Originally Posted by
TheScowl
I think Melo has shown he can do everything you need him to do, including pass the basketball. I think in his heart he's a scorer, and at times he has dominated the ball, but we have to consider the circumstances. I think if you get the right chemistry going on offense, Melo will get on board with it.
The article makes the point that Melo has never averaged 4 assists. Ok, for what it's worth, let's look at some of the other SF in the league, assist figures ('11-12 / career avg.):
LBJ 6.2 / 6.9
Paul Pierce 4.5 / 3.8
Carmelo 3.6 / 3.1
K. Durant 3.5 / 2.8
Luol Deng 2.8 / 2.3
G. Wallace 3.1 / 2.1
Granger 1.8 / 2.0
Rudy Gay 2.3 / 1.9
If we throw in top scoring SG for comparison:
D Wade 4.6 / 6.2
Kobe 4.6 / 4.7
Joe Johnson 3.9 / 4.4
So clearly Melo is not in the same class as LeBron, and trails Pierce, Wade and even Kobe and JJ. It's an area he can still improve, but it hardly a huge hole in his game.