Watching these world championships is making me believe that Carmelo can get back to the status that he was a few years before. The guy can play. You can say all you want about how this is the international game etc. When he first came into the league, it was a competition between him and Lebron while Wade was the guy in the back ground. With the emergence of Wade and the ascension of James those guys now became the face of young NBA. Couple that with the negative presses around Carmelo, I think he is hungry and is a man on a mission in the WBC. I even more excited to see how he will do next year on the Nugs.
The impression I've been getting (from people who follow Melo a lot) is that his shot selection isn't that great. When he's draining all his shots (i.e. against inferior int'l competition) there isn't much to say but when he's off, he looks selfish and like a poor decision-maker on the court.
carmelo is a fantastic nba player but his all-around game and leadership are imo nowhere near wade and lebron. his skills translate well to international ball and he's taking advantage of the very short 3-point line.
I love how people say that he's caught up to Wade and LeBron already. Call me when he averages over 3 assists per game or shows up in the playoffs. He's a terrific scorer, but don't act like the World Championships is how we rank NBA player.
Carmelo Anthony is one of my most hated players in the entire NBA. Okay...with that said, the guy has talent, period. When his shot is on, he is as good as a scorer as Lebron and Wade. However, Carmelo has bad shot selection and is a selfish player IMO. Like Kobe, he can dominate you on the offensive side of the ball, but just don't expect him to be dishing out 6-7 apg or playing a team game.
Carmelo is a great talent. It's a shame and it's unfair to him that he will always be compared to LeBron and Wade. People should just appreciate him for what he is instead of always pointing out he doesn't measure up to those two. Cut him a little slack.
Being on the Nuggets can't help either. Granted, I don't keep track of them too much, but my impression is that have Carmelo and a bunch of average role-players. The defense can clamp down on him more than they can on other teams' 1st options.
He's a very good scorer, but he lacks an all-around game like Lebron and Wade have. His defense is not good, and his passing skills are lacking to say the least.
He's a much better defender than Wade and a better decision maker, too. Wade gets to the rim more easily and can pass better when he sees the pass to make, but that's really it. You can argue that Wade's more effective, but he's not nearly as well-rounded as Carmelo. The visuals don't work as well as Adam Morrison, but Carmelo is the closest thing to Larry Bird in the league right now.
yeah jason terry was unstoppable in the finals this includes shot selection right? really? LOL. closest in terms of what? shot selection, selfishness, effectiveness, defense?
Ability to score from anywhere on the floor. The fact that he brings his game up more than anyone with the game on the line. Passing ability from the forward position. (Miller, Boykins, and Watson combined for 15 assists/game and Carmelo still got 2.7.) No, he doesn't make all the hustle plays that Bird did and smokes dope, but as a skill set, he's really similar.
Oh, really... http://www.basketballreference.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=BOS&lg=N&yr=1986 1986/87 - Ainge, DJ, and McHale averaged 15 assists/game, and Bird managed to average 7.6. Call us back when Carmelo's assist/turnover ratio is better than Ben Wallace's. Carmelo is so NOT Larry Bird, it's not funny. If you looked Larry Bird up in the thesaurus, Carmelo would be listed with the antonyms...
The thing about Carmelo is he is a fearless gamer. We already know that he is the clutchest last-possession player in the league...by far. I would also say when he gets hot ... he gets r e a l l y hot....and it's not like it is that infrequent either. How good he is when he is hot is matched only by Kobe, imo (although I won't argue with anyone who says AI, although the frequency of AI getting really hot is declining). Calling him a streaky shooter just doesn't do justice to how ON he can be, nor does it do justice to how clutch he has proven to be.
Passing and rebounding? Bird is light years ahead of anthony in the former and a cut above in the latter, both empirically and in reality, so that doesn't fly. And come on, you're honestly trumpeting Anthony's 2.7 assists as something to brag about? What does that make Bird's career 6.7 assists then? I'm not bashing Carmelo but saying he has Bird's skill set is just silly, IMO. If you said he had Dominique Wilkins skill set that would be one thing because he is one of the 4-5 ultra elite, HOF caliber scorers in the game today (Kobe, LeBron, Wade being the others and probably iverson too) and that should not be underestimated.
Carmelo is a good player but to say he's better than Wade is not right, not even better than James. I'm sure had James played in the NCAA he would surely win it. Dwade LED his team to an nba title. It wasn't Shaq. Shaq broke his smile when he was called as Robin to Dwade by nba analysts. Being a great player is also about how you handle, play and blend with your team mates. Rememebr when Payton got mad at him at one point in the playoffs? Dwane responded appropriately not to jeoprardize the team. Carmelo is starting to shine and this could be the chance for him to be better than the 2 guys yet if he continues to lead the team and win evrything. I just hope it's not an internal competition.
wade is so over hyped its not funny. carmello is stuck playing with a bunch of guys who can't shoot in denver and you guys call him selfish because he shoots too much, wade averged over 4 turnovers in 05 and you call him a better decision maker.
