2013 NBA playoff thread

[NIBGoldenchild]

I think the Knicks can beat the Heat. They did in the regular season, and they have the best scorer in the league (Melo) and a big man that can score (Amare). I don't know how much gas is left in the tank, but I think Kidd gives them a solid presence at PG, and if JR Smith hits shots, the Knicks will be tough to beat.

I'm doubtful of the Knicks chances in a playoff setting, the regular season often isn't an indicator of how two teams play in a series. Also, I doubt will consistently keep his teammates involved enough to take Miami out.

 

[juck]

Chris Paul is the best PG in NBA by quite a distance. He completely is unguardable at the moment and I can see him having a Dirk like playoff run. Until the Heat. At least.

 

[bigdnlaca]

Melo is definitely in the conversation of best scorers in the league, but I would put Durant and James as better scorers. Both guys shoot a higher percentage from the field and from 3-point range. They were both more efficient than Melo this season, but he ended up with the scoring title because he attempted more shots and 3-pointers per game. And there is nothing wrong with being one of the top 5 best scorers in the league.

Melo
22.2 FG attempts per game
44.9% from the field
6.2 three point attempts per game
37.9% from 3-point

KD
17.7 FG attempts per game
51.0% from the field
3.9 three point attempts per game
41.6% from 3-point

LJ
17.8 FG attempts per game
56.5% from the field
3.3 three point attempts per game
40.6% from 3-point

When I think of scorer, I think of a player that won't take a backseat on offense because they are off.

With that said, I think Carmelo is the pure definition of a scorer. Scorer doesn't mean everything he shoots will go in. It means that he is capable for 25 points every night whether he shoots 10 shots or 40 shots.

KD and LJ are better shot makers that so happen to score a lot. The difference is that they know when to not shoot much when they have an off night and do what is best for the team. Carmelo will shoot if he was 1-50 and his arm broken.

 

[MC KAos]

Chris Paul is the best PG in NBA by quite a distance. He completely is unguardable at the moment and I can see him having a Dirk like playoff run. Until the Heat. At least.

Hard for me to agree with that when TP dominates him constantly in head to head match ups

 

[MC KAos]

As for the best pure scorer in the league, that is melo, hands down.

 

[joseephuss]

When I think of scorer, I think of a player that won't take a backseat on offense because they are off.

With that said, I think Carmelo is the pure definition of a scorer. Scorer doesn't mean everything he shoots will go in. It means that he is capable for 25 points every night whether he shoots 10 shots or 40 shots.

KD and LJ are better shot makers that so happen to score a lot. The difference is that they know when to not shoot much when they have an off night and do what is best for the team. Carmelo will shoot if he was 1-50 and his arm broken.

That is all fine and good, but that doesn't make Melo the better scorer. I never said Melo wasn't a scorer or that he wasn't a good scorer. He is definitely one of the tops in the league. I just don't think he is the best scorer in the league.

 

[juck]

Hard for me to agree with that when TP dominates him constantly in head to head match ups

Nope. Not this year bud. I just don't see it happening. Paul is that team basically. I don't understand why they don't press double him

 

[RastaRocket]

When I think of scorer, I think of a player that won't take a backseat on offense because they are off.

With that said, I think Carmelo is the pure definition of a scorer. Scorer doesn't mean everything he shoots will go in. It means that he is capable for 25 points every night whether he shoots 10 shots or 40 shots.

KD and LJ are better shot makers that so happen to score a lot. The difference is that they know when to not shoot much when they have an off night and do what is best for the team. Carmelo will shoot if he was 1-50 and his arm broken.

Which is why I think LBJ and KD are much better scorers. They could easily average what Melo is if they wanted to but they know how to play basketball efficiently. Overall, they contribute to their teams scoring more so than Melo because they create points from playmaking and scoring.

 

[RastaRocket]

As for the best pure scorer in the league, that is melo, hands down.

Lebron can get to the rim for easy buckets whenever he wants. Can't get much more pure scoring than constant free layups at will. You can't stop him. Put Lebron guarding Melo and see what happens. Lebron can blanket Melo.

I don't really care if Melo has more "offensive moves" and whatnot. All I care about is scoring points, and scoring efficiently. To me, that is pure scoring. Lebron can put the ball in the hoop easier than anybody in the league, and KD is a close second.

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[juck]

Melo is like Kobe takes a zillion shots ballhog.

 

[bigdnlaca]

Which is why I think LBJ and KD are much better scorers. They could easily average what Melo is if they wanted to but they know how to play basketball efficiently. Overall, they contribute to their teams scoring more so than Melo because they create points from playmaking and scoring.

That is true. I guess scoring is different now than it was back then. When I think of scorers, I think of Jordan in the early years, Toney, Microwave Johnson etc. Players that aren't playmakers like a LBJ or KD.

 

[MC KAos]

If you get physical with Durant you can get him out of his game, he doesn't have a post game. There is absolutely NOTHING Carmelo CAN'T do offensively, that's why he is regarded as the best. Lebron could be if be wanted to, but he does so much other stuff that takes away from his need to score. Melo doesn't play D and focuses only on offense. Most of all, he is super clutch, about a year ago when BSPN was blowing their wad over Kobe being clutch, someone AT espn pointed out Kobe had a sub 40% shooting percentage in "clutch" shots, lebron was at around 50% and melo was over 60%

 

[RastaRocket]

That is true. I guess scoring is different now than it was back then. When I think of scorers, I think of Jordan in the early years, Toney, Microwave Johnson etc. Players that aren't playmakers like a LBJ or KD.

