Just imagine how effective Melo could be in the NBA if he would play off the ball and let teammates set him up more often. In Olympic competition, he swallows his pride and accepts the fact teammates can sometimes make good things happen.
It''s a shame, because the Knicks would be really good if he did that. Remember how they played early two seasons ago? Where Amar'e was option 1 and set everyone up? Imagine that, but with Amar'e dishing it out to Melo or Tyson Chandler instead of Gallinari.
He's playing with all-world players. It's easier to swallow your pride when you have Lebron James/Kobe/KD/CP3... handling the ball. But these games clearly show Melo is a one-dimensional player. He's a scorer, and that's it. You let him do one thing he does best, he's going to dominate.
He truly is one-dimensional. Sometime during the second half against Lithuania today, when it was still tight, we had a fast break opportunity where Melo was dribbling down the right wing. What'd he do? Hold the ball on the wing for a couple of precious seconds, then jack up a 3 that bricked. He's just an awful decision maker. He truly needs a good PG to direct the offense, as we saw in Denver when Melo benefited from Billups there.
And thats exactly why Carmelo will never eeeeeeever win a title. He might win the NBA 1 on 1 invitational though :grin:
+1. Melo is wired to simply score; all he wants to do is catch the ball and shoot. He needs a pass-first PG or a playmaker in general (Billups was close to that) who is able to play off the ball and let him do his thing. Kevin Durant is also that on offense, but he TRULY does play off the ball. Melo needs to learn from that. But to defend Melo, he has never had to play with a dominant ball player in his career. If he played with an explosive player like a WB or Rose or CP3..., he would be a more productive player. Prior to last year, Melo was considered a clutch player while Lebron was a choke artist.
Dishing it out to an open Chandler at the 3pt line, money. Bynum would be even more deadly, but hey, you can't have everything.
Running up the score is boorish, especially against a significantly weaker opponent. There are exceptions, I suppose, North Korea and Dallas come to mind, but I can't think of any others.
so pretty much you can never ever criticize stars because you'll get this statement thrown in your face over and over and over. jesus christ people.
I really don't think Melo wants to be the playmaker of the team. When he got to New York the Knicks didn't have a great PG playmaker so Dantoni forced him into that role. I agree that he gets way too happy with the jumper when he's actually at his best as a high post player, though. But, If CP3 had found a way to NY we would be talking about that team in the eastern conference finals every year. So, yeah, Melo is just a scorer but it's not like he's the only star in NBA history that's only been a scorer. And, he usually finds a way to play well in FIBA as a 4, I think that's his natural position a "stretch 4". I'm still not sure why he isn't used that way in the NBA. meh. Carmelo Anthony -- stunting on non-Americans
