Well I don't think he necessarily has to be a spot up shooter but you could play to his strengths as a spacer and post play by creating a system where he's less ball dominant. Similar to how the wolves use Love.

Doraemon

Australia14949 Posts

February 17 2014 23:21 GMT

#3853

i miss real basketball already

RowdierBob

Australia13008 Posts

February 17 2014 23:21 GMT

#3854

Obv the problem is Melo has never shown any desire to do this. If he doesnt have the ball to iso his guy he'll tend to just camp his 'spot' and ball watch. His off ball movement is a real weakness in his game.

slyboogie

United States3423 Posts

February 18 2014 00:54 GMT

#3855

On February 18 2014 08:21 RowdierBob wrote:
Obv the problem is Melo has never shown any desire to do this. If he doesnt have the ball to iso his guy he'll tend to just camp his 'spot' and ball watch. His off ball movement is a real weakness in his game.

He moved well with Chauncey Billups. I wouldn't want to get into the post and watch Raymond Felton fumble around with the ball either.

Ace

United States16096 Posts

February 18 2014 01:21 GMT

#3856

On February 18 2014 08:05 RowdierBob wrote:
Well I don't think he necessarily has to be a spot up shooter but you could play to his strengths as a spacer and post play by creating a system where he's less ball dominant. Similar to how the wolves use Love.

George Karl and D'Antoni both tried to do this with Melo, even had success too. Just doesn't work long term because of Melo's style.

RowdierBob

Australia13008 Posts

February 18 2014 10:42 GMT

#3857

Yep, very true. It's his greatest strength and weakness. He is a very good iso player but because of this seemingly refuses to diversify his game. When he's on there aren't many better scorers going around but you can just throw double teams at him to force him into bad shots or giving up the ball.

If the latter happens he'll just camp a spot on the three line and ball watch. If he could just diversify his game a bit so he could hurt teams more with his passing or off ball movement he would open the game for himself and his team so much. He could be Barkley lite type guy.

I was going to say a top PG might help him but then you remember he has played with Miller, AI and Chauncey who couldn't really change his habits either.

Melo is what he is.

Cloud9157

United States2968 Posts

February 18 2014 19:36 GMT

#3858

I was going to say a top PG might help him but then you remember he has played with Miller, AI and Chauncey who couldn't really change his habits either.

All good PGs(though perhaps a bit on the way down), but imagine him with a Chris Paul or Steph Curry. Paul averages 11 apg and Curry isn't far behind with 9.5. Hell, even Ty Lawson, Rubio, Wall, and a few other pgs are up there in apg. All of those guys have good vision, and all of them, with the exception of Rubio, are really good scorers. I never really felt that any of those three you mentioned(AI being an exception probably) really drew enough attention from opposing teams when they played the Nuggets.

Big believer that Melo is coming to Chicago myself, and if he does, I could see him+drose making some serious problems for the Heat(if there is a LeBron still) and the Pacers. Throw in the fact that the Bulls are an exceptionally solid defensive team with strong complimentary players(Noah can rebound extremely well, Gibson has a decent post up game, bench is ok) and that is a recipe for a contending team.

A team that is really good at defense compliments Melo, because he doesn't want to play defense too often. While it would be better if Melo were capable of mixing up his scoring, he is ridiculously efficient for his limited playstyle. Let your guards do the driving.

AgentW

United States7725 Posts

February 18 2014 20:06 GMT

#3859

Perhaps Thibs and Rose could reign in Anthony, and I certainly think that Paul could, but I don't see Curry subjugating Anthony like I think he needs to. Personally, I think his best move is Miami (obviously) if they basically rig the free agency again (like any reasonable person looking to maximize their rings should) but the most realistic opportunity at a consistent championship chance would be Chicago. That starting five in Miami would only have problems with teams who run two bigs (like Indiana) in which case they bring in help off the bench and go without a PG, having LeBron bring the ball up. Anthony would be relegated to standing at the three point line and scoring 25 a game via ridiculous open jump shots. But that scenario is so off the wall that it doesn't merit much discussion.

Back to the Bulls: I think Thibs won't put up with any baloney that Anthony might try to pull, and they have a strong leadership intact with Rose and Noah. The only issue I'd see is if Anthony doesn't want to put in the work (Thibs has a reputation of working his players like crazy) and if he and Rose somehow don't work well together, both being so ball dominant. Again, he has to give up touches in this scenario, which I've maintained would make him a better player for quite a while at both of his stops. He simply stops the ball so strongly now it's some times difficult to watch.

cLutZ

United States19574 Posts

February 18 2014 22:23 GMT

#3860

As a Bulls fan I would not really want Anthony. Not that he isn't a good player, I just don't think the Bulls will be a good team while paying him full boat.

If he came at a massively reduced salary, that is another thing, but that would require a huge pay cut.