Melo should be motivated by seeing LeBron/Durant finals?

[ecnirp]

When Olympic time come. Melo MIGHT be the best player on the team. Im a LeBron fan, and even I admit that Melo performs better in the Olympic stage.

Melo came out the same year as LeBron. Before DWADE (another of my favorite players)...It was all about LeBron/Melo. They were supposed to be a Bird/Magic rivalry between those two. In fact ESPN had all four of the them for TV special. Bird and Magic expecting great things from those two.

However, DWADE improved his game more and took his shine away basically. Melo still balled, but was never quite on their level till about a couple years ago. And now he's slid back.

Look at Durant.....Besides length....Tell me one thing that Durant has over Melo?? Melo should be as dominant as Durant is nowdays. However, Durant has the burning desire to get better. Durant didnt have the handle, the athletic ability, or as complete a offensive game as a young Melo when he entered the league. However, Durant just got better and better.

They're from the same city right? (Well Baltimore and DC) How did Durant just come into the league and steal his Thunder? (semi Pun intended)

If Melo doesnt take it personal this year.....he'll never get it. He'll be the Clyde Drexler of his era (No knock against Clyde...in fact..some may find that as an insult to him...just saying...he was always a notch below...)

Or maybe Domonique (again...that might be an insult to Nique depending on who you ask...)

Its just confuses me how a guy as talented as Melo cant avg 28/8/4. Consistently and efficiently. He's too talented to be a 3rd tier player.

I thought I'd see Melo and LeBron battling it out during the ECF year after year. Now Im not saying its too late. But Melo....Why not Serious?

[Im Coming Home]

[Hyaena]

I remember reading something about how he's not watching the playoffs because it would be too hard. I'd imagine seeing other guys in his generation making such deep playoff runs has to get to him a little bit. When focused, he's an absolute monster and even a solid defender.

It's a question of desire and I hope the effort is more consistent this upcoming season so he can make some noise in the playoffs and win a ring for us one day instead of being remembered as a talented, glorified, high-scoring novelty act which many label him as.

[Crazyknicks]

If you watched the first round matchup you'd know Melo is not on Lebron's level.

He's a notch below Durant and Lebron, and we will need a strong supporting cast around him to maybe compete with those two.

[NY_Kn1cks]

If you watched the first round matchup you'd know Melo is not on Lebron's level.

He's a notch below Durant and Lebron, and we will need a strong supporting cast around him to maybe compete with those two.

I would say he's a notch below Lebron but put replace melo for durant on the thunder and I say they are still in the finals.

[blumatic]

If you watched the first round matchup you'd know Melo is not on Lebron's level.

He's a notch below Durant and Lebron, and we will need a strong supporting cast around him to maybe compete with those two.

I would say he's a notch below Lebron but put replace melo for durant on the thunder and I say they are still in the finals.

Agreed. No one is in Lebron's class so let's leave it at that. Melo and Durant are equal to me. The same in many ways. Durant gets a huge pass because of his humility. But Durant has a great squad. Never we though that of Melo in Denver or NY (health issues).

Vs. the Heat I saw Melo as a great player who played on team that was the product of their season. And the the summation of the season manifested its self in the form of more injuries and self inflicted injured Amare, a sick Tyson, and no Lin. Every game was "Game 2 of the 2011 playoffs vs. Boston" except for game 4.

[JBreezeNY]

Made some good points & made them without any bias or bashing. Very surprising considering the other Melo threads

I'll say this Melo is a great player, has fantastic talent but his problem IMO is his desire. What I mean by that is I believe he's conflicted about still being a star player who averages 20-25 PPG & trying to buy into the team concept with players who he can't trust.

I've said it time & time again, he was able to buy into the team concept in Denver & in fact played beautiful basketball with Billups, Andre Miller & most surprisingly Allen Iverson. He was able to get to his spots, be fed the ball where he likes it, play the decoy, make passes & easy assists for his teammates.

The problem he's having here is the players don't compliment him very well.

You surround him correctly you'll get better production all around. We don't NEED our small forward to be Lebron James or Rajon Rondo, we just need him to score buckets & play defense. When you're asking him to play PG & play more like he did in HS then you'll run into problems because the offense is running from, through and around Melo. You just want the offense to run through him that's it, not any extra stuff.

