Melo Can Be Top 8-10 Player In League

Crazy⑧s

Evacuee
Have a perusal of these 2 articles, and consider just how capable Carmelo Anthony is of exceeding the hype. We, as Knick fans, often balk at the ratings/positions he receives in articles such as 'Top 30 NBA players' for example: often he winds up somewhere between numbers 18-22.

If you ask me, he's going to be the catalyst of this team's success in the soon to commence shortened season. This, IMO, is his year to fail and fall, or to succeed and be anointed as one of the absolute best in the NBA.

Where he stands now amongst his superstar peers is a matter of opinion, professional, respected or otherwise.

The question here, however, is just how good can Melo be? If he amplifies his game as a facilitator and defender, then will he be anointed as one of the NBA's true elite? He already boasts the 'single name moniker' as do Lebron, Kobe, Dirk and so on, but now it's time to breach that next level of stardom by being the elite leader of an elite team.

This is his time to truly shine.

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Carmelo Anthony is excited about his new role as point-forward of the Knicks.

"For me to have the ball in my hands and to run the offense, I kind of enjoy doing that," Anthony said. "I have a lot of guys that I can kick the ball to and make something happen -- get people in their position, get people in their spots and get guys where they feel comfortable at. That's something that I've been trying to do throughout this whole training camp."

Anthony has seen the court open up more, especially with Tyson Chandler in the lineup.

"It changes tremendously, man -- just having him to the roll to the basket, having Amare popping on the backside, Toney [Douglas], Landry [Fields] open on the strong side," Anthony said. "We have a lot of options out there on the court; it's just matter of us getting it down pat. That's going to take some time, but we've been getting better at that."


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Carmelo Anthony is well-known as one of the best scorers in the NBA.

Defense? That's another story.

No one has ever called Anthony a defensive stopper.

But he says he wants that to change. He's 'tired' of hearing that he and the Knicks don't play defense.

"I want to push myself out there on the defensive end," Anthony said on Wednesday after the Knicks' final preseason game. "I get tired of hearing we don't play defense, I don't play defense. I just want to go out there and just do it. I'd rather not [talk about] what I can do out there, I'd rather just do it."

If there's any conclusion to be drawn from the two-game preseason, it's that the Knicks should be vastly improved on defense with Tyson Chandler in the middle.

Last year, they allowed 105.7 points per game -- tied for the third-highest total in the league. They gave up an average of 45.4 points in the paint (fifth highest in the NBA) and were out-rebounded by 3.5 boards per game.



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What do you think, gents?


http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/teams/New_York_Knicks/20/Home
 

fender0577

Rotation player
Melo is a top 10 player IMO, and i don't really want him to become a defensive stopper.How many of the leagues best scorers are "defensive stoppers"?Not to many, save that energy and put up buckets.Thats why we got TC, to play help D, if you look at those knicks teams of the 90's, they played great help D, all he needs to do is direct his man to the help and we'll be fine.I just don't know if this coach is capable of teaching that style of play.I saw him get interviewed after a suns lost like 128-133, and they asked why they lost, and the idiot said we did'nt score enough points, are you f in kidding me.
 
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LeFlume

All Star
Give him a free role. He is our difference maker. Of course I want him to defend but his main priority should still be offense. Thats why we paying him big bucks. Go out there and SCORE Melo...Win a scoring title. D is not on you. but scoring is.
 

TR1LL10N

Hannibal Lecter
If he can add consistent defense and a few more assists the dude will have Lebron versatility without being a bitchass creampuff.
 

iSaYughh

Starter
^ and with a more accurate shot

Ya, word to the above two posts.

I wouldn't call him Lebron-light, but Lebron-esque.

He should always have a better, and more confident shot.

Though, he will never be the passer Lebron is; and arguably, never have the defensive game either, or sheer athleticism.

But I could definitely see Melo clearly entrenched in the top 10 in the NBA, and even approach that rarified air of top5 discussions.
 

CA7

Scoring Champ
Melo is my eyes is a top 5 player. I mean guys like KD are called Top 5 players but if you look at their numbers their exactly the same give or take, and KD is nowhere near a great defensive player but he's "ELITE". Its the same thing with Dirk, he sucks ass on D but he's Elite, LeBron has all the talent but cant consistently his a jumper, cant post up he's at his best when the tempo is fast but in true half court games LeBron is not Elite, Carmelo can thrive uptempo but will dominate in the half court, its the reason why he's the best pure scorer in the game, run the floor, post up, mid range, off the dribble, fade away, spot up, pick n roll, pick and pop, spin move, catch lobs, all that.

He's sick of the hate and will definitely show everyone, even all the "Knick Fans" who disrespect him what I keep you all and its that he can be the best player in the game.
 

NYallDay

Benchwarmer
very good topic to discuss but i have a tangent question to this......
of course Melo is our best player, my question is how great does he have to be for us to win the ship.
if you look at the past champions, other than the pistons, i cant remember the last decade when the championship team didnt boast a top 5, maybe even top 3 player.
so i feel we need Melo to play out of his mind and top 8-10 will NOT cut it. he needs to be absolutely in conversation of top 5 from beginning to end of the season and he's got the skills and heart to do it, its just a matter of will power and commitment.




Ya, word to the above two posts.

I wouldn't call him Lebron-light, but Lebron-esque.

He should always have a better, and more confident shot.

Though, he will never be the passer Lebron is; and arguably, never have the defensive game either, or sheer athleticism.

But I could definitely see Melo clearly entrenched in the top 10 in the NBA, and even approach that rarified air of top5 discussions.
 

RunningJumper

Super Moderator
There's something about Melo now that gives me a lot more confidence in this team. It's beautiful basketball when he plays point-forward.

He's in even better shape, and his attitude on and off the court is refreshing. How many players do you see genuinely having fun on the court while still playing great?
 

CoolClyde

Moderator
Clyde vs Melo

i enjoyed Clyde's commentary on Wed, he told Melo he should be a
20-10-5 player, and Melo said he's trying. Breen and Clyde discussed Melo's
need to garner rebounds and dish and swish, but I find it cool and interesting
that Clyde talks to the Knicks players about improving their game. Although
Clyde will never be a coach, it's great that he is in a position to offer championship
Knick knowledge to this squad.

As Melo's role grows as a "point-forward" leader on this team, I'm happy to
hear Clyde's growing infatuation with the new defense-oriented, offensive-
heavy juggernaut that are the New York Knickerbockers.
 

iJoe

Rotation player
Winning solves everything. If you win, the media focuses on the positives, you lose.... they'll bash you with everything they got.

Defenseless guys like Dirk, Nash and Durant get by because they've won deep into the playoffs. Even Kobe plays on and off defense. Melo still needs to bring our team deep into the playoffs consistently in order to get respect.
 

fender0577

Rotation player
Winning solves everything. If you win, the media focuses on the positives, you lose.... they'll bash you with everything they got.

Defenseless guys like Dirk, Nash and Durant get by because they've won deep into the playoffs. Even Kobe plays on and off defense. Melo still needs to bring our team deep into the playoffs consistently in order to get respect.

Exactly, that's why i laugh when they try to say MELO/STAT aren't top 10 players.How many "top 10 players" are defensive stoppers? 1, D-howard.
 
Melo is already a top 10 player in my book!

He can be a top 5 player though.

Imagine Melo with defense and a chip on his shoulder....better than Durant, MVP candidate all the way.

Will will surprise a lot of people this season, he'll go all out on both ends against the top teams!
 

CA7

Scoring Champ
Exactly, that's why i laugh when they try to say MELO/STAT aren't top 10 players.How many "top 10 players" are defensive stoppers? 1, D-howard.

Actually 2 you have to add Kobe

Anyway as much as I hate the Celtics, I think Melo will become the new Larry Bird, all around guy, more athletic, better defender and better scorer but as a comparison I see him being that great this year. If he averages 24pts 9rebs and 7ast and shoots 50-40-90 while playing sound defense I'll wet myself every game. Thats what we need sure he can have his games of 50pts and 40pts and 20pt quarters but throughout the game I wanna see Larry Bird, passing, scoring, spotting up, rebounding and relentless D.

This is the year Melo breaks through to the Elite Category his '08 Playoff run was when he cemented himself as top 10 now he's going for top 3 if not #1
 

KingCharles34

All Star
Theres some truth to the opinion that hes already top 8 to 10, i mean no matter how you break it down with stats theres no universal top 10 that everybody would agree on. You can make the argument that hes top 10 but if anybody had him anywhere higher then 8th then Id probably disagree with that. But this is going into the season, we'll see what happens 2 weeks into the season when every team has already played 22 games smh

We'll see what happens with players like Kobe, he could drop down this year. Hes starting off the season injured, his good friend Odom is gone, and hes gettin divorced. Only the injuries can slow him down though in my opinion, when it comes to basketball hes always 100% focused. Its like theirs two Kobe's, one when hes playin ball/practicing/watching film, and the other Kobe thats doing non basketball related activities which is 2.4% of the time :lol:
 

Weissenberg

Grid or Riot
@CA7: no way Carmelo is a top five NBA player, he's definately top five at his position, but I think everyone can name right away five better NBA players. But, to be honest with you, I was quite impressed by some of his dishes during the preseason and his effort to play defense.
 

CA7

Scoring Champ
@CA7: no way Carmelo is a top five NBA player, he's definately top five at his position, but I think everyone can name right away five better NBA players. But, to be honest with you, I was quite impressed by some of his dishes during the preseason and his effort to play defense.

Name 5 and give me reasons why
 

Weissenberg

Grid or Riot
LeBron, Wade, D-Rose, Kobe and Dirk and don't ask my why because you ought to know that, just count how many rings or MVPs they have or how many times they made it to the finals
 

CA7

Scoring Champ
If you wanna say MVP's then Nash is top 5 he got 2, Dirk is better than Carmelo at what he's got 1 ring in like 14 years big deal, rings count towards legacy I'm saying skill. In my opinion the top 5 players are Kobe, Wade, Anthony, James and Durant followed by Paul, Rose, Williams, Dirk and Howard

Also

James- 2 finals, 2 finals wins, 2 MVP's- LeBron is a ****ing joke
 

Weissenberg

Grid or Riot
LeBron plays at least equal offense compared to Anthony; plus he does some great teamwork and is known of playing defense. Anthony keeps saying he's going to improve his dishes and put some more effort on the defensive end, but ESPN despite all their Knicks hate have correctly pointed out that Carmelo said that before, back in 2004 and nothing changed. LeBron is a complete player, he's Carmelo 2.0, you can hate him because of his media behavior, but you can't list Anthony above him, because he's simply a better player.
Rose is a great player and talented player, he's a hustler and a leader, he's one man band, he's clutch, he dunks, he steals, blocks and simply does everything else. Anthony is a star but Rose has enough tools to become an icon of basketball.
Dirk doesn't play anything even close to defense, that's correct, but his offense lists him above Anthony; plus he's an MVP and does have a ring.
You listed Wade and Kobe above Carmelo, so I think I don't have to tell you why they're better players. You reminded me about Nash and Howard, I'd list them above Anthony too.
 
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