jptremblay wrote:It's frustating to watch Melo, he has size, never relied much on athleticisim, plays in a team where other players (Lillard, CJ) take off pressure on him giving free spots for Melo...but his stats are still bad.
I'm not a Melo hater, after Durant he is the best skilled wing as a pure scorer in the last 20 years. He can post up, face up, shoot 3s, long 2s, great footwork, handles, he can score from every spot on the court, but his number are still bad.
53% TS is just bad for him. I know he never was too much efficient in his prime, but he had a high usage surrounded with meh players...but know he has no excuse.
4 big things:
1. There are players with a good sense of efficiency, and there are players without. Melo's always been the latter. He can do all the things you'd want as a scorer, but he never knew the optimal technique to use in each setting. This didn't make him a bad player, but it's always held him back.
2. The assumption that a player can be more efficient in a more limited role tends to implicitly presume that the bad shots will be cut out and only the good will remain, but if this isn't something you can force with offensive design, you're still just relying on that player's judgment, which with Melo, was never great.
3. It has to be understood that back when Melo was young he was getting to the rim a lot. Way more shots from 3 ft in, way more free throws. Those were the numbers inflating Melo's efficiency to adequacy. Take those away and even though he's feasting on assisted 3 attempts, he's still hurting.
4. For perspective, Melo's now been in the league for about as long as he was alive prior to being in the NBA, and he's still putting up efficiency that puts MVP Iverson to shame. I understand that the league is more efficient now and we tend to judge players based on that standards, but the primary thing that's happened is just that the league has gotten way, way smarter. All this to say, if Melo were putting up these numbers in a less smart era, we wouldn't say it was inefficient.