fatal9 wrote:Melo has improved his spot up shooting (I think? some data to confirm this would be good) and off ball scoring in the past year, that could probably make him a better fit in Denver than he was before. Still a serious ball stopper in non spot-up opportunities, and his efficiency is regressing to what is more typical of him, but I think Karl could make better use of him now because his jumpshooting seems to have improved (and I'd say a higher % of his offense comes from "in the flow" opportunities than before). So imo his game is a bit more conducive to an offense with ball movement than it was before.
They do have issues offensively when they can't dictate the pace so he helps them out there, but there's always a fine line with Melo, he can shoot you out of a game just as easily. Denver is going to be the favorite in all of their home games, they have an amazing home court advantage, but having Melo maybe gives them a better chance of stealing one on the road in the playoffs (though I don't feel comfortable saying this considering Melo has never shown himself to be a reliable player in the playoffs). Still a lot of the same issues with him, awful team defender, not particularly good at reading defenses but you can plan your half court offense around the defensive attention he receives (especially with good three point shooting around him), but still the same poor feel for the game at a team level that has always kept him from making superstar impact. To me he helps their offense overall, especially in a playoff setting, he has made improvements to his game since his previous stint with the team, but I don't think he helps them breakthrough against the Clippers, OKC or Spurs. Maybe gives them a better chance to beat the Grizzlies though. The next breakthrough for Denver will come once they improve defensively (Iggy has helped, but their PG defense is terrible, Faried and McGee have the talent to be good defenders but are prone to a lot of mistakes), and Melo doesn't help them in that regard at all. The potential improvement in half court offense comes at the expense of having to play another weak defensive player, so I don't see them getting past the second round when they will run into one of the offensive powerhouses (SAS, OKC, LAC).
FWIW fatal here's what Synergy has for his spot-up shooting this season (but there's nothing to compare it to):
203 plays, 1.11 points per play (#62 in the league), 78/188 overall, 58/145 on 3 pointers for an overall eFG% of 56.9%.
