[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Yo I just seen a dude mention memo as a franchise killer on the previous thread. I been meaning to defend melo for a while. 1st off this guy has made the playoffs every year except the past 2 seasons, in which he was surrounded by mediocre talent, & this past year was a complete tank by the Knicks.

Melo is a career 25.5,pt per game scorer on 45.5%,shooting, with 6.1rebounds& over 3assistsper game. I know he could be more of a creator and defender on a consistent basis, as he is solid in both area the problem is consistently& maybe motivation. Ppl talk bout him only making it past the 1st round of the playoffs twice. Let me defend him. The majority of his career has been in Denver, in the western conference. 2 of the 1st round losses came to 2005& 2007 eventual champ,spurs. Another one to the 2008 Lakers who made it to the finals. Kobe the mamba, said kobe was the hardest player for him to defend. Let’s not forget he did most of his Denver career with combinations of Nene, martin, a young afflalo, a Iverson who plays the same way as melo, and a past prime, but still good Chauncey billups, & his career, but mercurial& inconsistent, and at times boneheaded sidekick, Jr smith, which had proven to be at all times a blessing & a curse

Out of his staR draft class he was The only one to make the playoffs his rookie year. He can score from 3, the mid range, the post, rebound with any big, and relishes the chance to take the last shot. Memo to me is a star, as soon as he gets a solid team around him you’ll see plenty of post season success, at the same time, not sure when or ever it will come, but I’m hopeful for him.

 

 

[jwall1Participant]

I couldnt agree more, the scrutiny Melo gets is unwarranted. IMO he is just as gifted offensively as Harden and Curry (except more of a forward obviously with his post scoring and what not). I really hope the Knicks get it together and surround Melo with talent so he can contend for a championship.

[jwall1Participant]

I couldnt agree more, the scrutiny Melo gets is unwarranted. IMO he is just as gifted offensively as Harden and Curry (except more of a forward obviously with his post scoring and what not). I really hope the Knicks get it together and surround Melo with talent so he can contend for a championship.

[ChewyParticipant]

 for many reasons:

1. He choose money over winning last summer in free agency. That is his right as a gosh darn American to go get paid and good for him for doing it. But even the feeblest basketball minds knew that if he wanted to win, he needed to go to Chicago. He chose not to and has to deal with the money chasing stigma that comes with that choice.

2. The ammount of money he is getting paid makes it hard to build a team around him. Now the new cap should help this a little bit, but Melo’s window of prime playing is closing fast and the Knicks are not close to competing. Lebron led a team of second stringers to the finals. Melo didn’t even come close to getting into the playoffs.

3. He is too hurt to play in regular season games, but somehow pulls it out to play in the ASG. SMH for that bush league move.

4. He has never rebounded and defended in the NBA nearly as well as he does for Team USA. The guy only works hard defesively if he is wearing a USA jersey or is playing against Lebron.

5. Back to point # 2, how does Shump and JR suck all year long for NY, but play like world beaters for Cleveland? The answer is leadership. Melo is a top tier scorer, but not a leader.

 

 

 

 

 

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Its easy to say he took money over winning when your not in his shoes. The guy is from NY & I think he believes and wants to win there, because winning g in the place your born means alot.,

I stated he plays hard on defense inconsistently, but had ge ever had elite offensive help like lebron, wade, kevin durant, or curry ? No, he hasnt so at times he has to sacrifice d for o. Im not sayin that the case all the time, but often, yes.

To you point about shump and jr. Jr waz inconsistent throughout the season. He shot 39% from 3 but Jr usually shoots well from 3 given his whole season accumulation, but he shot only 42% from the field. Shump has never been a big offensive help to melo, and his overall shooting % has always been hovering around average.41% ovrrall& 34% from deep. He is on of the best defenders in the league but his shot comes and goes. I almost forgot Wasnt jr smith a no show every game in this years final except 1. Come back yo.s_b_n

 

 

[ChewyParticipant]

 Melo is the definition of a star and not a superstar. 

Really the only reason I am responding right now is I REALLY want to know what "Come back yo.s_b_n" means. This is an honest question, I’m not very up to date on slang apparently…

 

 

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Lol!. S_b_ n is my initials for my handle. Stop_ basketball_ nonsense.  To me if curry can have a team around him and just shoot mostly, not saying he isn’t a solid passer, and be equipped with.a slew of solid and elite defenders and be an mvp, than melo should be labeled a superstar. My opinion s_b_n.

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Lol!. S_b_ n is my initials for my handle. Stop_ basketball_ nonsense.  To me if curry can have a team around him and just shoot mostly, not saying he isn’t a solid passer, and be equipped with.a slew of solid and elite defenders and be an mvp, than melo should be labeled a superstar. My opinion s_b_n.

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Lol!. S_b_ n is my initials for my handle. Stop_ basketball_ nonsense.  To me if curry can have a team around him and just shoot mostly, not saying he isn’t a solid passer, and be equipped with.a slew of solid and elite defenders and be an mvp, than melo should be labeled a superstar. My opinion s_b_n.

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Lol!. S_b_ n is my initials for my handle. Stop_ basketball_ nonsense.  To me if curry can have a team around him and just shoot mostly, not saying he isn’t a solid passer, and be equipped with.a slew of solid and elite defenders and be an mvp, than melo should be labeled a superstar. My opinion s_b_n.

[ChewyParticipant]

 Ok, that makes sense thanks. Good point about Curry, but he already has a ring (even though he did play against a bunch of injury ridden teams) which puts him ahead for me now. Before this past year I would of put Curry in a category with Wall, Lillard, Rose, Melo, Bosh and maybe some others as "great players to build a team around, but still haven’t proven they can lead a team to the finals."

[ChewyParticipant]

 Ok, that makes sense thanks. Good point about Curry, but he already has a ring (even though he did play against a bunch of injury ridden teams) which puts him ahead for me now. Before this past year I would of put Curry in a category with Wall, Lillard, Rose, Melo, Bosh and maybe some others as "great players to build a team around, but still haven’t proven they can lead a team to the finals."

[ChewyParticipant]

 Melo is the definition of a star and not a superstar. 

Really the only reason I am responding right now is I REALLY want to know what "Come back yo.s_b_n" means. This is an honest question, I’m not very up to date on slang apparently…

 

 

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Its easy to say he took money over winning when your not in his shoes. The guy is from NY & I think he believes and wants to win there, because winning g in the place your born means alot.,

I stated he plays hard on defense inconsistently, but had ge ever had elite offensive help like lebron, wade, kevin durant, or curry ? No, he hasnt so at times he has to sacrifice d for o. Im not sayin that the case all the time, but often, yes.

To you point about shump and jr. Jr waz inconsistent throughout the season. He shot 39% from 3 but Jr usually shoots well from 3 given his whole season accumulation, but he shot only 42% from the field. Shump has never been a big offensive help to melo, and his overall shooting % has always been hovering around average.41% ovrrall& 34% from deep. He is on of the best defenders in the league but his shot comes and goes. I almost forgot Wasnt jr smith a no show every game in this years final except 1. Come back yo.s_b_n

 

 

[ChewyParticipant]

 for many reasons:

1. He choose money over winning last summer in free agency. That is his right as a gosh darn American to go get paid and good for him for doing it. But even the feeblest basketball minds knew that if he wanted to win, he needed to go to Chicago. He chose not to and has to deal with the money chasing stigma that comes with that choice.

2. The ammount of money he is getting paid makes it hard to build a team around him. Now the new cap should help this a little bit, but Melo’s window of prime playing is closing fast and the Knicks are not close to competing. Lebron led a team of second stringers to the finals. Melo didn’t even come close to getting into the playoffs.

3. He is too hurt to play in regular season games, but somehow pulls it out to play in the ASG. SMH for that bush league move.

4. He has never rebounded and defended in the NBA nearly as well as he does for Team USA. The guy only works hard defesively if he is wearing a USA jersey or is playing against Lebron.

5. Back to point # 2, how does Shump and JR suck all year long for NY, but play like world beaters for Cleveland? The answer is leadership. Melo is a top tier scorer, but not a leader.

 

 

 

 

 

[joe2324Participant]

Melo is a great offensive player, probably one of the best pure scorers in the game. As others have pointed out, you just can’t build a championship team around him because hes one dimensional and makes way too much money to bring in a supporting cast.  The difference between Melo and Lebrong or Wade is huge. When Wade was healthy and injury free, you could build a championship team around him without Lebron. If Melo played defense on the level on Wade or Lebron, he would deserve all that mone and you could win with him. People are just frustrated, especially Knick fans. You can’t blame Melo, the blame goes on those who paid him for being ignorant. 

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

Okay if when you say the blame goes on those who paid him, your saying they gave him too much money too sign any other talent then I agree. But if your saying he isn’t worth it then the ignorance is on you. 

