Oxymoron at its finest. There is nothing finesse strong about Sheed. He was, however, one of the most underrated post defenders of his era due to his high defensive IQ. Find TIM Duncan and ask him who his toughest defender was. He had an incredible length and understanding of how to get inside a players shooting stroke with that length. As for Melo, if you watched him last year, he got inside of players' chests more. That's a step up for him. He bumped more. He used his chest more to knock guys off balance without being called for a foul. If I'm wrong, let Nuggets4 call me out, please. Again, I'm not saying he became Bruce Bowen. I'm saying he took a positive step forward, that could be continued...
Though Pippen often drew the tougher defensive assignment, Jordan in addition to being the superior individual defender, put in far more effort at the defensive end than Anthony does (as does Bryant). I understand (and to an extent agree with) the idea of a featured scorer rationing their energy, but that doesn't excuse the lackadaisical attitude that Melo typically brings on defense. And it would be a major concern if he were to be paired with Martin, who even when he puts in effort is at best an average defensive player. Also, the idea of a player saving their fouls doesn't really work with Anthony, since he still picks up quite a few lazy fouls (and averaged 3.3 per game last year). EDIT: I'd like to add, we absolutely should trade for Anthony if we get the chance.
Actually, I'd love to keep Martin in a reduced role...the Robin to Melo's Batman. We'd have to play a Lowry and/or Shane next to Melo to cover the other teams primary scorers, as needed, though. As an alter-scorer to Melo, the uber-efficient, foul hungry Martin would be phenomenal.
Melo's defense is suspect. Think of t-mac defense without the potential. Basically he half asses the defensive end to score 30 on the offensive end on >40% fg & 3+ turnovers a game. At least kevin martin tries..
he's a great defender but seriously he has focus problems. Look at all these elimination games from 2005-2008 in the playoffs vs San Antonio and the Lakers, he just quits it in the last games and brings a half arsed effort
Respectfully, basketball is a team game. Defense, even man-to-man defense, is a team concept. The issue is not how good Melo's defense will be as much as it is (1) whether our team defense with Melo will be better than our team defense without him and (2) whether our team offense with Melo would make up for any drop off in defense with him? Brooks-Martin-Battier-Scola-Ming vs. Brooks-Martin-Anthony-Scola-Ming or Lowry-Martin-Anthony-Scola-Ming or Brooks-Lee-Anthony-Scola-Ming For me, the first line-up is the more balanced one, and it protects Yao more, enabling him to stay in games longer. The 2nd line-up is a scoring machine, but the absolute absence of any defensive stopper on the perimeter and smart help defenders makes the offensive potential much less significant. Line-up #3 sacrifices both offensive and defensive productivity. The 4th line-up also is balanced. I would argue it is the second strongest both offensively and defensively. In short, holding all other components of the trade constant, a trade of Battier for Anthony or Brooks for Anthony does not improve our chances much. However, a trade of Martin for Anthony (given the Lee acquisition) could have good upside. Yet, the drop-off in perimeter shooting by losing Martin could be very bad for the inside-out game. I just don't see the big upside in Anthony if we have to surrender any of our starters, and I don't see how we get him without doing so. Regardless of whether Anthony is here, without Yao this team does not get past the second round. It's too small and Miller is not the answer come playoff time. The current starting roster has 3 solid perimeter scorers, one of the best scoring bigs in the game, and a bruiser at PF who can get 18/10 regularly. All are competent and willing passers. Scoring will not be a problem, and we should dominate from the FT line. Battier will help keep Yao out of trouble on D, match up with the opposing team's better perimeter scorer, and the bench should be very competitive. We should win 12 more games than last year, and roll into the playoffs. I doubt whether Morey will do anything regarding Melo until he sees what he has on the court, unless he is able to steal Melo by retaining his starting roster.
I definitely disagree with this. Melo is a lot like SHeed, he has all the tools to be a lockdown defender however most of the time he's lazy and unfocused. Maybe its also because of George Karl's D which overloads the sides however Melo's D when he is aggressive is all about gambling defense, he always tries to get the steal. The only time i've ever seen him on lockdown and keeping up with his opponent with his hands above his head and his body squared was when he was guarding Lebron. Most of the time he's just going through the motions and waiting for his turn to hog the ball.
