That's almost as dumb as getting mad at video game rankings .

I guess I can see a young Dude being upset like "I have to prove myself now" but an old vet? Cmon son do better. Matter fact, be better.

I'm talking bout you Melo.

>That's almost as dumb as getting mad at video game rankings
>.
>
>I guess I can see a young Dude being upset like "I have to
>prove myself now" but an old vet? Cmon son do better. Matter
>fact, be better.
>
>I'm talking bout you Melo.

I remember him getting upset about an article or maybe even an online post Bomani Jones wrote about him years ago and Carmelo Anthony sending a tweet at him about it. I think this might have been even before Bomani started to work for ESPN, so Bomani wasn't even as visible as he is now at the time of Carmelo's online umbrage.

rankings and makes them more likely to put up bs rankings in the future.

If you think its goofy, use it as #mentalnotes and keep it moving.

that somebody at ESPN has an axe to grind with Carmelo lol

gonna generate alot of clicks and conversation. People either love or hate Melo.

And honestly at this point of his career, i don't even think 65 or whatever is thaaaat egregious lol. i'd have to see the other 64 names but its basically saying that there are 2 better players on each nba team. Thats not that crazy depending on how you judge potential ie someone might argue that philly got 3 dudes that'll be better than melo this season.

They label him a volume scorer who has a high number of successful shots when the shot clock is low. And they say in a changing league that he needs to be more.
My contention is there's only so many Lebrons, Georges, Durants, and Butlers in this world and for him to still be an elite scorer still and them not recognizing the value of scoring is silly.

i'm not sure he is.

>gonna generate alot of clicks and conversation. People either
>love or hate Melo.
>
>And honestly at this point of his career, i don't even think
>65 or whatever is thaaaat egregious lol. i'd have to see the
>other 64 names but its basically saying that there are 2
>better players on each nba team. Thats not that crazy
>depending on how you judge potential ie someone might argue
>that philly got 3 dudes that'll be better than melo this
>season.

that lonzo was ahead of him. I don't get it. I'd rather have lonzo this season than melo personally.

>that lonzo was ahead of him. I don't get it. I'd rather have
>lonzo this season than melo personally.


Oh wow, sounds like you dislike Carmelo Anthony more than me. I personally wish they would trade him for some young assets (multiple assets being key here) at this point since it's crystal clear the Knicks aren't winning anything anytime soon and should build for the future, but I dunno if I would rate Lonzo Ball ahead of him right now.

i've watched too many recent melo games of him struggling to drop 25 while some regular sf on the other squad puts up 20 on 12 shots.

And his 3pt shooting has regressed the last few years as well. He's not transitioning into his old man game as well as i'd thought he would.


And if you were to switch melo and Lonzo for this season i think the knicks have a better squad.

the one thing I agree with you on is that Carmelo should try to spin his negative feelings on this ranking into something positive and use it as motivation for this season. I honestly don't see how well that'll work since I'm guessing the Knicks will want to move away from him being a focal point in offense and let the younger players cook, but I suppose that's what Horacek gets paid the big bucks to figure out.

who was 57.

now obviously espn trolling to some degree. but they aren't far off IMO.

>now obviously espn trolling to some degree. but they aren't far off IMO.

I mean once you get beyond the top players its a crap shoot within the tiers of players depending on what you value, scoring, all around offensive play, 2 way players etc....

so if someone ranked melo 30th i could see that...if they ranked him 50th or something i can see that too. 65 or whatver is trolling but it ain't completely egregious.

above him. And promoted their rankings based on that fact.

They're just a tool, but flawed.

People take turns shitting on dude. Even his own team.

Fuck that. Be mad. It's natural.

while they were talking about the list. Marcellus was saying how disrespectful it was that Melo was ranked that way and he said his grandmother always said "can't make sense out of non-sense." Melo tweeted like 5 minutes later and referenced the quote.

