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Message: [QUOTE="SUFan44, post: 278744, member: 39"] I disagree. People like to blast the supporting cast Lebron had in Cleveland, but what Cleveland did have was a bunch of role players that knew their role and played their part. They had plenty of shooting around Lebron and a hustle guy (Varejao) that was vastly underrated. Carmelo has never had that anywhere he has been. Denver had virtually no shooters around him, and Andre Miller for the first part of his career always wanted to be the star of the Nuggets. Billups came on and they made the Western Conference finals in a MUCH better conference than the Eastern Conference was when Lebron took the Cavs to the finals. They'll always be compared because they were in the same draft class, but it's not fair to compare IMO. Melo is a lot like Jordan - and don't misconstrue what I'm saying to make me out to implying Melo is as good as Jordan, he isn't. But Melo needs the ball in his hands. Pippen didn't need the ball in his hands, was a tremendous facilitator who made the extra pass and they had shooters around at every position (Longley, Kukoc, Armstrong, Kerr, Grant, etc.) that could knock down shots. The Knicks have inconsistent shooters at spots (JR Smith, Baron Davis), shooters that can't do anything else (Novak) or guys that need the ball (Amar'e). And they have no facilitators other than Bibby, who actually makes the offense run a lot better. Melo is surrounded by a bunch of B-list talent other than Chandler. And I include Amar'e on that list at this point in his career. The one thing I will say, however, is that Melo defensively still doesn't have much of a clue and he's closing in on 10 years in the NBA. I'm not sure who is to blame - coaching, player, or a combination - and I will say he's gotten a bit better, but he has a LONG way to go from even being a decent team defender in the NBA. [/QUOTE]

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