http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/49063/melos-improved-jumper-is-golden-for-usa

“He’s making over eight 3-pointers per 48 minutes. He’s never made as many as two 3-pointers per 48 minutes in an NBA season. The most 3-pointers per 48 minutes in a season in NBA history is 5.3 by J.R. Smith in 2007-08.”

Sure, one can argue the competition in the Olympics doesn’t compare to the NBA. But Carmelo is averaging nearly 13 more points per 48 minutes than any other USA player. Every other USA player is around or below their per 48 minutes average from last season.

He’s shooting 53 percent on jump shots, tops of any Olympian with at least 25 attempts.”

Similarly, Carmelo has drastically improved on guarded catch-and-shoot jumpers the last couple seasons. His percentage skyrocketed from 29 in 2009-10 to 47 last season, which ranked 5th of the 134 players with at least 50 attempts. Giving extra value to 3-pointers, he had the 3rd-highest effective field-goal percentage of those same 134 players.

Maybe he’s shooting so well because he’s getting a ton of open shots? Not really. Only 35 percent of his catch-and-shoot jumpers have been unguarded in the Olympics……..”

Wait for it, wait for it……….
“Last season, more than a third of his plays were isolation. He’s been the most efficient isolation player in the Olympics. But only 14 percent of his plays have been isolation.

Instead, more than half of Carmelo’s points have come on transition and spot-up plays. Thirty percent of his points have come from catch-and-jumpers in the Olympics, whereas only 12 percent of his points were scored that way last NBA season.

If Carmelo can find easier ways to score other than isolation, the Knicks the Knicks could reap the benefits of his best NBA season yet.”

Besides, this team ended the season on a 18-6 run. I feel good about this season. Not Miami/LAL good about it, but I think we’ll be watching the Knicks play in mid-May 2013.

JK47: Who’s supposed to get him all these great looks? Fatty Felton? 50-year old Jason Kidd? My guess is that he plays the same iso-ball style he’s always played, with the same results. We’ll see, I guess.

If Felton is indeed fat when training camp opens, or if Kidd plays like a 50yo, I agree that it will be a long season, just like it would have been if Lin was exposed as a 1-hit wonder after we gave him the keys to the car in the most important season for the NYK in more than a decade.

The Honorable Cock Jowles: I’ve never said he couldn’t do it. I’ve said that he probably won’t do it. Historically, few players become hyper-efficient at his age. It’s all about risk. You know, Faried could end up becoming the best PF of all-time. He’s super-athletic, is a ridiculous rebounder, and he could “learn” NBA defensive skills and improve on his .220+ WS/48. Should we trade for him based on the possibility that he could make a serious leap into an elite player?

It is not necessary for Melo to be “hyper-efficient,” just plain efficient, or efficient when it is needed for his team to win. Kobe was the highest usage player on several championship teams w/o being hyper-efficient. It’s not so much about whether Melo can play better, but whether he can play smarter.

Melo can do many things that Faried will never, ever be able to do, little things, like make a shot from beyond 5 feet or attack the rim with either hand when more than 1 dribble is required. Comparing them in terms of their roles is silly. Is Faried worth more, dollar for dollar? Whatever. Let’s see what happens when Landry Fields II goes around the league a couple of times. PS we have Tyson Chandler doing everything that Faried does, but even more efficiently and with DPOY skills, most of which have almost no impact on WP48. (Of course, altering shots or forcing teams to take less efficient shots have no impact on who ultimatley wins a game, so while Faried is one of the worst interior defenders in the league and Chandler is one of the best, they grade out about evenly in WP48.)

Re risk, what risk? Melo is a certainty to be here,so debating risk at this point is futile. The only operative question is whether a hand-picked supporting cast with some super-smart, super-efficient, super-experienced players can help Melo go from shooting 10-22 to 10-20 on average.

knicknyk: I doubt we will be playing in an uptempo system this year.

I bet they will be in the top 10-12 in pace next season.

JK47:
There’s a reason the Mavericks couldn’t keep Jason Kidd off the floor, and it’s because their next best point guard was Delonte West. Maybe I’d be more impressed with Jason Kidd’s ubiquitous presence in Dallas’ lineup last year if the Mavs finished better than 22nd in the NBA in offensive rating.

Watch the video from last year and it’s evident still what he can do.

I think he can have a better year next season. That whole team was out of shape to start, and condensed schedule should hurt the older teams the most.

If he gets back to what he did 2-3 years ago he might still be one of the top 10 point guards in the NBA.