You make apoint about other players being able to have a championship team around them. Lets me respond. Lebron cant shoot from deep that well so he has always wantec to be surrounded by shooters, same with wade. Curry isnt that good of a defender consistently, so he has been surrounded by big wings who can play d well. Its not melos fault a organization had never trult understood whaT he needs around him!! One thing is a dominant big man who not only plays d but can score. I’m surprised Knicks didn’t throw an absurd amount of $ at brook lopez, & for once a solid bench othet than mainly one guy. Jr smith, mr Dr Jekyll and Mr hide.

 

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

Okay if when you say the blame goes on those who paid him, your saying they gave him too much money too sign any other talent then I agree. But if your saying he isn’t worth it then the ignorance is on you. 

You make apoint about other players being able to have a championship team around them. Lets me respond. Lebron cant shoot from deep that well so he has always wantec to be surrounded by shooters, same with wade. Curry isnt that good of a defender consistently, so he has been surrounded by big wings who can play d well. Its not melos fault a organization had never trult understood whaT he needs around him!! One thing is a dominant big man who not only plays d but can score. I’m surprised Knicks didn’t throw an absurd amount of $ at brook lopez, & for once a solid bench othet than mainly one guy. Jr smith, mr Dr Jekyll and Mr hide.

 

[Champzilla21Participant]

 Lebron doesnt want shooters around him because he cant shoot thats dumb, he wants shooters around him so that when he drives the lane he doesnt have abunch of help defenders sagging over and taking up space. Hes an excellent passer who can find you and he needs shooters to help punish teams for over commiting To point out also he has a 34.2% from three on 4 attempts for his career while Melo is at 34.5 on 3 attempts so its not like hes any better. Plus Melo is almost suited to play the 4 in most situations now and a huge player like Lopez would clog the lane. He would really benefit from a mobile center who doesnt need to always be in the paint and who can help out on D.

[Champzilla21Participant]

 Lebron doesnt want shooters around him because he cant shoot thats dumb, he wants shooters around him so that when he drives the lane he doesnt have abunch of help defenders sagging over and taking up space. Hes an excellent passer who can find you and he needs shooters to help punish teams for over commiting To point out also he has a 34.2% from three on 4 attempts for his career while Melo is at 34.5 on 3 attempts so its not like hes any better. Plus Melo is almost suited to play the 4 in most situations now and a huge player like Lopez would clog the lane. He would really benefit from a mobile center who doesnt need to always be in the paint and who can help out on D.

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Lebron shot less than 25% from deep in the playoffs. Yes he drives the lane and shooter s compliment him, but there is a reason the spurs always has success against him& it is his inconsistency from deep. Plus I said he can’t shoot from 3 that well, not he can’t shoot, not paying attention to what your reading is also dumb.

[Stop_basketball_nonsenseParticipant]

 Lebron shot less than 25% from deep in the playoffs. Yes he drives the lane and shooter s compliment him, but there is a reason the spurs always has success against him& it is his inconsistency from deep. Plus I said he can’t shoot from 3 that well, not he can’t shoot, not paying attention to what your reading is also dumb.

[joe2324Participant]

Melo is a great offensive player, probably one of the best pure scorers in the game. As others have pointed out, you just can’t build a championship team around him because hes one dimensional and makes way too much money to bring in a supporting cast.  The difference between Melo and Lebrong or Wade is huge. When Wade was healthy and injury free, you could build a championship team around him without Lebron. If Melo played defense on the level on Wade or Lebron, he would deserve all that mone and you could win with him. People are just frustrated, especially Knick fans. You can’t blame Melo, the blame goes on those who paid him for being ignorant. 

[Champzilla21Participant]

 Ive always long lamented that he would be the ultimate number 2 guy or 1B. The problem is theres only a finite amount of people who are better at the game of basketball then him and even less that he respects. Lebron Kd Curry and AD are probably the only people who could really bring out the best in him. Theres a reason he always looks like the best player on the court when hes playing with outher great players. He plays with a joy you just never see from him since his trade to New York. He elavates his game to those around him. When he doesnt have to worry about having to score 30pts a game for the team to have a chance and is just put in a position to go out and play he shines. He has always walked his own path compared to the other stars in the league. First when he didnt have an early opt out clause in the contract which gave him less leverage, and then picking the money with a depleted roster instead of putting himself in a good basketball situation. The great this is is that he owns up to this, still does dumb things like playing in the ASG this year but things can only get better. If he ever decides to be apart of a team instead of being the team we will see a more dynamic and efficient player then in years past even when hes on the wrong side of thirty.

