Durant. Anthony gets too much credit for how good the current Nuggets are. Billups made that team become as good as they are. I also think JR Smith & Nene deserve a lot of credit as well.
At this point in time, Carmelo Anthony is the better player. His skills in the low post are what sets him apart.
LOL according to Jalen Rose, Melo is better than Durant because hes an "elite defender". That guy just barely started defense. Jalen Rose is a dumbass sometimes.
Melo would eat Durant alive. In the post? No Contest. Out in the perimeter? Melo gets by lebron and kobe with ease, and durant's defense is already shaky. Melo is just a pure scorer, while durant, imo, is not at that level yet. He's playing on the Thunder, so of course his numbers are gonna be more inflated than Melo's. Durant is an amazing shooter though - not gonna take that away from him.
durant scores more and scores more efficiently. what level does he need to get to? more inflated than playing on the 5th highest pace team in the league like melo does? the thunder are 16th.
i agree with you like 99.5% on this. (but that 0.5% is off because i would've went more technical....but yah)... can't believe durant is wining this poll
I don't think either is much better than the other. They're both in that tier of star players that are nearly unstoppable scorers but need to add another facet to their game to be a superstar. Durant has gotten better at going inside and putting pressure on the D (getting bigs in foul trouble, etc.). Still, Melo made similar strides at 21. Other than miraculously becoming a playmaker I think it's difficult for either guy to be significantly more productive on the offensive end. Durant though, has the ridiculous length to become a shut down defender. If he does that he'll be a superstar.
seems a bit too categorical....like where would Wade fit into this? With a championship and "heart" he would seem to be on level 1? Yet this year the gap between Wade and Melo has pretty much disappeared.
I think people fail to acknowledge that durant's team has a bunch of dynamic athletes and scorers. Don't discount how good westbrook and jeff green were. Though I commend Billups for much of the success that the nuggets are having right now, don't overlook how amazing westbrook has been playing of late. He has been putting up jason kidd-like numbers of late. Also, as someone previously mentioned, Carmelo was able to bring the nuggets to the playoffs his first year, while improving his teams record substantially. Durant didn't. Offensively, it's a toss-up. Durant has a better outside game, but Carmelo's inside/slashing game is way more effective than Durant's. Durant has the capability to put up large numbers, just like Kevin Martin. However for some reason that is unknown to me, it seems that Carmelo still has a larger impact on the game. I would like to have Durant in our offense because he rarely forces offense at all and is willing to play in the flow of the offense. I'm not saying that Carmelo can't, but Durant would have a more positive impact in the locker room too.
Melo was a beast in the playoffs last season. He's the better all-around player right now but KD is inching closer.
While I agree with most of your points, I think that Pierce was never quite the natural scorer or shooter that Durant is. Durant's ceiling could be a lot higher than Pierce's. Pierce became much better at getting to the line as his career progressed. Durant will do the same thing and more. At age 21, he's got many years of improvement ahead of him.
Durant is a freak of nature, there has been no one of his size, wingspan, athleticism, ball handling, shooting. The only thing he doesn't have compared to LeBron is power/strength. If he bulks up and gains more muscle he'll be unstoppable driving through the lane. Players will run out of the way or he will take the contact and finish AND 1 almost everytime.
Can't believe you just agreed that Carmello is to TMac as Durant is to Pierce AND THEN are surprised that people think Durant is better (to catch you up - Pierce is better than TMac and has achieved far more) For the record, I think Durant has silky smooth skills, he is a flat out scorer and he is an excellent defender. Stats only tell so much of a story, but they certainly paint a picture, and Durant is statistically superior to Anthony in EVERY major category except assists (3.1 to 2.6 in favor of Anthony). The sad thing is that I bet a bunch of people are surprised to hear that - they just voted Anthony without checking because the media hype is on his side...
LOL at every poster here who voted Melo because he's the "purer" scorer...Durant takes more shots and yet converts at a far higher percentage. How much purer can he be to beat Melo? Sure Melo has better post moves, but Durant has the better outside shot, started playing good D much earlier in his career, is much younger, and is taller by at least 2 inches. Not everything can be based on stats alone, but even if you just look at their games, I'd say a 6'10 SF who can shoot 3's at a ridiculous rate is much more valuable than a 6'8 SF who has above-average post moves. It's not like Durant is a 6'10 Reggie Miller either, he's just as capable of getting inside and throwing down with the best of them. Also post-moves are becoming more common-Pierce, Ron Artest, LBJ, Kobe, Billups, Tyreke...a lot of players have some post-game in their repertoire. However a 3 pt shot is much difficult to learn, a lot of guys became good scorers in the post but never developed a good 3 pt shot.
Durant is the better full-court player - meaning he's better at taking the ball coast to coast. Melo is a better post player (probably the best among SF's) but Durant's movement without the ball for mid-long range jumpers make him a 6-10 Rip Hamilton,Ray Allen, or Reggie Miller in the half court offense. Durant also seems like a better teammate so Durant gets slight edge today but in a year or two - it wont even be a question
Um yeah, Melo was a real "beast" against the Lakers after game two. It was just my imagination he went 22/60 (3/17 from long range) the last 4 games and was the main reason the Nuggets lost the series.
