Melo is one of the most underrated players in basketball

[knickswin]

carmelo problem has been his team defense (which was always weird to me because syracuse is known for their zone). he has been good enough at that this season. it's not like he's getting chase down blocks like lebron or clogging the paint like dwight, but he's good enough. he won't be a liability to your team. he is also a rather talented man defender. you don't have to work your defensive schemes to hide him when you play other good scoring wings.

[Lebron23]

He's an underachiever. Some of his peers already won an NBA scoring titles, Finals MVP, led their teams in the NBA Finals, and won an MVP Award.

He's not even as good as Alex English (Best Nuggets player of all time) and George Gervin (a highly skilled scoring forward).

[airchibundo507]

I already have my opinion on Melo...he's a sub-par defender, always will be lol. I'm just questioning your criteria because people in this thread keep saying he's an "average" defender all of a sudden while not giving one damn reason why I just wanted specifics of what makes him average. Excuses aside he still sounds like the same sub-par defender who doesn't impact his team on that side of the floor.

And I'm a guy who loves defense so watching horrible defensive teams frustrates me. Watching a D'Antoni Knick team would be torture If they play a good defensive team (like the Heat, Bulls, or Celtics) I'll watch them, otherwise...

and how good at defense to you consider Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Dirk Nowitzki to be?

what do you mean by defensive "impact"? a good team defense in itself is a sum of the individual parts, an entire system in which players react to breakdowns. good rotation takes awareness and hustle. Melo can play in such a system without being a liability. His rotations are fine. His man defense is solid. He raises it up a notch against others stars, playing excellent ball denial on the peimeter.

An average defender is not a standout, nor do they better the defense of their teammates. That takes a star defensive player like Noah or Howard.

[lilgodfather1]

Sure if you call someone who doesn' deserve to be called a superstar, but is called a superstar underrated. Melo is all sorts of underrated then, and so is Durant, Paul, Deron, Bosh, Wade (this year), Kobe (entire career), and Amare. In fact there is only two superstars in the NBA today. LeBron and Dwight. A superstar in past generations was somebody that completely changed the way the game was played. Shaq, Jordan, Hakeem, Wilt, West, etc. Those guys were superstars, and honestly there is never more than 5 superstars in the NBA at a time, because a superstar is someone who is so superior to every other player in the league at their position/role that nobody is even close to them. LeBron is far superior to the second best SF in the league on both ends of the floor. No other SF is close to what LeBron does, just like no C is even remotely close to Dwight. Dwight's gap is like he is SS4, and every other C is chilling in the hyperbolic time chamber trying to go SS1, but they don't realise that they are just silly ass nameks.

[dbronx42]

Average defender...? I guess average means awful...

[airchibundo507]

Average defender...? I guess average means awful...

nugget fan. opinion disregarded.

[airchibundo507]

bump

[BankShot]

How exactly is Melo underrated??

He's universally considered an elite scorer, with a good midrange shot, awesome from the post, and really good rebounder from the SF spot.

While he's a mediocre-to-average defender, he has the tools to defend very well when motivated, which he has shown in the past.

I think his 3-point shooting last year in NY was an abberation, as it was well above his career averages.... but all in all he's decent from out there.

[airchibundo507]

How exactly is Melo underrated??

He's universally considered an elite scorer, with a good midrange shot, awesome from the post, and really good rebounder from the SF spot.

While he's a mediocre-to-average defender, he has the tools to defend very well when motivated, which he has shown in the past.

I think his 3-point shooting last year in NY was an abberation, as it was well above his career averages.... but all in all he's decent from out there.

have you seen his passing this season? his playmaking off of double teams and pick and rolls have been a thing of beauty.

I made the thread because a ton of people are calling Melo overrated, almost blaming him singlely for the Knicks struggles. They group Melo with Amare's weaknesses, referring to both as black holes and defensive liabilities, when it is clear Melo has become a good facilitator as the Knicks point forward as well as working hard to become an average defender.

the prior two games without Amare the Knicks held their opponents to 91 ppg 40% FG, but Amare comes back for one game, Diaw plays like a superstar, and the Bobcats score 120 on 55% FG

I appreciate your analysis of Melos game

[Clutch]

How exactly is Melo underrated??

He's universally considered an elite scorer, with a good midrange shot, awesome from the post, and really good rebounder from the SF spot.

While he's a mediocre-to-average defender, he has the tools to defend very well when motivated, which he has shown in the past.

I think his 3-point shooting last year in NY was an abberation, as it was well above his career averages.... but all in all he's decent from out there.

He's a good 3-pt shooter.
Not elite but good.

He takes a lot of his threes off the dribble,with defender close to him.
If he would just spot up for them I think he could easily shoot 40%.

Pretty good analysis.
Only thing that I would add is that he improved his passing and tries to involve his teammates more this season.

[kurple]

nugget fan. opinion disregarded.

who knows more about Melo than Nuggets fans?

[kurple]

and you have been saying Melo will average 4+ assists for 3-4 years now. He isn't even doing it as a point forward for the first time in his career.

He is a skilled passes, and can make some amazing ones.. But he's too much of a ball stopper to be considered a very good passer.

He's supposed to be the leader of the next great team (after MIA), and the TEAM (led by Melo) is underpreforming massively

[Sarcastic]

and you have been saying Melo will average 4+ assists for 3-4 years now. He isn't even doing it as a point forward for the first time in his career.

He is a skilled passes, and can make some amazing ones.. But he's too much of a ball stopper to be considered a very good passer.

He's supposed to be the leader of the next great team (after MIA), and the TEAM (led by Melo) is underpreforming massively

Wait till they get a new coach.

[fubu05]

Wait till they get a new coach.

And healthy.

[airchibundo507]

and you have been saying Melo will average 4+ assists for 3-4 years now. He isn't even doing it as a point forward for the first time in his career.

He is a skilled passes, and can make some amazing ones.. But he's too much of a ball stopper to be considered a very good passer.

He's supposed to be the leader of the next great team (after MIA), and the TEAM (led by Melo) is underpreforming massively

he started the season off slowy assist wise, but last four games he is averaging 4.75 apg. That's with our shooters hitting at a terrible clip from behind the arc.