[Champzilla21Participant]

 Ive always long lamented that he would be the ultimate number 2 guy or 1B. The problem is theres only a finite amount of people who are better at the game of basketball then him and even less that he respects. Lebron Kd Curry and AD are probably the only people who could really bring out the best in him. Theres a reason he always looks like the best player on the court when hes playing with outher great players. He plays with a joy you just never see from him since his trade to New York. He elavates his game to those around him. When he doesnt have to worry about having to score 30pts a game for the team to have a chance and is just put in a position to go out and play he shines. He has always walked his own path compared to the other stars in the league. First when he didnt have an early opt out clause in the contract which gave him less leverage, and then picking the money with a depleted roster instead of putting himself in a good basketball situation. The great this is is that he owns up to this, still does dumb things like playing in the ASG this year but things can only get better. If he ever decides to be apart of a team instead of being the team we will see a more dynamic and efficient player then in years past even when hes on the wrong side of thirty.

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

 Melo wants to be a star off the court in New York. He might want to win in New York but being in NY and making money would appear to be more important to him. He was in a decent situation in Denver. They had talent and young players and he wanted to be in NY more. 

His style of play is also difficult to build a team around. He monopolizes the offense becaue he’s all isolation. Nobody knows how to play off that because there are 4 guys on one side of the floor so often. Basketball isn’t about 1 on 1…its about creating 5 on 4s and 4 on 3s. Melo doesn’t do that, even if he is a dynamic offensive player.

This is a guy that dogged it for half the year in NY, played in the All Star game, and shut it down right afterwards. That’s not what you want the face of your team doing and not what a "superstar" would do. 

Melo is a top 5 scorer in the league. He gets buckets, there’s no denying that. But it rarely comes within the flow of an offense, and he provides little else in the way of winning. 

 

 

 

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

 Melo wants to be a star off the court in New York. He might want to win in New York but being in NY and making money would appear to be more important to him. He was in a decent situation in Denver. They had talent and young players and he wanted to be in NY more. 

His style of play is also difficult to build a team around. He monopolizes the offense becaue he’s all isolation. Nobody knows how to play off that because there are 4 guys on one side of the floor so often. Basketball isn’t about 1 on 1…its about creating 5 on 4s and 4 on 3s. Melo doesn’t do that, even if he is a dynamic offensive player.

This is a guy that dogged it for half the year in NY, played in the All Star game, and shut it down right afterwards. That’s not what you want the face of your team doing and not what a "superstar" would do. 

Melo is a top 5 scorer in the league. He gets buckets, there’s no denying that. But it rarely comes within the flow of an offense, and he provides little else in the way of winning. 

 

 

 

[ChoppyParticipant]

 Not necessarily hating on Melo, but to me his problem is he hasn’t developed his game a whole lot since he came into the league. He’s an elite scorer who pretty much doesn’t offer anything else at a high level. You see the other superstars who add dimensions to their game, eg Karl Malone and his FT, LeBron becoming an adequate 3pt shooter etc. Melo was such a good scorer coming out of college he just kept doing that and hasn’t added anything else. You’d have thought he’d have worked on his defence or passing – get something that’s a perceived weakness and improve it. He never did. Watching him play is like watching an AAU team play with all their 1-on-1 rubbish.

[ChoppyParticipant]

 Not necessarily hating on Melo, but to me his problem is he hasn’t developed his game a whole lot since he came into the league. He’s an elite scorer who pretty much doesn’t offer anything else at a high level. You see the other superstars who add dimensions to their game, eg Karl Malone and his FT, LeBron becoming an adequate 3pt shooter etc. Melo was such a good scorer coming out of college he just kept doing that and hasn’t added anything else. You’d have thought he’d have worked on his defence or passing – get something that’s a perceived weakness and improve it. He never did. Watching him play is like watching an AAU team play with all their 1-on-1 rubbish.

[tuck243Participant]

I can go on and on about how, outside of his rookie season, D Wade has a 4-12 record in the playoffs without Shaq or LeBron (2 of the greatest players in league history) on his team.  The Heat has missed 2 playoffs with Wade as the team’s only superstar.   He still gets his respect regardless.   Chris Paul is also someone who didn’t do much in the playoffs w/o a top 15 player, but yet always get a pass.

Melo?  Nah…  He never gets respect.   He signed that deal last year.   If he was "greedy" like y’all claim then he would’ve did EXACTLY what LeBron did and signed a one year deal or opted into his contract.  That $24 Million a year look extremely small compared to the deals that’s being thrown around now.  Reggie FREAKING Jackson just received $80 Million from a struggling city in Detriot.  Y’all wanted Melo to take less than that to go to Chicago?  Like make sense of this.   

