is Melo the biggest waste of talent?

[AintNoSunshine]

What is between the ears also counts. Talent is not only your physical attributes.

[Kool Boy]

Melo is not a waste, he is a top 15 player right now, and a top 5 player at his peak. Hardly a waste unless you expected him to be one of the greatest of all time.

[KiiiiNG]

He's the perfect example of someone who does the bare minimum. Had he worked his ass off like a LeBron or KD... he'd probably have a couple MVP's by now. You're right, he probably is the biggest waste of size/talent. Bynum too.

[CuhGetsBucks]

Why do you guys speak of Melo on this forum like he's Rudy Gay or OJ Mayo or something? Who's been in Melo's life to say he doesn't work hard? We saw him come into the season slimmed down and toned up, the guy works. Just every superstar doesn't have a roster to fit them.

How do mf's like yall, cry and whine when KD joins the warriors or a "superteam" is formed by stars coming together. But complain when a star like Melo avoids trying to join a superteam and stays on a team that's incapable of winning?

Stop picking and choosing, you can't get it both ways,

[Smoke117]

What is between the ears also counts. Talent is not only your physical attributes.

This...I still remember when he was drafted and the Nuggets coaches were showing him videos of Scottie on defense to teach him how to play...it obviously didn't take. The fact of the matter is...Carmelo accomplished exactly what he set out to: Be a great scorer. Let's face it...that's all that really mattered to him when it came to working on his game...especially in his Nuggets days. He'll never be considered at the top of the heap as far as perimeter players go because of glaring weaknesses as far as defense and playmaking goes. When he retires...people will care about him as much as they cared about Alex English and Dominique Wilkins after they were retired...ie...not at all.

He's also never come close to being a player that makes others better and raises up their games. You don't need to be a top 10 player to do that either. It also doesn't help that while he is a very good to great scorer...he's also a ball stopper who bogs the offense down.

[bizil]

Many fans got spoiled by the likes of MJ, Magic, Bird, Kobe, and Bron. BECAUSE all of those guys were great scorers AND great all around players in one. Even a pass first PG like Magic could dominate a game scoring whenever he wanted. So OF COURSE those kind of icons should be celebrated!

But a guy like Melo could score AND rebound on their level or damn close. When it comes to defense and passing, some guys AREN'T meant to be elite in those areas. It's not a matter of laziness all the time. Some guys don't have the motor to dominate scoring and defensively at the same time. And some guys just don't have the instincts to be a great defender. And to be a great passer, some guys just don't have the vision or instincts to be a great passer.

Men lie, women lie, NUMBERS DON'T!! By looking at Melo's numbers, it's easy to see he's been a great scorer and very good-great rebounder. If Melo isn't the kind of player u are a fan of THEN FINE! But if u are gonna DISREGARD what he's done in his career, then u aren't fit to be a student of the game FLAT OUT!!!

People gotta learn to appreciate what a player brings to the table EVEN IF they aren't a fan of the player. To call a player of Melo's caliber a waste of talent is FLAT OUT HATING!!! His career is too decorated and HOF caliber for that kind of statement.

[LostCause]

Many fans got spoiled by the likes of MJ, Magic, Bird, Kobe, and Bron. BECAUSE all of those guys were great scorers AND great all around players in one. Even a pass first PG like Magic could dominate a game scoring whenever he wanted. So OF COURSE those kind of icons should be celebrated!

But a guy like Melo could score AND rebound on their level or damn close. When it comes to defense and passing, some guys AREN'T meant to be elite in those areas. It's not a matter of laziness all the time. Some guys don't have the motor to dominate scoring and defensively at the same time. And some guys just don't have the instincts to be a great defender. And to be a great passer, some guys just don't have the vision or instincts to be a great passer.

Men lie, women lie, NUMBERS DON'T!! By looking at Melo's numbers, it's easy to see he's been a great scorer and very good-great rebounder. If Melo isn't the kind of player u are a fan of THEN FINE! But if u are gonna DISREGARD what he's done in his career, then u aren't fit to be a student of the game FLAT OUT!!!

People gotta learn to appreciate what a player brings to the table EVEN IF they aren't a fan of the player. To call a player of Melo's caliber a waste of talent is FLAT OUT HATING!!! His career is too decorated and HOF caliber for that kind of statement.

[bizil]

It's also interesting how scoring excellence ONLY seems to catch heat in basketball!! LOL They will diss guys like Nique and Melo and say they don't pass enough!! They will say AI is a chucker!!! BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS all three are great scorers! Nique and Melo didn't play on teams CONSISTENTLY enough to win a ring. So WHY DON'T THEIR teammates get knocked FOR NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH!! If those guys had better teammates in their careers, they wouldn't have had to put up as many shots.

When Melo got Billups on the squad, they made the WCF! Nique had Bird and Boston on the ropes BIG TIME! And pushed them to a game 7 in ECSF. Later in Nique's career, he got traded when the Hawks were #1 in the East. SO PEOPLE need to look at ALL THE FACTORS before knocking HOF caliber players.

The Lakers could have EASILY chose Nique over Worthy. It was debated in the front office. The same situation went for the Pistons NOT CHOOSING Melo! If those teams chose Nique and Melo, their careers would be looked at TOTALLY different!

[Fire Colangelo]

Multiple all star, multiple olympic gold medalist = biggest waste of talent?

Jesus.

[Lebron23]

Multiple all star, multiple olympic gold medalist = biggest waste of talent?

Jesus.

This

Only in this forum.

[tpols]

When he retires...people will care about him as much as they cared about Alex English and Dominique Wilkins after they were retired...ie...not at all..

so where does pippen fit on that scale ? Dominque had some epic playoff performances.. your disdain for scorers and hipster like backing of all around types is obnoxious at best.. get a new gig, smoke.

[Smoke117]

so where does pippen fit on that scale ? Dominque had some epic playoff performances.. your disdain for scorers and hipster like backing of all around types is obnoxious at best.. get a new gig, smoke.

rent free

[bizil]

so where does pippen fit on that scale ? Dominque had some epic playoff performances.. your disdain for scorers and hipster like backing of all around types is obnoxious at best.. get a new gig, smoke.

I agree! The best all around player ISN'T the better player in all cases. Lamar Odom was a better ALL AROUND PLAYER than Dirk. But who was the better player? EASILY DIRK!! Andre Iggy was better ALL AROUND than a Melo. But Melo was CLEARLY the better player. In the 80's Paul Pressey was a better all around player than Nique. BUT Nique was OBVIOUSLY the better player!

[ImKobe]

Paul Pierce didn't amount to shyt either until he was fortunate enough to be on a franchise that got him Ray Allen and KG

And for what it's worth, he was a better version of PP. PP best season was 27/7/5 47/35/77 shooting, Melo averaged 29/6/4 on 49% shooting at age 22

he had top 20 all-time type talent as a scorer but was unfortunate to play on some terrible ass teams, was drafted to the wrong franchise.

[CTbasketball92]

So much of the perception of Melo is based on circumstance. Had he been on the celtics big three instead of pierce, he'd still have a chip. If he'd been on the spurs or other teams with players that actually complemented his skills, he'd prob. have won a chip.

If 27 year old melo had been on the cavs instead of Kyrie, there's a very good chance they could still have won the chip this year. One thing that is sort of damning for me looking at melo is his playoff FG%. 42% ... is just kind of subpar tbh. Either way, top 50-60 player ever is still great.