ESPN is playing Good Cop/Bad Cop to get Carmelo Anthony to post on social media and kick up more interest for this list.

not sure what folx think melo is at this point in his career. it's really not hard to name 40 or 50 guys i'd rather have.

like i said tho, 40-50 is about right.

as much as y'all be poplocking and body rocking and beat boxing when i take an L? nah...y'all gon hear about Sam.

.

shit is just jokes and clicks bruh...

Peter King used to do this shit all the time. They know they will get attention if they fuck with the list.

Melo was prolly contacted by ESPN.

c'mon.

and whose mad, i'm shaking my head at him and telling him to do better. My days of defending this dude been over.

I want him to get traded, adjust his game and do better!

lol

and was prolly contacted by ESPN about the list prior to them doing the show.

if he don't care why he posting like he do?

noted.

like lala.


makes perfect sense.

Neither approach is wrong, IMO.

I think ESPN pulling some blatant trolling for clicks is a bad look. Lessens their credibility.

You know they trolling looking for clicks. So why help them get more clicks?

for opinions. I mean between Stephen A, Broussard and Skip....smh.

Just give me the facts please.

>for opinions. I mean between Stephen A, Broussard and
>Skip....smh.
>
>Just give me the facts please.

Two of those three work for Fox Sports now.

It's crazy to me how people expect players in any league to brush off every single amount of BS that gets thrown their way. This is supposed to be ESPN, and they say Robert Covington is better? That Lonzo Ball, who hasn't played a game is better?

Melo shot a tweet out and that was it. He didn't go on a press tour. Perfectly reasonable to address the nonsense (which other players AGREED with him).

ESPN was on that BS and Melo responded. There are not 30 players in the league better than him, even at THIS point of his career.

They about that entertainment.

The reaction they got from Melo, CJ et al is exactly what they wanted. It gave them more attention and encourages them to continue with the BS rankings. (if you really think they BS)

i can understand responding in the moment bc something was brought to your attention. But posting about it??? My man had time to think about it and responded, in essence making the list a topic for convo.

I understand that's the twitter/gram era we live in tho.

But ESPN does this every year and players respond every year, not realizing they promoting it.

By process of elimination, it seems like the 10 is going to be (who knows what order):

LeBron
Westbrook
James Harden
Kawhi
Anthony Davis
Curry
KD
Draymond
Chris Paul
?

Putting CP3 in the top 10 in 2017 seems a little weird, especially as he's probably very close to hitting the down slope of his career. Unless they think Harden is going to re-energize him.

I have no idea who I'm forgetting that's going to be in the top 10. Seems like most of the people I thought would be there are in the 11-30 section.

Still wouldn't put CP3 in the top 10.

.

Gonna generate way more clicks if Bron isn't at the top spot.

and put him at 3 or 4

29. Marc Gasol
Gasol is King of the High Post, as he averaged over two more elbow touches per game than any other player, averaged more assists from the elbow than any other player and ranked third in points per game from the elbow behind only Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony.

27. Paul Millsap
There's a good chance we're underestimating Millsap, as he's ranked inside the top 15 in ESPN's real plus-minus each of the past three seasons.

26. Kevin Love
If/when the Minnesota version of Love returns this season, just remember that we told you so. The Cavaliers played 136 minutes last season in which Love was on the floor without both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. In that time, Cleveland outscored opponents by 10.1 points per 100 possessions with Love averaging over 33 points and 15 rebounds per 36 minutes with a usage rate over 40.

25. Kyrie Irving
Close your eyes and imagine Irving dancing with the rock and then scoring on a step back or dazzling finish at the rim. He does it all the time and the stats would agree with the eye test that there might not be a better scorer off the bounce. During the regular season, Irving had the highest effective field goal percentage on shots following seven or more dribbles among the players to take five such attempts per game. During the NBA finals last season, Irving attempted 10 such shots per game, nearly twice as many as any other player, and converted at a more than respectable clip of 49 percent on 2-pointers and 39 percent on 3s.

