Can the myth that Carmelo Anthony is a ball stopper end?

[koogiking]

When people talk about Carmelo Anthony, the number one criticism against him is that he "holds" the ball too much, demands too many touches and kills ball movement.

Now I watch knick games and I have to say based on what I see from his play as a Knick he does the exact opposite and actually starts his move pretty quickly when he gets the ball in the post or on the perimeter.

Unfortunately people use bias, hate and outdated stats(like USG%) to bash Carmelo. Carmelo Anthony led the league in USG% last year and hes leading this year at 30%. However USG% is a poor statistic because it only measures shoot attempts and turnovers.

USG% does NOT measure the amount of touches a player recieves per game, or the amount of time that player has possession of the ball. This means that it is actually a terribly wrong and in accurate statistic to use to measure possessions.

New advanced stats from the NBA confirm that Carmelo is actually not the league leader in touches or possessions. He's actually not even in the top 50.

http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingTouc ... tOrder=DES


Carmelo Anthony has possession of the ball 3.1 Minutes per game. Kevin Durant, who is praised for his off ball movement and is generally seen as the exact opposite of a ball stopper is at 3.0 minutes per game. Melo is 51st in the NBA, Durant is 53rd. Neither is top 50.

Melo recieves 68.5 total touches per game, good for 44th in the NBA. He's not even the leader on his own team, let alone the league of the entire NBA

He's ~25th in the league when it comes to elbow touches which makes sense since that where he does his damage as a player, but even then hes no where near the league leader in this area.


So can people please stop saying that Carmelo Anthony is a ball holder/stopper. Some can argue that he needs to have better shot selection at times, but it is wrong to say he gets too many touches

[RebelWithACause]

Are those stats available for other seasons?

[koogiking]

No unfortunately, because the NBA just set up the player tracking camera system this season.

[Chalky White]

Sample sizes, they matter.

[Baddy Chuck]

2 game sample size? Seriously?

[Woodsanity]

#1 its a two game sample size.
#2 Obviously PGs are going to be tops using such a metric.

[Blame Rasho]

#1 its a two game sample size.
#2 Obviously PGs are going to be tops using such a metric.

No.... clearly it proves Melo isn't a ball stopper... you are just a hater.

[alucryts]

None of those stats quantify ball stopping regardless of sample size. You would need a stat like pass to shoot ratio off of each touch.

[DefenseWins]

There is a reason why he's called a ball stopper, and it's YEARS of evidence, and not just 2 games from this year.

Also even with the eye and just watching the game, you can see that.

Come on now. It's not even hating at this point if you state the obvious.

[DoubleLintendre]

Yes, Melo is no ball stopper. In fact I consider him a "ball facilitator", because every time he lets the ball go for a shot, somebody else might be able to get their turn with the ball off the rebound.

It really opens up ball movement and is conductive in adding to team rebounding while establishing important player roles on the Knicks. Not many players "move the ball" like Melo so consistently. You know that either he'll sink his shot or somebody else on the team will have opportunities to grab the rebound and either score for themselves or pass it to Melo again.

You can't help your team if you don't take care of your own shot first. Melo always looks to get himself involved first and thereby establishes the shooting hierarchy. He's actually alot like America. When the 1 percent is taking care of itself, money and new opportunities trickle down to the rest of the population. It's a slow but sure process where when a small group (or person) does well-- everyone else will eventually too.

Imagine a game where everyone gets the same percentage of touches. Now what kind of government would that be? Sounds a little like communism.

You just have to understand the process. Melo gets the ball from his hands and into the basket, with the misses going straight to the people. His teammates.

In this regard Melo is a true ball facilitator and is, unintentionally.. a true American.

Myth, no more.

[BlackIce]

Yes, Melo is no ball stopper. In fact I consider him a "ball facilitator", because every time he lets the ball go for a shot, somebody else might be able to get their turn with the ball off the rebound.

