Originally posted by Arminini:Originally posted by LA9erFan:Originally posted by blizzuntz:
As a Knicks fan, I welcome Carmelo but will miss the players they gave up. Those player out played their contracts and it is exactly what you need on a team to win.
But it is almost a fact that you need 2 studs on your team to win in the NBA. But I will go out on a limb and say Gallinari was on the road to being someone special, great shooter.
Mozgov was showing a few sparks of talent and may have well been on
His way to a 2nd tier Center in
The NBA.
Welcome Carmelo
Good evaluation all around.
My problem with Melo and Amare are that neither of them play defense, and there isn't much precedent for a SF/PF combo being the main players on a title team, and I've never thought that D'Antoni's style was conducive to winning titles. But they'll be exciting for sure.
I tend to agree with this assessment but am still mulling over a couple facts...
1) Rebounding- if Melo and Amare can play their natural 3 and 4 positions along side a strong 5 they will be mosters on the board. Theyre both strong and athletic and can outrebound most anyone at their position. With that rebounding advantage they can play uptempo without the implied sacrifice of rebounding. A big, athletic 5 man like Gortat, Robin Lopez or *gulp* Dwight Howard would be scary.
2) Scoring- Offensively, both guys can get whatever they want. the 7 seconds or less system can be adapted to their style because theyre both quick scorers versus more methodical guys. The Suns 7 seconds or Shaq had no chance of success because of his lumbering style, but i think a Knicks' 7 seconds or Melo/Amare can work.
3) The Suns got unlucky in the playoffs a couple times and appeared to be a play or two away from breaking through. ie Joe Johnson faceplant, Amare suspension. So much of winning a championship is getting the breaks at crucial times and it seemed to allude them through no fault of the system. Needless to say, if Sarver wasnt a cheap ass and kept Rondo's pick or payed Joe Johnson the chances of a championship would grow exponentially. Offensive minded systems have worked on other levels of basketball and i think the rules are set up for a system like this to win in the NBA as well.
I partially disagree with the rebounding aspect. Melo's an excellent rebounder at the 3, but Amare's still a below average rebounder at the 4, as Suns fans can attest to. He spent most of last year playing at the PF spot, and drove fans crazy with his rebounding. He just doesn't have the mentality.
As for the SSOL Suns, they only got to the Conference Finals once, where they lost in 6 games to the Mavs. And each time they lost to San Antonio it was in 5 or 6 games as well. The Suns got to the WCFs last year after putting more importance on the defensive end of the floor.
I see D'Antoni as being similar to Don Nelson...I don't think their style has shown to be conducive to winning titles. You're almost always gonna run into a team like the Lakers or Spurs who have size and can slow the game down, which is usually that kinda team's death knell.