The quicker people can get off this notion that Melo is selfish & we need him to be like Lebron or be like KD who passes even less, then the better.

[NY_Kn1cks]

but his problem IMO is his desire.

I hate when people say this. There is absolutely NO evidence to support this claim yet I see it thrown around like it's fact.

[NySpartan4]

Am I allowed to disagree? I don't think Melo and Durant are equal. Durant (by far) is superior. Better shooter, better team player, more effort, same killer instinct. Therefore, overall much better.

[NY_Kn1cks]

Am I allowed to disagree? I don't think Melo and Durant are equal. Durant (by far) is superior. Better shooter, better team player, more effort, same killer instinct. Therefore, overall much better.

Sure you're allowed to voice your opinion

[ecnirp]

but his problem IMO is his desire.

I hate when people say this. There is absolutely NO evidence to support this claim yet I see it thrown around like it's fact.

Maybe its not desire..

But what is it?

Why has Durant reached a level of individual success quicker than Melo? Melo was more complete. He's up there with Durant as one of the most pure scorers in the league....So why hasnt he led the league in scoring?

I mentioned LeBron...No Im not saying he's as good as LeBron. Just saying he shouldnt be far behind...like Durant is. If we're talking about talent.

Maybe he never had the right pieces around him. But Melo is far too talented to never have achieved more imo.

I just never would have thought Durant would surpass Melo like this with such ease. Especially since Melo is as skilled and talented. So what is the difference? (Honestly)

[ecnirp]

Am I allowed to disagree? I don't think Melo and Durant are equal. Durant (by far) is superior. Better shooter, better team player, more effort, same killer instinct. Therefore, overall much better.

Only thing I agree with is better team player/effort. (You can be a better teammate when you give max effort)

Idk...I thought when Melo came out of Syracuse...He'd at least have some scoring titles and maybe an MVP by now

Then again I thought LeBron would have 2 or 3 rings by his 9th year

Should get one this year though

Idk. Maybe Im just wrong about Melo. However, his talent is there.

[NY_Kn1cks]

but his problem IMO is his desire.

I hate when people say this. There is absolutely NO evidence to support this claim yet I see it thrown around like it's fact.

Maybe its not desire..

But what is it?

Why has Durant reached a level of individual success quicker than Melo? Melo was more complete. He's up there with Durant as one of the most pure scorers in the league....So why hasnt he led the league in scoring?

I mentioned LeBron...No Im not saying he's as good as LeBron. Just saying he shouldnt be far behind...like Durant is. If we're talking about talent.

Maybe he never had the right pieces around him. But Melo is far too talented to never have achieved more imo.

I just never would have thought Durant would surpass Melo like this with such ease. Especially since Melo is as skilled and talented. So what is the difference? (Honestly)

Durant has a better team....

[NY_Kn1cks]

but his problem IMO is his desire.

I hate when people say this. There is absolutely NO evidence to support this claim yet I see it thrown around like it's fact.

Maybe its not desire..

But what is it?

Why has Durant reached a level of individual success quicker than Melo? Melo was more complete. He's up there with Durant as one of the most pure scorers in the league....So why hasnt he led the league in scoring?

I mentioned LeBron...No Im not saying he's as good as LeBron. Just saying he shouldnt be far behind...like Durant is. If we're talking about talent.

Maybe he never had the right pieces around him. But Melo is far too talented to never have achieved more imo.

I just never would have thought Durant would surpass Melo like this with such ease. Especially since Melo is as skilled and talented. So what is the difference? (Honestly)

Durant has a better team....

[Esq-4]

Interesting. Yea he should be motivated. And inspired since they all play the same position.

I think he had the desire post dantoni (which says a lot itself) and had the desire in Denver. He played in a tough west, but I thought the nugz had solid teams. He seemed to have the desire this post season, we had too many injuries and played the team that now in the finals and was last year with of the best players in the league and who's no 3 is equal or better to our no 2 (who was hurt-and our no 3 was sick our PG was out and his back up got hurt, our stud rookie and top perimeter defender went out). Injuries this time were not an excuse but a reality. I didn't see the Pacers hang when Granger and west got injuries.

Melo is easy to hate and deserves some blame. Man can he be frustrating.

Next year is huge for what the rest of his career and stats should become.

Seems like a team based around a star SF is best with a stud guard too...coincidence?