I know what you are saying but how can you say these guys aren't scorers? Lebron is dropping 27ppg shooting 57% from the field. There isn't a single player in the league who can stop him. It's much easier to stop Carmelo than it is Lebron.

Like the post above; "Camelo can do everything offensively." I get that, he can score the ball a million different ways. It still doesn't change the fact that Lebron is harder to guard and can score a lot easier than Melo ever could.

 

[MC KAos]

Corey Joseph has been playing great for us off the bench! Its nice to see a young guy step up in the playoffs. Him and kawhi could be our future.

 

[Future]

Which is why I think LBJ and KD are much better scorers. They could easily average what Melo is if they wanted to but they know how to play basketball efficiently. Overall, they contribute to their teams scoring more so than Melo because they create points from playmaking and scoring.

It's easy to play efficiently when you have another super star on the court with you. LBJ has wade/bosh, KD has Westbrook...who does Melo have? Amare? JR Smith? :laugh2:

Melo could be a lot more efficient if he played with anyone else who could score consistently. Switch LBJ and Melo, and you'll find that Melo can be just as efficient. There's a reason LBJ is playing his most efficient ball now...he's got a very good team around him. He hasn't had that as much in the past.

 

[RastaRocket]

It's easy to play efficiently when you have another super star on the court with you. LBJ has wade/bosh, KD has Westbrook...who does Melo have? Amare? JR Smith? :laugh2:

Melo could be a lot more efficient if he played with anyone else who could score consistently. Switch LBJ and Melo, and you'll find that Melo can be just as efficient. There's a reason LBJ is playing his most efficient ball now...he's got a very good team around him. He hasn't had that as much in the past.

Lebron got to the finals with one of the worst teams ever around him. He also averaged 30 ppg one season in Cleveland (something Melo has never done) while shooting 49% from the field, and still got his 8 boards and 7 assists. He had another season in Cleveland averaging 31 ppg at 48%. Over his career, Lebron averages more ppg and higher FG% than Melo and most of his scoring was done in Cleveland. He's proven he is more efficient than Melo on worse teams at a younger age. He's continued to add layers to his game in Miami (post game) and his efficiency skyrocketed the last 4 seasons and has consistently improved over the last 10 seasons; that's every single year he has been in the league (minus 06-07).

 

[bigdnlaca]

I know what you are saying but how can you say these guys aren't scorers? Lebron is dropping 27ppg shooting 57% from the field. There isn't a single player in the league who can stop him. It's much easier to stop Carmelo than it is Lebron.

Like the post above; "Camelo can do everything offensively." I get that, he can score the ball a million different ways. It still doesn't change the fact that Lebron is harder to guard and can score a lot easier than Melo ever could.

I say that because to be a scorer, you have to have the mentality. KD and LBJ doesn't have that mentality to only score.

It sounds like you are making an argument that high ppg and shooting = scorer and scorer = better player which is not true. Lebron maybe harder to guard and has a high fg percentage but does he look to score more than Carmelo does in a 48 min game? I think the answer is no because we all know LBJ game isn't based on scoring. We have seen LBJ pass up game winning shots if the opportunity for an open shot is there. But as a scorer, the scorer will take that shot imo even if he was doubled or triple teamed.

I will ask this, if we are going by ppg and fg percentage, then how come big men don't get the scorer label? How come AI got the scorer label and he didn't shoot a high percentage? From what you said, guys like Shaq, Robinson, Chamberlain, Hakeem, Bird, K.G. etc. should be labeled scorers too since they avg 20 plus and shoot a high field goal pctg.

Other than that, I agree with what you said about Lebron.

 

[Future]

Lebron got to the finals with one of the worst teams ever around him. He also averaged 30 ppg one season in Cleveland (something Melo has never done) while shooting 49% from the field, and still got his 8 boards and 7 assists. He had another season in Cleveland averaging 31 ppg at 48%. Over his career, Lebron averages more ppg and higher FG% than Melo and most of his scoring was done in Cleveland. He's proven he is more efficient than Melo on worse teams at a younger age. He's continued to add layers to his game in Miami (post game) and his efficiency skyrocketed the last 4 seasons and has consistently improved over the last 10 seasons; that's every single year he has been in the league (minus 06-07).

I think that team around him was pretty underrated...and Lebron might have shot a good %, but he took a ton of bad shots, especially late in games. Good scorers don't disappear in the 4th quarter.

Let me ask you something, if you are down by 2 with :10 left and know that you're going to get a 1 on 1 matchup, who are you taking LBJ or Melo? I'm taking Melo every time and its not even a question.

 

[joseephuss]

I think that team around him was pretty underrated...and Lebron might have shot a good %, but he took a ton of bad shots, especially late in games. Good scorers don't disappear in the 4th quarter.

Let me ask you something, if you are down by 2 with :10 left and know that you're going to get a 1 on 1 matchup, who are you taking LBJ or Melo? I'm taking Melo every time and its not even a question.

I'm taking LeBron, Durant and Kobe over Melo every time and it's not even a question.

 

[Tabascocat]

I think that team around him was pretty underrated...and Lebron might have shot a good %, but he took a ton of bad shots, especially late in games. Good scorers don't disappear in the 4th quarter.

Let me ask you something, if you are down by 2 with :10 left and know that you're going to get a 1 on 1 matchup, who are you taking LBJ or Melo? I'm taking Melo every time and its not even a question.

Lebron because he will lower his shoulder, bull charge, travel and get the foul call :laugh2: