The Maturation of Melo
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:16 pm
I'm a Celt's fan, and have long been disappointed, from afar, with Carmelo Anthony. As a stat head, I could see that he really wasn't helping his team. He put up big "numbers", but when you looked at stuff like his plus/minus stats and, more importantly, his oncourt/offcourt plus/minus, it was fairly obvious that all he did was shoot the ball a lot, and not really bring much else to the table. Sure, he had a way of hitting last second shots at a nice clip, but he also had a way of making those shots necessary, and also of making them impossible... because the game was out of reach.
To further compound the issue, he would play phenomenal ball with the National Team, to the point were you actually had to wonder if LeBron was better than him, but once the regular season started it was as if Melo's IQ dropped 80 points, and he just stunk the place up.
Flash forward to this season. He played much of the season battling injuries, and wasn't even given serious consideration for the All-Star team because of the drop in his numbers. In reality, though, his actually play and value to his team went up enormously. Instead of being a self absorbed ball hog, he learned to share the ball with his teammates. Instead of waiting for the next offensive possession, he started to play good, aggresive defense. Instead of being a spectator when he didn't have the ball, he was a teammate who helped the other guys. The result of this has been that no one on the Nuggs has a higher oncourt/offcourt rating, and the Nuggs are actually a dangerous team with legitimate Title hopes.
I always wanted more fom this guy, and he is starting to deliver. Certainly a lot of credit needs to be given to Chauncey, and his leadership. Billups' influence, like K.G.'s on the Celtics, extends far beyond a stat line. The influence of his National team members also has a lot to do with it, along with Coach K getting them to buy into the value of defense. The front office made some great acquisitions which deepened the team, and Karl finally is able to get through to this group the message he has always tried to preach.
More than anything, though, it has been Melo actually accepting the idea of playing team oriented basketball over the me first ball he was playing before. Instead of having the stats which made him appear to be an elite player, without actually being so, he has transformed himself into one of the league's best, IMO. It has been very nice to see.
Edit: No STARTER on the Nuggs has a higher oncourt/offcourt rating, but that is just fine in my book.
To further compound the issue, he would play phenomenal ball with the National Team, to the point were you actually had to wonder if LeBron was better than him, but once the regular season started it was as if Melo's IQ dropped 80 points, and he just stunk the place up.
Flash forward to this season. He played much of the season battling injuries, and wasn't even given serious consideration for the All-Star team because of the drop in his numbers. In reality, though, his actually play and value to his team went up enormously. Instead of being a self absorbed ball hog, he learned to share the ball with his teammates. Instead of waiting for the next offensive possession, he started to play good, aggresive defense. Instead of being a spectator when he didn't have the ball, he was a teammate who helped the other guys. The result of this has been that no one on the Nuggs has a higher oncourt/offcourt rating, and the Nuggs are actually a dangerous team with legitimate Title hopes.
I always wanted more fom this guy, and he is starting to deliver. Certainly a lot of credit needs to be given to Chauncey, and his leadership. Billups' influence, like K.G.'s on the Celtics, extends far beyond a stat line. The influence of his National team members also has a lot to do with it, along with Coach K getting them to buy into the value of defense. The front office made some great acquisitions which deepened the team, and Karl finally is able to get through to this group the message he has always tried to preach.
More than anything, though, it has been Melo actually accepting the idea of playing team oriented basketball over the me first ball he was playing before. Instead of having the stats which made him appear to be an elite player, without actually being so, he has transformed himself into one of the league's best, IMO. It has been very nice to see.
Edit: No STARTER on the Nuggs has a higher oncourt/offcourt rating, but that is just fine in my book.