It really opens up ball movement and is conductive in adding to team rebounding while establishing important player roles on the Knicks. Not many players "move the ball" like Melo so consistently. You know that either he'll sink his shot or somebody else on the team will have opportunities to grab the rebound and either score for themselves or pass it to Melo again.

You can't help your team if you don't take care of your own shot first. Melo always looks to get himself involved first and thereby establishes the shooting hierarchy. He's actually alot like America. When the 1 percent is taking care of itself, money and new opportunities trickle down to the rest of the population. It's a slow but sure process where when a small group (or person) does well-- everyone else will eventually too.

Imagine a game where everyone gets the same percentage of touches. Now what kind of government would that be? Sounds a little like communism.

You just have to understand the process. Melo gets the ball from his hands and into the basket, with the misses going straight to the people. His teammates.

In this regard Melo is a true ball facilitator and is, unintentionally.. a true American.

Myth, no more.

You worked hard for this And-1. Enjoy it good sir.

[KDS91]

Yes, Melo is no ball stopper. In fact I consider him a "ball facilitator", because every time he lets the ball go for a shot, somebody else might be able to get their turn with the ball off the rebound.

It really opens up ball movement and is conductive in adding to team rebounding while establishing important player roles on the Knicks. Not many players "move the ball" like Melo so consistently. You know that either he'll sink his shot or somebody else on the team will have opportunities to grab the rebound and either score for themselves or pass it to Melo again.

You can't help your team if you don't take care of your own shot first. Melo always looks to get himself involved first and thereby establishes the shooting hierarchy. He's actually alot like America. When the 1 percent is taking care of itself, money and new opportunities trickle down to the rest of the population. It's a slow but sure process where when a small group (or person) does well-- everyone else will eventually too.

Imagine a game where everyone gets the same percentage of touches. Now what kind of government would that be? Sounds a little like communism.

You just have to understand the process. Melo gets the ball from his hands and into the basket, with the misses going straight to the people. His teammates.

In this regard Melo is a true ball facilitator and is, unintentionally.. a true American.

Myth, no more.

Bravo

[Keshavarzi]

Nope melo is probably the worst ball stopper in the NBA, biggest reason his team has never gotten out of the second round

[Blame Rasho]

Nope melo is probably the worst ball stopper in the NBA, biggest reason his team has never gotten out of the second round

Well one time they did.... but it is one of those fluke type of things....

[UnderdogRaptors]

nope its too late for that at this stage in his career, he is who he is

[R-S-M]

The hate is strong in this thread lol.

you guys are hilarious.

[SargentBargs101]

Yes, Melo is no ball stopper. In fact I consider him a "ball facilitator", because every time he lets the ball go for a shot, somebody else might be able to get their turn with the ball off the rebound.

It really opens up ball movement and is conductive in adding to team rebounding while establishing important player roles on the Knicks. Not many players "move the ball" like Melo so consistently. You know that either he'll sink his shot or somebody else on the team will have opportunities to grab the rebound and either score for themselves or pass it to Melo again.

You can't help your team if you don't take care of your own shot first. Melo always looks to get himself involved first and thereby establishes the shooting hierarchy. He's actually alot like America. When the 1 percent is taking care of itself, money and new opportunities trickle down to the rest of the population. It's a slow but sure process where when a small group (or person) does well-- everyone else will eventually too.

Imagine a game where everyone gets the same percentage of touches. Now what kind of government would that be? Sounds a little like communism.

You just have to understand the process. Melo gets the ball from his hands and into the basket, with the misses going straight to the people. His teammates.

In this regard Melo is a true ball facilitator and is, unintentionally.. a true American.

Myth, no more.

THREAD/

[Fat]

Thread/

[Next Coming]

I hate when numbers take away from a good narrative.

[TommyB]

Carmelo is content with being mentioned behind LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Charles Barkley says he needs to start passing and Carmelo says he doesn't listen to what Barkley has to say. He basically admitted he is a ball stopper who passes only occasion. It's the truth, not a myth.