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With all the talk of Carmelo Anthony possibly being traded to the Nets, and all the assets the Nets are supposedly willing to give up for him, as a Nets fan, my main concern for Carmelo has always been that he hasn't shown the ability to make the players around him better, unlike other premier stars. I've long been looking for a comparison for him, and one player who I felt compare well (though not exact obviously) was Glenn Robinson. While I looked at them in similar ilk, looking at their stats (courtesy of basketball reference) really surprised me.

Carmelo: 6'8, 230 (per 36 mins)
24.4 PPG, 6.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.1 spg, .5 bpg, 3 to/g. FG 46%, 3PT 31%, FT 81%

Advanced Stats:
TS 54%, eFG .477, TRB 9.8, AST 15.7, TOV 11.9

Robinson: 6'7, 225
20.2 PPG, 5.9 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.2 spg, .6 bpg, 3 to/g. FG 46%, 3PT 34%, FT 82%

Advanced Stats:
TS 53%, eFG .485, TRB 9.8, AST 13.8, TOV 13.8

Keep in mind, Robinson's stats are for his career, so they probably have been brought down by his last years when he was past his prime. Still, the similarity statistics wise is staggering. So it got me thinking, why is it that Big Dog was generally considered a borderline all-star (and generally looked down upon), when a guy that has pretty identical statlines across the board is viewed as a possibly top 10-15 (20 at lowest probably) and is getting all the attention?

Ok. Let's compare the first seven seasons of Glenn Robinson with Carmelo Anthony.

Playoff appearances

Carmelo Anthony- 7
Glenn Robinson- 3

Huge Advantage- Carmelo Anthony

PER

Robinson's highest PER was 20.1 and he had a PER over 20 one time in his first seven seasons. Carmelo's highest PER was 22.2 and he's had a PER over 20 four times in his first seven seasons.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo Anthony

Offensive rating

Robinson's never finished a season with an offensive rating higher than 103. The only time Carmelo finished a season with an offensive rating lower than 103 was during his rookie year.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo Anthony

Win Shares

Carmelo's worst season in terms of win shares (2004-2005) was still better than all but one of Glenn Robinson's seasons.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

WS/48 minutes

Carmelo's career WS/48 minutes tops EVERY season in Glenn Robinson's entire career.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

All-NBA honors

Carmelo Anthony- Made the All-NBA 3rd team three times and the All-NBA 2nd team once
Glenn Robinson- nada

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

MVP award shares

Carmelo Anthony- 0.057 (95th all-time)
Glenn Robinson- 0.001 (238th all-time)

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

And let's not forget most Glenn Robinson's prime occured during one of the worst NBA eras in history. This is a very stupid comparison for many reasons.

^^^ what he said

Rupert Murdoch wrote:Ok. Let's compare the first seven seasons of Glenn Robinson with Carmelo Anthony.

Playoff appearances

Carmelo Anthony- 7
Glenn Robinson- 3

Huge Advantage- Carmelo Anthony

But how's Carmelo's team compared to Robinsons? That's why I'm looking at this from a purely statistical point of view.

PER

Robinson's highest PER was 20.1 and he had a PER over 20 one time in his first seven seasons. Carmelo's highest PER was 22.2 and he's had a PER over 20 four times in his first seven seasons.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo Anthony

Not sure what the formula for PER is. How is it that Carmelo's is much better than Robinson's when Robinson's % are better than (or comparable to) Melo's?

Offensive rating

Robinson's never finished a season with an offensive rating higher than 103. The only time Carmelo finished a season with an offensive rating lower than 103 was during his rookie year.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo Anthony

Huge advantage? An average of 107 compared to a 103 is a huge advantage?

Win Shares

Carmelo's worst season in terms of win shares (2004-2005) was still better than all but one of Glenn Robinson's seasons.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

WS/48 minutes

Carmelo's career WS/48 minutes tops EVERY season in Glenn Robinson's entire career.

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

This is the one that is big in Carmelo's favor. But again, the question is how, when across the board there's not much difference between the two.

All-NBA honors

Carmelo Anthony- Made the All-NBA 3rd team three times and the All-NBA 2nd team once
Glenn Robinson- nada

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

MVP award shares

Carmelo Anthony- 0.057 (95th all-time)
Glenn Robinson- 0.001 (238th all-time)

Huge Advantage- Carmelo

Irrelevant, and kind of the point of this. Why is Carmelo viewed as this All-NBA player when there's not a significant difference in their advanced stats?

And let's not forget most Glenn Robinson's prime occured during one of the worst NBA eras in history. This is a very stupid comparison for many reasons.

Glenn Robinson's prime also occurred when defenders can actually use their hands, and was a more physical league than it is now.

Melo's numbers are similar to Nique's. And Glenn Robinson was no where near Nique's level.

Melo's numbers are similar to Nique's. And Glenn Robinson was no where near Nique's level.

If you're into stats like win shares, win shares/48, PER, Reb %, Assist %, offensive rating, defensive rating, etc.., Melo's numbers are very comparable to Bernard King. I mean their stats are almost mirror images of one another. It's that close together.

Glenn Robinson made Dan Gadzuric look like an amazing ball handler.

Not Joking

Gadz is an amazing ball handler. Every time you see him handle the ball successfully, you are amazed.

Melo surpassed Big Dog a long time ago.

Not sure how it bears out statistically but IMO the best Carmelo comparison is Pierce.

Melo is pretty much better in every area.

Netaman wrote:Not sure how it bears out statistically but IMO the best Carmelo comparison is Pierce.

Maybe of current players.