Random NBA Playoff Talk

• wes_mantooth

  

  Also, I agree with people that say that the worst spot to be in the NBA is being the Atlantas and Denvers of the world. You need to be either a super team or a lottery team with the way the league is today. Mediocre is not a good spot because it is hard to improve.
• hoops23

  

  Hb31187;1158320 wrote:So is the media darling Kevin Durant. But he seems to be an MVP candidate/great player when he does literally the same thing as Melo

  Durant rebonds a bit better and also shot better from the field and from 3 this year.
• wes_mantooth

  

  Hb31187;1158320 wrote:So is the media darling Kevin Durant. But he seems to be an MVP candidate/great player when he does literally the same thing as Melo

  I think in a few years, if Durant doesn't get it done...he will be looked at differently too.
• robj55

  

  Hb31187;1158320 wrote:So is the media darling Kevin Durant. But he seems to be an MVP candidate/great player when he does literally the same thing as Melo

  To be fair, Durant is what 24 and has shown considerable growth in the areas that he was deficient in, I haven't seen the same from Melo outside of a few weeks towards the end of this season.
• chicago510

  

  Hb31187;1158320 wrote:So is the media darling Kevin Durant. But he seems to be an MVP candidate/great player when he does literally the same thing as Melo

  Durant has Westbrook and Harden and he's humble. That simple.
  
  Edit--and has been to the Conference finals.
• Hb31187

  

  hoops23;1158325 wrote:Durant rebonds a bit better and also shot better from the field and from 3 this year.

  Yeah, but essentially they are the exact same player.
• Hb31187

  

  robj55;1158327 wrote:To be fair, Durant is what 24 and has shown considerable growth in the areas that he was deficient in, I haven't seen the same from Melo outside of a few weeks towards the end of this season.

  Such as what? he still doesnt pass, and still is mediocre at best on defense. He does rebound a bit better though
• Hb31187

  

  chicago510;1158328 wrote:Durant has Westbrook and Harden and he's humble. That simple.
  
  Edit--and has been to the Conference finals.

  So he has more help and a great role player at PF and C.
  
  And Melo has been there too
• Hb31187

  

  wes_mantooth;1158326 wrote:I think in a few years, if Durant doesn't get it done...he will be looked at differently too.

  I would think hed have to be
• hoops23

  

  Hb31187;1158329 wrote:Yeah, but essentially they are the exact same player.

  Yeah, they are.
  
  As Chicago said, Russ and Harden are really the differences for that team.
• Hb31187

  

  hoops23;1158339 wrote:Yeah, they are.
  
  As Chicago said, Russ and Harden are really the differences for that team.

  Yeah having that 1/2 punch at the guard position while having a great player like that at the 3 is deadly. And they have 2 great role players at Pf and C that require almost zero shots between the 2 of them
• robj55

  

  Hb31187;1158335 wrote:Such as what? he still doesnt pass, and still is mediocre at best on defense. He does rebound a bit better though

  He has shown growth in those areas though, ie he has improved on the things he has needed too. Will he continue to improve in those areas? We will see, but my point was that Melo hasn't really shown growth in areas where he is deficient yet, and he has been in the league 9 years. Hell he shot 42% this year and was awful( by his standards) for 3/4 of the season.
• wes_mantooth

  

  Also, I think any team has a better chance of winning things with Melo over Vince Carter(not that vince is considered elite anymore). That guy takes more bad shots than anyone in the history of the NBA.
• killer_ewok

  

  wes_mantooth;1158318 wrote:one trick pony. Scorer..that is it.

  
  That's one hell of a trick though. LOL
  
  Amar'e with a fucked up hand now. Craziness. Word was Linsanity could return as early as Game 4. Might be facing elimination. Why not? Couldn't hurt. At least go out with a bang or end the postseason losing streak.
• Hb31187

  

  robj55;1158343 wrote:He has shown growth in those areas though, ie he has improved on the things he has needed too. Will he continue to improve in those areas? We will see, but my point was that Melo hasn't really shown growth in areas where he is deficient yet, and he has been in the league 9 years. Hell he shot 42% this year and was awful( by his standards) for 3/4 of the season.

  What exactly did he improve on? his passing? his defense? not really. All he improved on was rebounding and scoring. Hes a younger version of Melo almost to the T, but he seems to get a pass because hes young and has time to change. The only difference between the 2 is that Durant has played on better more complete teams
• Pick6

  

  Hb31187;1158356 wrote:What exactly did he improve on? his passing? his defense? not really. All he improved on was rebounding and scoring. Hes a younger version of Melo almost to the T, but he seems to get a pass because hes young and has time to change. The only difference between the 2 is that Durant has played on better more complete teams

  Has Durant had many 1 point games or 1-15 nights?
• robj55

  

  Hb31187;1158356 wrote:What exactly did he improve on? his passing? his defense? not really. All he improved on was rebounding and scoring. Hes a younger version of Melo almost to the T, but he seems to get a pass because hes young and has time to change. The only difference between the 2 is that Durant has played on better more complete teams

  From what I have seen, he has really improved on both of those areas. Is he great at either of them? No. But the progress has been there this year. Still settles for way too many jumpshots and has shot a very poor percentage in the playoffs. I think one difference between Melo and Durant is that Durant gets his more in the flow of the offense. Running of screens, catch and shoot, cuts. Melo is almost primarily a 1 on 1 iso player.
• Hb31187

  

  Pick6;1158358 wrote:Has Durant had many 1 point games or 1-15 nights?

  Has Melo had very many of them either?
• robj55

  

  Dallas needs to steal this game to really put the pressure on OKC.
• 2kool4skool

  

  Durant is the same type of player as Anthony, except slightly better at every aspect of basketball.
• Ironman92

  

  Amare.....punched out glass on way to locker room....left in sling.
  
  Awesome.
• Ironman92

  

  Probably out the rest of the series....both of them
• wes_mantooth

  

  Amare = Joey Belle with the locker room shenanigans
• SportsAndLady

  

  2kool4skool;1158364 wrote:Durant is the same type of player as Anthony, except slightly better at every aspect of basketball.

  This.
• hoops23

  

  Speaking of, Durant is 4/15 tonight and OKC has lost a 16 point lead and now trails by 1.