Nope. It will take them more than half of the rest of the season to figure out how to distribute shots. And that's if they ever figure it out.
If Iverson is as good as most people make him out to be, then they should be contenders. But my suspicion is that he's somewhat overrated. He'll hurt their defense, and have a marginal impact on their offense. Overall, I don't know if he gives them more than a few extra wins.
[INSERT GIANT QUESTION MARK HERE] Putting AI w/ Carmelo is like a big experiment that could blow up in your face or have great results. With two guys who want to score so much, fireworks will go off. I wouldn't be so quick to call it a success already.
Don't rule it out. Even so, it wouldn't mean the Nuggets are the best team in the NBA. They are definitely better. Both AI and Melo will be playing with chips on their shoulders the rest of the season.
They don't have a premier PF/C still. Mavericks, Spurs, and Suns are not worried. A broken down K-mart, injured Nene and Cambyman don't count.
the best thing about the combo is that anthony doesn't need the ball to score. I believe they can coexist just fine. The problem will be shots for the other players.
I don't think even the Rockets are particularly scared of them-- same old story against them-- pack the paint and dare them to make their Js, take care of the ball on offense so they can't fast break on you. Besides, I think the Nuggest are going to miss Andre Miller more than people realize.
please, they still dont remotely have an answer for yao. this is a move they HAD to make, and if it works out they'll be great, but none of the powerhouses or even the rockets will be too effected.
I think second tier teams like the Lakers, Jazz and Rockets should worry, but not San Antonio, Dallas or Phoenix. They have more talent than they had before, but the team's architecture is worse. Iverson isn't quite the distributor Miller is, and there is some redundency in scoring roles between him and Anthony.
It's going to the extremes on this one. This trade will either make them really good, or really bad. I just don't see them being the same. This is going to ruin team chemistry for a while and it will take a decent amount of time to get it back, or to start it up, no matter how happy AI is to be playing with Melo. The team used to be: Miller distribute, run the offense, Melo is the primary weapon and number 1 option, JR Smith is number two option out on the perimiter and Camby plays the down low/mid range jumper game given to him by his teamates. Take out Miller and put in AI, won't work. Both players stats are going to plummet, if not both then at least 1, because you can't fit in that many shots for 2 people and have a serious game plan...can you? BTW who's team is this now? Who's the go to guy and who's the primary option?? These questions will have to be answered quickly in order to succeed. Also note that from this point on, AI will have more time with the team playing than Melo for this season. AI's game is effective as a SG, but he's only big enough to guard PG's. A team would have to bring in a SG to play PG on offense and guard SG's on defense, and that doesn't work for the Nuggets. That's why I wouldn't be suprised if they would shop JR Smith for a bigger, defensive-minded PG/SG.
Sure he does. He averages nearly 4 turnovers a game - 4th in the league. You don't do that without needing the ball. He's a very efficient scorer, but like most other scorers, he needs the ball in his hands to score.
Everybody needs the ball to score, unless a player uses his jedi mind powers to get the ball in the basket. If your original point was that Carmelo doesn't need the ball to be effective....well, you would be wrong there, too. His league leading 24 shots per game and his pedestrian 1.07 assist/to ratio suggest otherwise...
