1 your definition of the efficient appears to me as very narrow, 2 dimensional, black and white and out of context 2 there is a psychology side to humans they are not machines 3 for some shooters to get hot they may have specific things how they go into rhythm and flow states where they perform at their peak so the least efficient shot may be the most efficient shot in the long run or within a greater picture 4 cp3 went down with injury taking the most efficient shot, would it be more efficient in the long run if he took the less efficient shot or the worst shot in the basketball?
I know this seems counter-intuitive to most Rockets fans who have come to embrace Morey/D'Antoni 3s and layups concept (myself included), but I would not be surprised if Morey actually signed Melo because he takes tough shots that are bad for efficiency. If Morey's goal is to beat the Warriors and not win regular season offensive rating awards, then the goal is to be able to score against a switching style of defense where all shots are highly contested. And that's essentially Melo's game. He has a mediocre success rate taking the worst shots in the world. This is bad in a world where the Rockets can get open 3s, Capela dunks, Harden layups, and CP3 easy 10 footers. But clearly our shots were way, way worse against the Warriors. The Rockets offense against the Warriors was a 104 rating, which was equivalent to Memphis as the 27th offense in the regular season. And that was with Harden and CP3 shouldering the entire load on offense. Now imagine if Harden and CP3 get some rest while Melo does his thing jacking up 18 footers at 40-45%ish rate. It's not good. But it would still be better than any alternative except Eric Gordon on one of his hot nights. If Melo can let CP3/Harden each rest an extra 5-10mpg in the playoffs while putting up his trademarked mid-rangers, that's not a bad thing against the Warriors. Because the Rockets apparently can't get better shots than that anyway playing their own style. Everyone says Melo is fine against everyone except the Warriors, but I beg to differ. I think Melo only makes sense for the Rockets if they compete against the Warriors, because the Warriors are the only team in the NBA who can stop the Rockets playstyle. And Melo can help mitigate the issue by being his ever iso-happy/mid-ranger self.
1) I don't know what to tell you. That's just the real situation we're in. You're simplifying this argument to a comparison of Ariza's OFFENSE vs Carmelo's BEST EVER offense and you think I'm looking at this narrowly? 2) Of course. 3) We're not running a nursery. No one knows better than MDA how to get people into those states: scoring and winning. We can't divert the direction of our highly successful team from being better than the Warriors, to suiting a veteran minimum signing who got bought out. What we need is for Carmelo to suit the Rockets, not vice versa. We are in no desperate need of more mediocre offense. Even Ennis can score in a more diversified way than Ariza. What Carmelo can do to make his overall impact greater is to score more efficiently - it's not going to happen with him being the furthest distance from his 2 most efficient scoring spots, in the way of our 2 elite scorers doing their most damage. We might as well tell Paul to just shoot more mid range shots. He is capable of making those at a winning rate. 4) CP3 has gone down with injury doing both, this is irrelevant. Also, as I've said a million times now, Paul is an exception in the mid range. There is no comparison to be made there.
i still have nightmares with Ariza or Moute doing their thing against late close-outs. even 40y old Melo will eat of that. We don't need Melo when our offense clicks and we get looks - it doesn't matter if Ariza/Moute/Melo takes open 3corners. What we needed is offense when open shot is not present and our guards are doubled on the drive. Only alternative was Hardens stepbacks, CP Iso and long jacked EG shots. Now we will additionaly have Melo jabstep/pullups. And he won't turn it over after every dribble he takes. Plus I think while he is bad defender he is built to take Green and not get bullied. Tucker and Ennis can sit on snake, CP/Knight on Curry. Harden + MCW(hes capable defending premiter+long) on Klay. We have to bait them to run through Cousins which can be fools gold
