I will come at you like that ..because you don't know what you're talking about.
No one is saying Melo can't do his thing in this offense. He just needs to do it in a way that he's not used to. This may sound extreme but he needs to play like Fields, or like King Starbury said like Marion used to in this system. Landry is decisive as hell. When he gets the ball he quickly makes a decision to either shoot, drive and score, drive and kick, or he swiftly moves the ball to the open man. This is what Melo needs to do. Melo does not commit all the time to making all of those decisions based on what the defense has presented. For example say he drives and he pries free a rotating defender, he may shoot anyway instead of kicking to the open man or making the pass that leads to an open shot. Fields makes that pass 9 times out of 10. He's committed to the system. Melo might make the positive play 4or 5 times out of 10.This hurts our offense. It hurts the flow. This is what you don't understand. This is the sacrifice Melo needs to make. He just needs to commit to making the right play no matter what it is. Sometimes he just wants to get up an attempt no matter what the D has presented and that kills the offense. So simple.
In doing so you let the offense work for you, instead of you working hard to get your shot. That's the beauty and genius of MDAs system. When everyone is decisive and unselfish open shots present themselves abundantly. Melo many times is not decisive and unselfish.
Yes his assists are up. But this is because he was asked to play the point forward for half of this shortened season. He's made some nice plays,some unselfish plays, BUT ALOT of times he takes the offense in his own hands and just wants to get up a shot. It kills me (and the team flow) every time he does it because he needs to move on from this type of basketball and he just won't embrace this fact.
This is the next step for Melo. If he wants to win a championship he's going to have to embrace MDA's offensive philosophy,
fully. Right now he can't turn it on and off (like some other great players which I will explain below). When he tries to play within the system he's not able to make the right decision all the time quickly. Sometimes he shoots when he's not open, when he should have passed. Sometimes he drives and the paint shuts down and he shoots anyway instead of kicking to an open player. Sometimes he doesn't shoot when he's open. He's just confused out there many times. He did make a nice pass to Amare in the post against NJ when he was doubled and Amare cut to the rim. He needs to do this more often . He needs to trust the offense and his teammates.
A good example of this type of sacrifice that is needed is Paul Pierce. He was a top scorer in the league for multiple seasons. Once he got Garnett and Ray Allen he began to make the shift. He's sacrificed his ppg average, his right to get a shot whenever he wanted (like Melo he could do this) to play within a potent half-court offensive system with two other stars who did the same. He made the commitment to such a level that he can turn it off and on. THAT IS... MOST TIMES PLAY WITHIN THE SYSTEM and AT TIMES, WHEN NEEDED, LOOK FOR HIS OWN SHOT (like in the forth quarter). Pierce hadly ever falls in love with isos and pounding the ball because he understands that this takes away from the overall potency of the teams offense. And why should he?? He's won a championship playing the right way and he has two other stars to help him carry the load. It's just not smart. Kobe to has taken that step too, years ago. This what you don't understand. You're not able to see subtleties and you conflate certain things, a sign of only a modicum of acumen re bball fundamentals, historical context and being able to square the two.
Glad to have contributed to your understanding sir.
eace: