight Howard or Allen Iverson. I thought Melo would recognize where he is at this point and proceed accordingly, but I'm not sure his head has gotten there along with his body.
No clue. Why should I trust what Harden or CP3 are doing from a team building personnel perspective? AFAIK, these guys aren't elite GMs. If anyone has watched every game this season and thought, "wow, what a seamless chemistry transition Melo has been!" then I'd like to have some of what their having.
How about Tucker you trust him? Or no? If Melo was a chemistry killer in the locker room or a cancer in the locker room the leaders on the team wouldn't be trying to get him back bottom line.
He has done everything except on the court, which he sucks. For anyone that actually watched the games and not just the numbers (well the numbers showing Melo on the court vs on the bench doesnt favor him either), you can obviously understand that Melo had been struggling on both end of the floor and he is no difference than a washed up Joe Johnson last year to this team. But there is a huge difference on expectations, not many people expected him to be a washed up Joe Johnson before the seasons started.
If Melo was a chemistry killer he would be faking sick, abandoning his team when they are struggling most. Oh wait...
It does not matter what you think of him at the end of the day it is the numbers that matter and the numbers from what I have seen indicate he is a liability at this point of his career. There is no shame in that, back in the day he was a silky smooth offensive player but time eventually defeats everyone. He should go to China, dominate and become a God like Marburg did.
I still think this fake Carmelo only fan is just a banned Lin Fan who came back just they love to troll Nobody loves Carmelo like this, not even LaLa
It has nothing to do with the "locker room". I don't think there are personal issues at play here. I think these guys probably all like each other fine enough. Especially CP3, Harden and Melo. The chemistry issues are on the court, and with this play style, that's obvious. And again, no, of course I'm not going to look to PJ Tucker to build this roster. Bear in mind these are the same guys for the most part that were clamoring to get him here in the first place. Whether great role players or your star/superstar players, they'll obviously have stuff to say about roster formation, but that job is ultimately DMs. And even he hasn't proven to be ultimately successful at that yet. So I don't take everything he says or does as gospel either. Probably a top 5 GM in this league... but who knows. I'd rather have a luck top 15 GM than an unlucky top 5 GM for example. But in any case, tl;dr - whether they are trying to get Melo back or not, it won't solve the root of the problem, which is his fit, AS A BASKETBALL PLAYER, on this team. There's a reason the Rockets best 2 five men lineups and best 2 four man lineups all include Gary Clark at the moment, and exclude Melo. Not that there's much of a sample size yet - the Rockets only have played 85.5 minutes ALL YEAR where they are outperforming their opponent point-wise on a 100 possession basis (though bear in mind you only technically have to outperform your opponent for like a few seconds to win every game, lol). The Rockets have only 6 five-men lineups outperforming their opponent per 100 possessions. Melo is in two of them, #s 4 and 5. But the top 3 of those lineups are on a different planet differential wise (+64.1, +45.1 and +31.6 points, per 100 possessions... #4 comes in at +10.3). Clark is in those top 2. To be fair, Clark is also in 5 of their 6 worst 5-men lineups...
At the end of the day, regardless of how you feel about Melo, he does not fit this system. To think that he could come in and be a better version of Ryno (stretch 4, knock down threes) is folly. I fell for it but sad to say I was wrong too.
Here’s the million dollar question. Knowing what we know now ... would we have gotten as far as we did last year had we been able to make that Anderson for Melo trade straight up like we wanted to? I say no and I also think Melo and Paul would have bolted for LA with lebron.
