The Honorable Cock Jowles:
Strangely, the Clippers’ surge also coincides with getting one of the Lakers’ best players during the offseason…

No one would deny Barnes is a good role player.

ruruland:
Is there another coach in the league who could turn a triple into a double like MDA? Howard, Gasol, Artest, and to a lesser extent Bryant, is a bad defensive team?

They were 13th in defensive efficiency last year with an out-of-shape Artest.

They’re 19th and falling fast now. Maybe when Dwight talks about not practicing on defense it means something. Or maybe he’s full of shit like Amar’e.

a lot of this seems to be that Howard clearly isn’t anywhere near himself physically, he looks like just another guy out there most of the time even though he sometimes puts up Howard-esque numbers still.

Now he likes to hang back, trail the break and get those open 3s.

Look, Durant and Lebron are among two of the most incredible physical specimens in any sport, ever.

Michael in his prime was capable of a lot, but not some of the stuff these guys do.

It’s not just Durants wingspan, it’s his change of direction — torque-that is just otherworldly.

I’d say the four most blessed players of all time that ive watched a lot of video of would be Wilt, Shaq, Lebron, Durant.Pippen isn’t that far off (Durant without quite as much explosion but quicker laterally) , Dr. J., David Thompson, Elgin Baylor, Jordan. A lot of guys on that next tier. But I think the top tier belongs to freakish size/strength/length in combination with freakish quick twitch.

Melo is not in either of those two top tiers athetically, but his great skill-set in combination with his strength, first step and short range quickness makes him one of the all-time indefensible players.

Melo’s Synergy numbers are absolutely sick this year. Top 10-15 in most major categories.

But the thing is, Durant is having one of the greatest statistical seasons of all time and Lebron might be the greatest statistical player since Oscar and or Wilt.

Shouldn’t change how we view Melo’s season. For a number of reasons, Melo has turned a corner purely from a statistical perspective, and sorry Owen, it’s not going to dramatically change anytime soon.

Robtachi:
Durant is probably the better overall player, but there’s question that Melo is a more talented and versatile offensive weapon.Honestly, all efficiency and athleticism caveats aside, Anthony is probably more gifted on offense than Lebron.The only other guy on the planet with his array of skills is Mr. Bean Bryant, and he’s not as efficient as Melo.Of course, Lebron makes up quite a bit of that skill gap with ludicrous superhuman athleticism as well as efficiency.

Sorry, to continue the thought since I can’t edit… Melo will post up, change his layup mid-air, dunk when he feels like it, hit a 3 from way downtown, knock down a turnaround jumper – just so many ways to score from every part of the half court. I feel like most of what I see Lebron do now is blow past people and dunk ferociously or knock down a stationary jumper. If he has the offensive toolbox Carmelo has, I’m not sure I’ve seen it used to its full extent. But again, the fact that he practically breaks the sound barrier torpedoing through the entire defense on his way to a thunderous and demoralizing slamma jamma makes up for a whole lot of the difference.

Juany8:
On Durant vs. Melo, it really depends on what kind of team you have. There is no way Durant would be able to put up those numbers on this team, Melo has become the second or third best half court offensive player in the league (after Chris Paul and Lebron), and the Knicks don’t run at all. On a fast young team where you have a guy like Westbrook to actually attack the defense? Durant is the superior option. I really like Durant, but he relies mostly on being set up or just popping jumpers all over the place. It works obviously, but Melo is far more versatile, especially on the ball. That makes a huge difference later on in the playoffs when defenses game plan very specifically to stop a particular team. You don’t see Poppovich giving up and doubling Durant instantly like he does with Melo.

Melo’s been great this year, but Durant has just been better at everything but offensive rebounds, and he’s been better for years. Durant is a physical freak. There haven’t been any 6’10″, athetic wings who can score like Durant. Serioulsy, I like Melo, but it’s not close this year. Durant’s been ridiculous.

They were 13th in defensive efficiency last year with an out-of-shape Artest.

They’re 19th and falling fast now. Maybe when Dwight talks about not practicing on defense it means something. Or maybe he’s full of shit like Amar’e.