The Illusion of Melo - NbaInsomniac's Blog

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The Illusion of Melo

Posted on September 2, 2013 at 12:15 AM.

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I fell for the bait Melo laid. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I mean, hell, He SAID the right things. Even going as far as presenting himself as merely a wayward son eager to come home. He spoke freely about the pressures of bringing a title back to the Mecca, undeterred by the expectations of a desperate fan base who had become like jilted lovers despising any public display of affection. But the pretty girl wanted us this time. We didn't have to chase her. And Knick fans swooned with weakened knees.

We are now entering year 4 of the Melo era and as with any relationship spanning that amount of time secrets become harder to keep. Warts rise to the surface and a cute quirk can morph into an annoying habit. The curtain has been pulled back, we know exactly who Carmelo is for better or worse. He's a fearless scorer, can make any shot on the court, versatile enough to counter the elite individual defenders in the league, but imbedded with a stubborn belief that he's the best option on offense every possession regardless how a TEAM plays him defensively. Whats most frustrating is that within him lies the skill set to be a complete basketball player. Yet his game hasn't grown beyond numbers on a stat sheet. How has Melo's evolved since his early years in the league? Why has he become stagnant? It's as if he's content with HIS game. HE does enough to win basketball games, so in his mind failures by the team don't reflect his shortcomings, rather its the supplemental players, coaching staff and front office's collective inefficiencies which haven't allowed him prosperity. Side Note: This myth that Melo hasn't played with any is an excuse perpetuated by his apologists. When you've played with Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups, Andre Miller, Marcus Camby, Tyson Chandler, Kenyon Martin, Nene, Amare, JR Smith and Aaron Affalo, you can't say you haven't played with talent. I bet LeBron would have killed for some of those players in Cleveland, I'm not comparing. I'm just saying.
Let me remind of truth you may have forgotten. The NBA is a league of stars. Want to win the title? Draft, sign or trade for one. That blueprint is as old as the league itself, because having the best player on the floor grants a team a 100M head start in a 400M race. Name another sport where that's the case? In baseball, for example, Mike Trout, the most complete baseball player I've seen in my life, including Griffey, sits in 3rd place, under .500 and powerless to overcome the succubus that is his pitching staff and the players formerly known as Albert Puljos and Josh Hamilton. Meanwhile, in the Association, as long as your role players are competent, an All-NBAer or two is on the roster and you have a coach smart enough not to screw it all up, you'll find your team in the championship hunt. There's a reason as to why the NBA doesn't have the postseason turnover the NFL does, or the Cinderella teams that litter March Madness, it's a league of stars and there aren't enough to go around.

That's why Melo's limitations are infuriating. He SUPPOSED to be the type of player once acquired immediately vaults a team from middling to title worthy. But he hasn't been. Not even close. Since he came into the league in 2003, his teams finished 8th, 7th, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 2nd in the standings. Yes, his career average of 25 points per game makes him optimal to endorse Jordan shoes, but the proclamations that he's a "Superstar of the Highest Order" are exaggerated. Laughable if you include his postseason failures.

The good news is, we don't have to dig deep into the sometimes extremely boring world of analytics to highlight the disappointment that has been Carmelo's team and individual performances in the playoffs. I know my eyelids tend to get heavy reading the words "win shares" or "Player Efficiency Rating" in an already long winded article. Thankfully, good old fashioned FG% is enough. In 66 postseason games, the same amount he averages per regular season, give or take a few, he's shooting 41.7% overall, 32% from trey (three point land). His numbers as a Knick with money on the wood? Brace yourself, during the 2010 playoffs he shot 37.5% overall a percentage that alone can induce vomiting amongst the Knicks' faithful, but when you factor in the memorable 42 points 17 board game, (when he dropped his shorts at half court and shat on that smug leprechaun) against Boston in Game 2 shooting 14 of 30, (the same game he passed the ball to Jared Jeffries for the last shot, AND took his sweet *** time fouling Rondo in the closing seconds. See? In his most memorable Knick playoff game, he still found a way to eff it up), the numbers look even worse. Take a second......think it through.......HUH? He nearly shot 50% one game and STILL managed to shoot under 40% during the series? In a four game sweep? You need a couple of JR Smith, post elbow to Jason Terry's face games, to live in the 37.5% area. (Don't worry he did). Fast forward a year later to 2011 he "raised" his FG% to 41.9, with a please stop shooting, try something else it ain't working, 22% from 3 during the Knicks opening round debacle in 5 against the eventual champions Miami Heat. And then last year's underwhelming 40.6/29.8 line during the Knicks playoff run. By the way I wouldn't call the Knicks 2012 postseason a run either, it was more of a brisk walk.

Combine those stats with his twenty TOTAL playoff wins in 10 years (that's a 4-2 series LOSS in the first round if you average the number of wins he has by the amount of postseason trips). And matters only tend to worsen. Numbers can lie, ask a good accountant. For Melo and his playoff failings, the numbers tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Is that a resume of a player who deserves to take almost 40% of the 2013 salary cap? Who will most likely opt out of his contract next season looking for a RAISE? Would you sign Carmelo for 5 years and 129 million dollars essentially crippling your ability to sign other star players? Because he's proved 10 years running now, he doesn't have it within him to lead a team past the dreaded land of mediocrity.

Carmelo resuscitated a dormant organization. He deserves praise for that. (I'm not buying Amare wanted to bring the Knicks back when he tried to replace Bosh as the third wheel in Miami's Big 3 AND no one else would give him a 100 million dollars because he's knees are uninsurable) I can't understate how depressing the Knicks had become prior to Carmelo accepting his leading role on Broadway. At best you could have called them a floundering franchise. Outside of Amare's MVP first half during his first season, there hadn't been many reasons to awake from Layden-Isiah induced coma Knick fans had slipped into. Now a case can be made for the Knicks as one of the smarter organizations in basketball. The talent the acquired outside of the Knicks "Big 3", Shump, JR, Felton, Metta, K-Mart, Pablo, even Copeland last season, that list of players encompasses everything you look for in a front office, good drafting, diligent international scouting, buying low on players with upside and winning the Risk/Reward coin flip. But Melo wasn't supposed to come here to be the transitional superstar, he was billed as the Icon, The Show Stopper, The Main Event.

Knicks fans wake up. Stop hoping to sign veterans on the downside of their careers who are still productive and willing to take less money to pursue a championship, or waiting for the 2015 off season (Rondo, K-Love, Chandler, Shump nucleus? Mmmmm basketball nirvana). We continue to search/hope to find the missing piece. The piece isn't missing, it's already here. The issue is, the piece is incomplete. Thats why instead of lustily chasing the shadow of the next NBA superstar who yearns to be alleviated from the burden of carrying average players in an average market, how about we Knick fans, along with Melo, look inwardly and ask why Melo hasn't been better?