24. Blake Griffin
Maybe it's because he has missed so many games or doesn't dunk the way he used to, but Griffin has reached the point where he might be grossly underrated. Griffin, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the only forwards who have posted a player efficiency rating of at least 22 in each of the past six seasons.

23. Mike Conley
Since entering the NBA in 2007-08, he has the most career win shares among players who have not made an All-Star team and has ranked in the top 6 among point guards in real plus-minus in three of the past four seasons.

21. Kyle Lowry
If you're wondering why Lowry comes in 18 spots ahead of DeMar DeRozan, here's a clue: When DeRozan was on the floor without Lowry last season, the Raptors were outscored by 0.4 points per 100 possessions. When Lowry played without DeRozan, the Raptors outscored teams by 10.8 points per 100 possessions.

20. Gordon Hayward
Hayward ranked 26th in the NBA in scoring last season, which is nice, but it's probably not something that makes you think "he could absolutely be the No. 1 option on a title contender" -- until you realize he did it on fewer than 16 attempts per game for a team that played at the NBA's slowest pace. If he scored at the same rate but took the same number of shots that Kyrie Irving needed to average 25.2 points, Hayward would have come in at 27.3 PPG, which would have ranked in the top five in the NBA in 2016-17.

18. Damian Lillard
Lillard just keeps getting better and has now increased his scoring and PER in each of his five seasons. He's coming off the best shooting season of his career while also posting his lowest turnover percentage. Although Portland had the misfortune of running into Golden State's buzzsaw each of the past two postseasons, Lillard averaged 30 points in those series. The only player to average more points against the Warriors over the past two postseasons is LeBron James.

17. DeMarcus Cousins
The idea of having either Cousins or Anthony Davis on the floor at all times for the Pelicans might be enticing on paper, even if it didn't work last season. When Cousins was on the floor without Davis, the Pelicans were outscored by 12.6 points per 100 possessions. Swap Davis for Cousins and the Pelicans outscored teams by 8.8 points per 100 possessions, a net swing of over 21 points. Though his talent is undeniable, Cousins still has not shown the ability to translate that talent into team success.

16. Nikola Jokic
Jokic posted a PER of 28.4 after Christmas last season, which ranked third behind 2016-17 MVP Russell Westbrook and All-NBA and all-defense selection Kawhi Leonard.

15. John Wall
Wall's struggles against Boston in the conference semifinals exposed somewhat of a limitation when it comes to executing in the half court. In fact, Wall ranked lower than every other player in our top 50 in points per play in the half court last season.

14. Rudy Gobert
Nobody protects the paint quite like Gobert, who contested a league-high 10.2 shots at the rim per game last season. Though Draymond Green won NBA Defensive Player of the Year, it was Gobert who led the league in defensive real plus-minus, finishing with the best mark by any player over the past three seasons.

11. Jimmy Butler
Butler is a late-game assassin as he posted a clutch-time PER of 44.5 last season, which ranked second in the NBA behind only Russell Westbrook. One of the game's best at drawing fouls, Butler sank 59 of 62 free throws in clutch situations last season. Butler should help cure some of Minnesota's late-game woes as the Wolves lost 12 games last season in which they led entering the fourth quarter. That was the most such losses by any team in the Western Conference.

I genuinely can't wrap my mind around how much better he is at that than anyone else.

among 283 qualified players:

64th in RPM Wins
74th in WS
110th in RPM
141st in PER
154th in WS/48
255th in BPM
274th in VORP

but yeah, 65 was an insult.

Nah. I can’t fully buy into stats like that. They’re just a tool.

That said, I’d say Melo has performed about at that level. Part of that is he’s getting older and declining and part of that is fit/role and adjusting to it. It’s not easy to look good stat wise playing with Russ IMO. They’re starting to function better and Melo has shown signs of finding his niche lately. Let’s see what happens.

you still have to compare apples to apples. i.e. players with similar usage, positions, roles, etc.

i don't think anyone using those numbers to compare dinwiddie to durant, fam. lolz.

Nothing special, but nice. Solid.

They have to be used in appropriate context and are part of informing the full picture.