Instead of ripping Carmelo, give me a game where Dirk shut down someone or had the balls to guard the best post player. I think we had enough talk about Carmelo for the day, let's see how great of a defender the Dirk Diggler is.
Dirk doesn't shy away from contact, he'll block the occasional shot and swipe at the ball when given the opportunity. It's just that he doesn't have the greatest footwork speed (peculiar when he has great footwork on the offensive side) to keep up with more athletic bigs AND he happens to be one of the most gifted scorers in the NBA. Why bog your superstar down with defensive responsibilities that will tire him out so he can't carry your team on the offensive side of the court? What more then likely happened in the WCF is that Melo smelled the bright lights of playing the #1 team in the playoffs with Kobe on it and became what he's not known for: a willing defender. It worked because people like you say "Oh wow Melo is such an awesome defender!" Keep in mind defensive wing players are easier to come by to stop players like Melo, but most teams have a problem with guarding a 7 footer who can take bigger guys on the perimeter and back down smaller guys and shoot an unblockable fadeaway jumper.
oh and durvasa, the game I was talking about when Melo shut down Kobe was in Game 1. Yeah, Kobe scored 40, but his FG% was 13-28. Kobe didn't shoot the highest % in that series, at least compared to the Magic series or Jazz series. I don't know who has stopped Melo though. I've seen a couple of 6'7-6'9 lengthy players that have stopped Dirk. Tmac, Posey, Haslem, Stephen Jackson, etc. I don't know who has stopped Melo, Ariza?
I'm not the one claiming that Dirk Nowitzki is a better defender, and I certainly don't consider Nowitzki a good 1-on-1 defender. You said Carmelo is "far and away" better, and I'm just trying to understand what you mean by that. Pointing to the WCF Finals and his performance against Kobe Bryant is not convincing, considering he was foul prone in those match ups and Kobe lit up Denver for 34 ppg. Like I said, Carmelo has a live body, and he's competitive in big games. That means he could give you a nice effort against an opposing team's scorer for limited stretches. Does that, in itself, make him a good defender? IMO, no. Like I said earlier, I consider him, at best, an average defender.
Just curious, you are aware that stats are based on observable data right? You know, the kind that you can watch on tape? How do you know he did a good job when the observable data indicates otherwise?
13-28 (47%) is getting shut down? You do realize that Carmelo shot 41% for the series, right? So who was the defender shutting him down?
I don't think they were at each other the entire time, I think for the most part when Melo was away from foul trouble he would be on him, but he was mostly throughout the series. Along with the fact that he got hurt later in the series as well. Regardless, Give Melo credit for at least having the balls to want to defend Kobe, where as Dirk wouldn't even want to defend a guy like Gasol.
I already gave Carmelo credit for being competitive (though I'll add your caveat -- when he feels like it) . Carmelo's foul trouble was due to him being overly aggressive on defense, which goes back to the point I made earlier. He gave a nice effort, but effort doesn't necessarily equal good defense. And when Carmelo was not guarding Kobe Bryant, what was he doing on defense that was so great? He's not a good team defender, he gambles a lot, and he'll leak out early on defensive possessions in hope for a quick transition score. I don't think Nowitzki is so awful that I can call such a player "far and away" a better defender. In any case, I'm not going to pretend like I watch Carmelo Anthony regularly. Maybe he's improved substantially, and its just not showing up in the On/Off numbers at 82games. Perhaps Nuggets4 or someone else who's watched him a lot this year can give an opinion.
Thus far, you've convinced me that Dirk is a better offensive player (equal if not better offensive repertoire plus height advantage), better defensive player (if a good defensive effort by Melo allows Kobe to get 40 pts on close to 50% shooting, then Melo isnt a good defender; also, you pointed out that Melo seems to get into a lot of foul trouble), and has higher basketball iq (Dirk understands his limits and doesn't try to guard players he isn't capable of guarding).
Seems like you want to talk about Melo some more. I seem to recall Battier holding him in check in past seasons but I don't have an extensive Nuggets tape library. Also, care to list more of the etc to those players that stopped Dirk? You're basically exaggerating on both Dirk being easily guarded and Melo being unstoppable.
Simple question, Would you rather have a 6'8 that draws fouls and gets to the line at will or would you rather have an offensive player who's 7'0 that takes jump shots and will only occasional get to the FT line? This is the first time in Melo's career where refs are actually giving him the calls. I've seen Nuggets games in the past and for the most part I see officials get the call wrong on Melo all the time. This year? It's different. He's finally getting it and he's leading the league in scoring.
"gets to the line at will" = 9.3 free throw attempts per 36 minutes "only occasional get to the FT line" = 6.9 free throw attempts per 36 minutes To answer your question, I'd rather have a 7-footer with Dirk's offensive abilities than a 6'8 guy with Melo's offensive abilities.
Dirk is #9 in FTA this year and I did mention he has an unblockable post up fadeaway that is money. You either don't watch Dirk or blowing smoke up everyone's butt...or both.
That's an opinion, but It's not like it's wrong. There is no right or wrong answer. I would just prefer a player getting to the line rather than relying on his jumper. I respect Dirk and I certainly fear him catching heat against the Rockets. They basically shoot the same FG%, but Melo just gets to the line more. I'm not sure who has more moves in their offensive repertoire, probably Dirk, but I would still rather have the one that gets to the line and is fouling the big men out of the game.
I think there's more value in having a 7-footer with Dirk's offensive skills. That poses so many matchup problems for a defense. Melo is a good player, but the Nuggets play pretty well even when he's not on the floor. The Mavericks are just dramatically better with Dirk because what he brings to the table is so tough to contend against.
Eh... Both are good players but I think the way they play puts significant pressure on the organization to surround them with complimentary players. To win a ring both will need a very good perimeter playmaker and a very good low post threat.
Basically, I'm not sure what Melo necessarily needs to win though. I think the perfect compliment for Dirk would be Kendrick Perkins though. For Melo? Maybe, Deron Williams.
So in your opinion, Dirk needs an above-average role player to win. Carmelo needs one of the top 3 point guards in the league. Yet you think Carmelo is better?
So Dirk's perfect compliment is a bruiser role player while Melo's perfect compliment is one of the best PGs in the league? Does not help your argument.