Melo needs an actual PG to play alongside him.  He’s not LeBron and can’t start the offense.  This is why he did so well with 2 aging PG’s in J. Kidd and Billups.  Putting Shump and JR Smith into the convo is pointless because both showed in the Finals that they’re not a duo to count on consistently.  They were the Cavs 4th and 6th best players throughtout the year.  They were the Knicks 2nd and 3rd.   You see what LeBron had to do with JR as his 2nd best player?  My point exactly…

For the record Melo has increased his free throw percentage and his 3pt percentage throughout his career.  He added a post game as well.  Truth be told, although his team sucked the past 2 seasons, Melo has done everything asked of him.  He played defense vs the other teams top guy at the end of the game (see games vs LeBron and Dirk).  He ran out to the 3pt line and got his hand up…  He came back to a city that destroyed him for the lack of team production.   That triangle offense last year was a joke and he STILL believe in it.  You think him not playing much in the regular season was strictly up to him?  You guys realize the All-Star game was in NYC and he was the ONLY player to truly represent NY basketball in the game?  Y’all know how important NYC is to basketball?!!   

Like it’s really baffles me the amount of hate people continue to throw at this man.

 

 

 

 

  

[tuck243Participant]

I can go on and on about how, outside of his rookie season, D Wade has a 4-12 record in the playoffs without Shaq or LeBron (2 of the greatest players in league history) on his team.  The Heat has missed 2 playoffs with Wade as the team’s only superstar.   He still gets his respect regardless.   Chris Paul is also someone who didn’t do much in the playoffs w/o a top 15 player, but yet always get a pass.

Melo?  Nah…  He never gets respect.   He signed that deal last year.   If he was "greedy" like y’all claim then he would’ve did EXACTLY what LeBron did and signed a one year deal or opted into his contract.  That $24 Million a year look extremely small compared to the deals that’s being thrown around now.  Reggie FREAKING Jackson just received $80 Million from a struggling city in Detriot.  Y’all wanted Melo to take less than that to go to Chicago?  Like make sense of this.   

Melo needs an actual PG to play alongside him.  He’s not LeBron and can’t start the offense.  This is why he did so well with 2 aging PG’s in J. Kidd and Billups.  Putting Shump and JR Smith into the convo is pointless because both showed in the Finals that they’re not a duo to count on consistently.  They were the Cavs 4th and 6th best players throughtout the year.  They were the Knicks 2nd and 3rd.   You see what LeBron had to do with JR as his 2nd best player?  My point exactly…

For the record Melo has increased his free throw percentage and his 3pt percentage throughout his career.  He added a post game as well.  Truth be told, although his team sucked the past 2 seasons, Melo has done everything asked of him.  He played defense vs the other teams top guy at the end of the game (see games vs LeBron and Dirk).  He ran out to the 3pt line and got his hand up…  He came back to a city that destroyed him for the lack of team production.   That triangle offense last year was a joke and he STILL believe in it.  You think him not playing much in the regular season was strictly up to him?  You guys realize the All-Star game was in NYC and he was the ONLY player to truly represent NY basketball in the game?  Y’all know how important NYC is to basketball?!!   

Like it’s really baffles me the amount of hate people continue to throw at this man.

 

 

 

 

  

[machu46Participant]

I love when we applaud players for going to their hometown team/staying with their hometown team, but then trash Melo for doing the same.

And I said it at the time, the idea of going to Chicago to play with another injury-plagued star (Rose) must have made him very hesitant after what he just went through with Amare in New York.  He would have been signed-and-traded to Chicago for Mirotic and or Butler at the time (since Butler hadn’t blown up yet), and they wouldn’t have had Pau.  There’s no guarantee that team would ever win a title, and Melo would have been leaving the place that he loves to do so.

 

[machu46Participant]

I love when we applaud players for going to their hometown team/staying with their hometown team, but then trash Melo for doing the same.

And I said it at the time, the idea of going to Chicago to play with another injury-plagued star (Rose) must have made him very hesitant after what he just went through with Amare in New York.  He would have been signed-and-traded to Chicago for Mirotic and or Butler at the time (since Butler hadn’t blown up yet), and they wouldn’t have had Pau.  There’s no guarantee that team would ever win a title, and Melo would have been leaving the place that he loves to do so.

 

[Author]

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