Has Carmelo finally arrived?

[Luke]

Obviously that is a somewhat misleading thread title. Carmelo has been a stud since day one in this league, from arguably deserving the ROY over LeBron, to pushing the eventual champion Lakers to 6 in '09, to his well documented stint in New York, this guy has been in the headlines a lot. And deservedly so, he's one of the most gifted scorers in recent memory. But this year he's been different, he's always been a great scorer/rebounder for his position, but he's bought into Woodson's defense oriented philosophy and seems to be playing within a team concept on the other side of the floor.

I can honestly say that this 19 game stretch is probably the most impressed I've ever been with Anthony. He's never going to be LeBron, that much should be abundantly clear by now, but he seems to have found his place in this league and he's not only generating MVP buzz but also leading the best New York team since Ewing's Knicks. I could personally care less about the Knicks, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't nice to see the LeBron and Wade's "little brother" of the '03 draft class (which clearly makes Bosh the younger sister and Darko the red-headed step daughter) show that he is a real superstar in this league.

We'll see over the course of the season whether or not he's really put it all together or if this is just a hot streak, but one thing is for certain - it's going to be a lot of fun to see how this story ends.

[MemphisX]

No offense but Melo has been doing this since high school.

[R-Star]

I never viewed him as the younger brother to Wade. Lebron yea, but not Wade.

[Marcus13]

Melo's always been a stud but I feel like playing for the Olympic team with Bosh, LeBron, Kobe, Wade, and all those other champions really made a difference in his mindset. Woodson definitely helps the process because he holds all players accountable similar to Coach K.

Also, to be fair, there was the lockout last season with no real preparation time for his first full season with the Knicks ; the team he wanted to play for. I'm sure that helped.

[BlakeJesus]

Carmelo is doing what he's always done, he's just knocking down more threes than we're used to. I feel like that's going to even out a bit, I really can't see him finishing top 2 in the MVP race at the end of this season.

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by BlakeJesus

Carmelo is doing what he's always done, he's just knocking down more threes than we're used to. I feel like that's going to even out a bit, I really can't see him finishing top 2 in the MVP race at the end of this season.

Why?

Hes one of, if not the most complete offensive player, and hes now playing good defense. Why can't he be an MVP candidate?

[Headliner]

He seems to be more serious (you can tell by how hard he's playing) and dedicated to winning. That's the biggest change I've noticed in him. He's becoming a much better leader because of it.

[XxIrvingxX]

Originally Posted by MemphisX

No offense but Melo has been doing this since high school.

Playing defense?

[BlakeJesus]

He can be a top 5 MVP candidate, but I don't ever see him being a serious threat to win the award this year. I mean Kobe is having a far superior statistical season, LeBron, Durant all seem to be having great seasons, and Carmelo is currently shooting almost a full 12% higher from beyond the arc than his career average. Sue me, I don't see him sustaining that through the end of the season.

It comes down to the fact that he just doesn't do as much on the court as these other guys. Durant is KILLING it this season, LeBron is the best player in the league, and Kobe is Kobe. You can be talked about in an award race without really having a shot to win it, ask Collin Klein.

[rayz789]

Melo already arrived as a superstar. The only different this year is he's playing a little bit on defense. Lets just behonest here, the real reason why the knicks are playing far better then last year is because they finally have true pg in felton and a true leader in jason kidd. Kidd not Melo has been the real leader for the knicks in which kidd not melo has won a ring. Getting felton and kidd help the knicks to be more of unselfish team in which jr smith is finally acting like a class guy instead of a knuckle head. Remember people the knicks easily spank the heat at miami without melo in which tells me right there that the knicks rise is really cause of felton and kidd.

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by BlakeJesus

He can be a top 5 MVP candidate, but I don't ever see him being a serious threat to win the award this year. I mean Kobe is having a far superior statistical season, LeBron, Durant all seem to be having great seasons, and Carmelo is currently shooting almost a full 12% higher from beyond the arc than his career average. Sue me, I don't see him sustaining that through the end of the season.

It comes down to the fact that he just doesn't do as much on the court as these other guys. Durant is KILLING it this season, LeBron is the best player in the league, and Kobe is Kobe. You can be talked about in an award race without really having a shot to win it, ask Collin Klein.

Kobe is the leading scorer in the league...... and his team sucks.

The Heat are a super team, and you could argue similar for OKC. While Melo's is taking a very questionable team without Amare and making them the best in the East.


Its most valuable player, not "Who's got the best statistics offensively".

[BlakeJesus]

Originally Posted by R-Star

Kobe is the leading scorer in the league...... and his team sucks.

The Heat are a super team, and you could argue similar for OKC. While Melo's is taking a very questionable team without Amare and making them the best in the East.


Its most valuable player, not "Who's got the best statistics offensively".

Yes the Lakers are bad one fourth of the way through the season, but do you really think the team is going to finish 4 games below .500 and not make the playoffs? It's one thing if you actually believe that, but 22 games in stats have more relevance than standings. Lakers start creeping back into the playoff picture and boom Kobe's stats start meaning more and boom he's a lock to be back int he MVP hunt.

Using the rosters as a cop out is bullshit, Durant and LeBron are the clear cut top dogs on their team. You hate Wade and he hasn't been himself, and nobody think Bosh is a franchise cornerstone. Durant gets to play with Russ Westbrook, but he also just lost Harden and because of that is having to assume more ballhandling responsibilities. And guess what, he's averaging a career high 4.3 assists per game so far. I think it has even less relevance to this years MVP race since Melo is getting fantastic play out of Tyson Chandler, Ray Felton, Jason Kidd has been a true leader for that team not to mention the fact he's leading the NBA in 3g% while also forcing almost 2 steals in 27.6 MPG. The Knicks roleplayers are having great seasons, so let's not act like Melo is doing more with less because that has been far from the truth.

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by BlakeJesus

Yes the Lakers are bad one fourth of the way through the season, but do you really think the team is going to finish 4 games below .500 and not make the playoffs? It's one thing if you actually believe that, but 22 games in stats have more relevance than standings. Lakers start creeping back into the playoff picture and boom Kobe's stats start meaning more and boom he's a lock to be back int he MVP hunt.

Using the rosters as a cop out is bullshit, Durant and LeBron are the clear cut top dogs on their team. You hate Wade and he hasn't been himself, and nobody think Bosh is a franchise cornerstone. Durant gets to play with Russ Westbrook, but he also just lost Harden and because of that is having to assume more ballhandling responsibilities. And guess what, he's averaging a career high 4.3 assists per game so far. I think it has even less relevance to this years MVP race since Melo is getting fantastic play out of Tyson Chandler, Ray Felton, Jason Kidd has been a true leader for that team not to mention the fact he's leading the NBA in 3g% while also forcing almost 2 steals in 27.6 MPG. The Knicks roleplayers are having great seasons, so let's not act like Melo is doing more with less because that has been far from the truth.

Teams don't matter....... then you go on to list players.

Who's Melo's Bosh or Martin? Let alone the question of who is his Westbrook or Wade. Its not even close talent wise.

You take Lebron off Miami or Durant off OKC and both teams still make a lower seed in the playoffs. You take Melo off the Knicks and they are one of the worst teams in the league.


So again, its not saying Melo is better than Lebron or Durant. But who is more important to their teams? Right now its Melo.

[BlakeJesus]

So does that mean LeBron and Durant need to be excluded from the MVP discussion every year because they get to play with Wade and Westbrook?

[R-Star]

Originally Posted by BlakeJesus

So does that mean LeBron and Durant need to be excluded from the MVP discussion every year because they get to play with Wade and Westbrook?

Who said that?