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[Orangeyes]

This headline

Cavaliers Hand Knicks 7th Loss in 8 Games


with this one


Kiszla: Happy days here again for Denver Nuggets minus Melo


Is Melo the pariah he is being made out to be?

 

[jekelish]

I hate to associate the term "The Ewing Effect" with Melo, but that really seems to be what's happening in Denver. It's a shame, but how did he think things would work out, considering the Knicks had to trade any decent players not named Amare to get him there?

 

[Madbiker]

Just proves that no team can win without a quality PG. The Knicks have NO PG. Douglas is not a PG, he's an undersized shooting guard. Bibby is done done done. I don't think the Knicks lousy play is due to Melo. He is trying to do too much and takes too many bad shots in isolations because there is no offensive flow. Put Lawson on the Knicks instead of Denver and the Knicks would look a hell of lot better.

 

[nycfan]

Maybe this will answer your question Dan---in the 1 win out of those 8 games, Melo had a career-low, 1 point. This is very sad to me, but in fairness to Donnie Walsh, he didn't want to give as much in the deal---freakin' Dolan stuck his nose in at the end, overruling Donnie and upping the ante adding Mozgov. (if they had Mozgov, they could have kept Billups instead of trading him for Chandler). Not only that, but the early versions of the trade had Fields instead of Gallinari. Boy would I love to have Danilo now (who by the way, had a career-high 35 against the Knicks on Saturday night).

 

[newmexicuse]

Melo can create his own shot at any time. That is both his strength and his weakness.

The Knicks right now are an incomplete team. They need more efficient role players and they need an above average PG big time. If Baron can be that point guard that will go a long ways towards building the chemistry that they need to develop. Add the PG and one or two more bench pieces and they should be very tough. They are actually playing much better D w Tyson. They still have their mid-level & talk is they will try to get Kenyon when he returns from Beijing & that would be a fantastic addition IMHO.

As a westerner I got to see Melo play very often as a pro as I get all the Denver games. He needs to do the following if he wants to be a champion:

1. Better shot selection. I know he is battling injuries right now, but there is no reason why when healthy that he shouldn't shoot 45% plus with his skills. Averaging 25 on 20+ shots per game is no great shakes. His team would be better off if he averaged 21 on 15 or fewer shots. Though in fairness to Melo, whenever the O breaks down he is often the one stuck taking the tough shot w less than 5 left on the shot clock & that doesn't help his percentage.

2. Give 100% all game long on D & in rebounding. He is often criticized for his D. He is actually quite a solid defender when he sets his mind to it. Unfortunately that is almost never for entire game stretches. He is also a very good rebounder when he chooses to hit the glass. Maybe if he played fewer minute he would be able to go 100% on both ends when he was in there.

3. Make his teammates better. There will always be somebody open when the doubles come albeit on the drive or on his step back J. He is inherently a good passer, he simply needs to focus on doin that more frequently. Big problem with the Knicks right now is that even if Melo kicks out the ball to open man that man seems to never hit the open shot. That in turn puts more pressure on Melo to make the play himself.

4. He especially needs to have better chemistry with Amare. Problem is that they are both ball stoppers. I am not yet convinced one way or the other as to whether or not those two can co-exist together because the team is so disfunctional overall. We will know better when there is a decent PG in the mix.

 

[All4SU]

Listening to ESPN radio last night, I was amazed at how negative they were about Melo1. I don't really follow the NBA, but was surprised at the discussion.