Game Thread GAME# 24: 76ERS @ BLAZERS - FEBRUARY 11, 2021 - THURSDAY, 7:00, TNT

I was commenting on Melo in general not Melo in this particular game. In general he sucks. His TS% is an abysmal 0.519 yet he fancies himself an offensive player. He’s a poor defender, poor rebounder, and poor assist guy. So it’s fools gold when per chance he has a good game.

 

I got nothin nice to say in reply...

 

Who isn't on this roster.

 

We won.

 

and I answered the question.

 

Don't understand why there isn't a green stripe.

 

Looking at the last two nights, maybe the guy has found his niche on this team. Of course that niche expires when CJ returns because both guys excel on offense and play no D (at least Melo hits the boards).

 

We won. Accept it. Embrace it. Stop analyzing it. We won. It went in the W column. In April you won't remember anything but the win.

 

But Melo doesn’t excel at offense at all. He’s fine from 3 but overall he’s terribly inefficient. If CJ and Melo each took 100 typical shots as Blazers, CJ wins the game 126 to 104.

 

I embrace the win. But I don’t embrace Melo because he’s fools gold, he’s bad for the team and I like the team.

 

and both give up a ton of points on D.

 

That’s true but CJ offsets that with his O while Melo compounds it with his inefficient O. Plus Melos minutes could go to other players who might just blossom if given a bigger chance. Why not invest in your young guys?

 

Melo is a fantastic 5th or 6th option on our roster and can help us win. I'm not sure what you expect from YOUR 5th or 6th option, but he is MORE than exceeding mine. I've said before, 6th man making the vet minimum..... he's killing it for us.

 

5th or 6th man should either be an efficient scorer OR a good defender OR a good slasher OR a good rebounder OR a good assist man. Preferably a couple of those at least. Melo is none of those. Being able to get off a poor percentage shot with style is not an attribute of a player who helps your team, unless your team is so bad on offense that that’s your best shot. That’s not the Blazers.

 

6th man, making the vet minimum. He will be on the floor in crunch time all season. Better get used to it. You can bitch every game if you want, but your superstar wants him out there with him and it will happen. Accept it.

 

Gotta love how he didnt address any of this.

 

I could care less how little or much $ Melo makes, it’s not my money. I care that he’s an ISO crutch who detracts from team ball, he takes shots away from better shooters, and worst of all, he takes time away from the development of our young players.

Dame’s a loyal guy who will support any player on the team. Props to him.

Yes, I’ll continue to state the facts before, during, and after every game. Accept it. Get used to it. Embrace it.

 

Melo is a Good Rebounder. Melo is a good shooter. Almost 40% from 3. Melo runs the inbound plays as well as any player they have had since Batum. Melo just Hit clutch free throws. Melo shoots free throws very well. Melo can move with the ball and has shown he can pass(Assist) very well. Did you not see the pass to Kanter under the rim? Maybe 10-20% of the league could make that pass?
So "A couple of those at least" are well covered and some.
Now do we want to start talking about basic BBIQ? The guy has had his hand in the middle of huge plays all season long. Can you say Clutch? Didn't we just watch on multiple different occasions Melo getting not only a huge block but steals and stops
Then there is this.


Can you say LEADERSHIP?

 

Rebounding
Per 36 minutes
Aminu 8.9 (as a Blazer)
Roco 7.1
Little 6.8
DJJ 6.2
Melo 4.9 (this year)
Dame 4.5
He's a better rebounder than Dame. I'll give you that. Well, maybe, Dame's not inside is he.

Scoring Efficiency (TS%)
Little 0.654
Dame 0.626
Enes 0.624
CJ 0.620
CJ2, 0.610
Gary 0.576
Ant 0.556
Melo 0.529
Isolating his 3's and FT's from his 2's which are 60% of his shots is cherry picking. Taken all together he's horrible.

Assists
He has the same assist rate and same assists per 36 as Aminu had. I love Aminu but I don't think he was an assist guy. And Melo gets the kind of touches that should generate assists, not Aminu, who is just catch and shoot the 3. Melo in his prime had more than double the assists he gets now. I don't care if he can make a certain pass to Kanter, in general he doesn't.

Slasher
No

Defender
No

BBIQ
Routinely taking low-efficiency turn-around fade-way 2-pointers is the epitome of low BBIQ.

Pointing at a handful of individual plays is more cherry picking. Martel Webster scored 24 points in a quarter but he wasn't some great scorer. A 60% free throw shooter will eventually hit 10 in a row to win the game. Meaningless. I will give you that he's clutch, if the game were on the line at the free throw stripe, he'd be second to Dame on my list, and taking the three to win the game he might even be first... but that's not enough.

None of them are covered at all.