If that's the question, we're in good shape. Donovan is a sh!tty coach (for the NBA) and Westbrook is a sh!tty PG (for as running a team). Now Melo will have one of the best offensive coaches ever and one (two?) of the best PGs ever. As for the previous MDA-Melo feud, Kobe had a similar feud with MDA and nobody said he was a cancer. Melo's joining an established system with two superstars, including a reigning MVP. He will NOT be thinking he's the top dog on this team. All that being said, I'd trust Melo to score over Draymond Green in an key situation, especially from mid-range. Our game just added another dimension. We now have two unstoppable mid-range scorers to go with all the 3s falling from the sky.
you can easily find footage of DG locking up CA. Again, in no way would i want to go into a late game situation with melo going 1 on 1 vs a dpoy. thats just bad basketball
Agreed, rather for Curry onto Melo in a situation like that. Melo will def make Green work though. Harden will have the ball when it matters most, we all know that.
The difference with Melo on the floor (ON ONE SIDE OF THE COURT) isn't about who he can and can't beat 1 on 1. It will be the gravity he causes. Green will not be able to roam around the court as they will not leave Melo wide open as they did/do with other players. If they do switch the 1-4 pick and roll they will not leave Curry 1 on 1 with Melo in the post they will have to double. It will be on MDA to exploit that.
He can't, its still not official yet. Probably won't hear much until media day anyway. Morey might release a statement but thats all.
I mean... I guess, kind of. If you look back at the Kobe-MDA relationship, the things Kobe said afterwards that stand out the most are things like "Kobe: "DAntoni and I didn't have the same philosophy on winning. For me, it's winning and no inbtwn...it's championship or a waste of time" Which, given what MDA said near the end of last year... seem absolutely true to MDA, and we know is true to Kobe. I suspect that wasn't the exact same reason for the Melo-MDA clash, which was more about role in the offense. That said, absolutely at this point Melo shouldn't be thinking he's top dog on this or any team. Still, Melo was 2nd on last year's Thunder in FGA per 100 possessions and not that far behind Russ. It changed in the playoffs... though he was horrible in the playoffs and would have to get lower based on said horribleness. The first stage will be seeing that he accepts the bench role. Everything about this comment is strange. I'd absolutely HATE to be in a situation where I have to rely to Melo to score over Draymond one on one, in any area of the court. Draymond is the defensive player of this generation. The Rockets avoided getting him in PnR situations last year purposefully because they know he does as good a job on the guards in those PnRs as anyone. If there's offensive arbitrage to be had, its the same as it was last year... get Curry in PnRs, where he is forced to switch onto Harden, CP3 or now Melo. Again, bear in mind, being guarded by the likes of Joe Ingles and the supporting cast of a really good team defense ala GSW, Melo put up a blistering 11.5 ppg on 38% three point shooting (21% from three) in the playoffs last year. As other people have noted... Melo has a mid-range game, but its not exactly an efficient one. The issue overall with incorporating a mid range game is about replacing otherwise empty possessions or having to have one when forced into it by really really good defenses. But even that didn't completely happen - the offense issues against GSW were about 3 point shooting, ON OPEN SHOTS, sucking. Does Melo have a mid range game or the Rockets offense have a mid range game such that he's going to get open mid range jumpers?? Or are we talking about dumping it to him in the mid range post to try and create and ultimately shooting what he always shoots form mid range - low to mid 40%'s, which isn't efficient relative to the other option?? I'm much more interested in whether Melo can, off the bench, hit high 30%s on threes, and use that to pump fake into drives that either end up with open mid range jumpers, or an ability to create for others...? Also, game 7 is laughing at the "3s falling from the sky comment!"
He shot 36% on threes last year. Solid, though was obviously horrible in the playoffs. Ariza shot 36.8%. Why would Melo attract more gravity than Ariza on the other side of the court when they are basically equal catch and shoot three point players? I'm not saying he won't attract attention, he just won't attract meaningfully more attention than Ariza did.
Well will shoot a higher percentage from 3 being fed by harden and Paul. I would bet my account on it.
this is one thing people assume alot and isn't true. you can just take a look at all the role players this team has had as evidence. there isn't a drastic difference in what they've shot during their career and in some cases it can be lower. most people probably don't even realize this the general goal is X player is able to shoot the 3 at a respectable rate (at the very least) before even playing on this team. Harden/Paul aren't putting the ball in the basket for anyone. You just have more of a green light and option to pull the trigger here. This doesn't mean the individual %'s gets higher though so not really a smart bet at all there
Why do people seem to think a switch everything style hides bad defenders? It in fact does the exact opposite. A traditional man defensive setup or zone defense hides bad defenders, switching allows the offense to create literally whatever match up they want. He's likely to be targeted constantly unless he shows great defensive growth this season.
It was perfect for Harden. His biggest defensive issues have been mostly focus related, losing his man off ball and extremely lazy help defense. When he's put on an island he's not terrible. Not great, but certainly not a player that can be exposed. Particularly in the postseason when he's at max effort level and not coasting.
also great for harden when they switched him onto bigs who are slower compared to perimeter players. Hes always been much better suited at guarding those. This being surrounded by 4 other defensive players, there's no wonder why it worked so well last season and really took off once PJ was inserted in the lineup for the majority of minutes Then when LMM was brought in you don't really miss much of a beat bc he is able to do much of the same things on the defensive end as PJ/Ariza with the same discipline & versatility.
