For years I liked him over LeBron. Melo at least has a legit ref-independent offense. Now I don't like either of them.
Watched that guy play in college. Absolutely nothing about what I saw screamed "Finals MVP" to me, but Leonard was fantastic in the Finals.
Leonard was great, but he played off of stars who drew attention. Just like Devean George was great when Kobe, Shaq, Malone, and Payton were on the floor.
Not to say that George is in the same tier as Leonard, just that they both benefitted greatly from the stars around them.
Not really honestly but only because Melo has been hurt. If they question is "who is better Curry or Melo?" it has to be Curry right now, right? He's the only one playing regularly so Melo doesn't have a chance to defend himself. Curry is definitely on another level right now though. Take nothing from him, the kid is bringing it.
The Knicks are horrendous even when Melo plays though. If he's been injured for the past 5 years, can we really give him a pass? At this point, it's old age and a lack of proper work ethic. I think it's pretty safe to say this is who he is and who he will be. Also, not only would I take Curry over Melo right now, I would go one step further and say that Curry is playing better than Melo has ever played, healthy or not. Some stats for everyone: Curry: Leading a team that is on pace to win 70 games. Even if they slow down, 60+ wins is almost definitely within the realm of possibilities. Even if this team only goes .500 for the rest of the season, they'll win more games than Melo has ever won in his career. Melo: Never lead a team to 60 wins. Nuggets won more games after trading away Melo. Lol. If we ignore the team and get into individual stats... Curry: Averaging 25.0 ppg, 9.0 apg, 5.2 rpg, and 2.3 spg per 36. Only reason he can't get more minutes is because he blows teams out whenever he steps on the floor. Melo: Only reason he can't get minutes on the floor because he always has nagging injuries. He doesn't put in the work in the offseason to prepare for the grind of the actual season. He lost weight this season though. Some speculate that's because of PEDs. Curry: 27.4 PER. Melo: Usually hovers around the low 20s. His highest PER is 24.8, which is still lower than Curry's and unsurprisingly is the year after the Olympics. In other words, playing in the Olympics actually forced him to stay in shape. Curry: Lowest ever TS% is 56.8%, which was his rookie season. Melo: Highest ever TS% is 56.8%. Curry: 5.6 RAPM. Melo: 1.4 RAPM (a negative on defense)
All of that is well and good, but when has Carmelo ever had a team around him that is as good as that Golden State team?
Only that first stat was a team stat. The rest were individual stats. Although if I were to picture Melo on this team, I can see him stunting Klay's growth, not playing defense, stopping the ball, and just hurting the team overall from its true potential.
There's almost no way to separate a personal statistic in basketball from a team statistic. You can't get an assist unless your man makes a basket, right? You can't get the steal if your teammate doesn't trap, right? Same idea for me. There's few times when I think individual statistics stand above a team background in this sport. Kobe playing with Smush? Yeah those statistics stand out because that team was just that bad and he somehow was still putting up Hall of Fame numbers. In this case, you point out that if you put Melo in Golden State the team might look worse. Well yeah, maybe. What would Curry look like in NY though?
I'm not getting exactly where you are going. It's also not like Melo never had a good team. He had good teammates (Nene, Ty Lawson, Afflalo, Billups, Anderson, and even JR Smith) and still did not put up numbers like this. Numbers are also easier to put up on a crappy team because you can dominate the ball. Examples: 1. Kobe with Smush 2. Kevin Love before Cleveland 3. 08-09 Wade 4. Jordan before Pippen 5. Chris Bosh before Miami Curry is on a better team, shares the responsibility, and is still putting up better individual stats. If he were in NY, I would say he'd be able to pad his stats to an absurd level. Edit: RAPM is also not a stat on your production. It's a stat on your impact and how well your team does with/without you. Curry's is much higher than Melo's.
I know we're really not going to change each other's minds on this subject. But I think Curry should be getting more praise than he's been getting. I've read and heard a lot of people say that Curry is the MVP because there aren't any good choices and he's on the best team. To me, that undermines everything he's done and is a bit insulting.
I haven't heard that. I DO think he's benefiting from being on a good team at a time when there's no other clear powers out there. Reminds me of Steve Nash in terms of doing great things with a good team in the right situation. I'm not selling him short of anything, he's been fantastic. And he's the most voted for player in the All-Star game isn't he? I think he's getting the appropriate amount of respect.
he made a poor case this year, but in general I agree with him. he and kobe (and Iverson's corpse) have borne the brunt of the nerd culture partisan bloggers overtaking the national media. someone said he only made it out of the second round twice, but he's never played with another top tier guy. you can basically say the same for every great player in the last twenty years save three: LeBron, kobe, dirk. I might add Duncan, as I don't think parker or ginobili is really top tier. not get off an a side rant, but I'm super annoyed with the fact that disingenuously getting to the foul line is becoming what determines stardom. melo has been a better basketball player throughout his career (especially in bigger moments) than james harden (or his predecessor, dwyane wade), imo. significantly better than the former, I might add. but because for whatever reason a couple guys get to play by a different set of rules (watch tyreke evans or monta ellis--both great penetrators and excellent finishers--try to get away with harden's bs), I'm supposed to buy that they're so great. tell you what, when a great defense takes away the open three and doesn't put my guy on the line, I want someone like melo, kobe, or Iverson, who can create and can a tough midrange shot, on my side. not some dude who's going flop and flail when the going gets rough.
None as good. But bad enough to lose in the 1st round repeatedly over and over again? No. As the old saying goes, "Superstars are made in the postseason." Melo doesn't qualify.
That's true too. I'm not trying to defend Melo the person/player I'm just saying comparing the two is a little rough. Not to mention this has been half a season so far for Curry compared to a few years of elite level scoring for Carmelo. I've loved watching Curry's season thus far and I hope his MVP type year continues, but it's too soon to bury the old crew.
