Post by Rog on Mar 9, 2017 23:40:00 GMT
The 70th and final nominee for 2019, Carmelo Anthony was a lights out scorer, one of the best in history. The question is did he do much more and did he do enough to be an all time great? The answer is a pretty resounding yes most likely, but lets take a look at the numbers.
Career Stats
36.8 MPG, 26.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, 2 TOPG on 48.1% from the field, 83.3% from the line, and 43.7% from three
Best Season
Grizzlies(2007) - 29.9 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 1.7 TOPG on 51% from the field, 84% from the line, and 49.4% from three
Career Highs
Points: 64
Rebounds: 18
Assists: 11
Steals: 7
Blocks: 4
Achievements
Championships: 1
Player of the Game: 153
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 254
Triple Doubles: 2
Accolades
2002 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2002 - Rookie Game MVP
2002 - All-Rookie Team
2003 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2003 - All-Star Game Participant
2003 - All-League Second Team
2004 - All-Star Game Participant
2005 - All-Star Game Participant
2006 - All-League Third Team
2007 - All-Star Game Participant
2011 - All-Star Game Participant
2014 - All-Star Game Participant
Arguments For Induction
- Melo was a six time All-Star while also being named to an All-League second team and an All-League third team. He also won MVP in the Rookie Game, as a Rookie.
- Beyond anything and everything, Melo was one of the best pure volume scorers in league history. You probably can list the number of guys on one hand who did it better than Melo did. In fact, Melo finished his career 2nd all time in scoring, so you really can only name 1 guy who was better volume wise and that would be mister Kevin Durant himself, who will NEVER be caught for scoring. Melo averaged 26.5 points a game for his career, a number we consider near elite on a one season basis, and Melo did that over 18 seasons. He scored over 30 three times in his career, over 29 six times, and over 28 eight times, the rest of his career he was at least a 25 points a game guy except his final four years.
- Not only was he a volume scorer in the best of senses, he also did it with supreme efficiency. He only averaged 2 turnovers a game for his career, 2.8 at his highest which is not a hindrance at all, while having one of the higher usage rates in the league. He also shot a blistering 48.1/83.3/43.7 line for his career that not many can claim, let alone with Melo's bulk numbers. You cannot ask for anything more from a primary scoring player.
- But he didn't just score the ball offensively, he was also a willing, and able, passer. Averaging 3.6 assists for his career at small forward, Melo proved throughout that he could do things beyond putting the ball in the basket. Thats a 1.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is solid enough for a small forward. However, even beyond that, Melo averaged over 4 assists(a high benchmark for non guards) in three seasons. While not the best passing forward in league history, he was certainly a talented passer.
- Moving beyond offense, Anthony was able to also pull down 7 rebounds a game for his career, a pretty good number as well. Eleven of his 18 seasons in the league he was at or over 7 rebounds a game. Pretty impressive if you ask me.
- Carmelo Anthony is a Hall of Famer, there is no doubt in mind mind. Sure he doesn't quite match up to Kevin Durant or Tracy McGrady, or probably even Lebron James, but at this point he is a top 5 small forward in league history. For the first 14 years of his career Anthony gave you 27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, just over 1 steal, all while shooting 49/84/45 and not turning it over. Those are Hall of Fame numbers if you can sustain them 8 seasons in a row, Melo did it for 14 seasons. Hes a lock, there is no question.
Arguments Against Induction
- I mean the biggest argument to make is the fact that he has only two All-League awards, no player of the week or month awards, and only six All-Star appearances. He wasn't missing a lot of games every year, missing less than 100 over an 18 year career, averaging between 4 and 5 a year. So what gives? You can't say "well he wasn't better than KD so he isn't a Hall of Famer" but he wasn't better than any number of small forwards at any given time throughout his career, that is an issue to me, and kind of a big one.
- At best he carried a B defensive rating for his career, and didn't average a lot of stocks. Anthony was a one way player, who could rebound a little bit here and there. He just wasn't a good defender, at all. One dimensional players have no business in the Hall of Fame.
- As an entire picture its an impossible case to make that Anthony isn't a Hall of Famer, I don't want to argue that for very long at all, its just not the case. However, narrowing it down to how good he was compared to the All-Time greats, it gets a bit murkier. He wasn't very good at much else beyond scoring. He doesn't have a lot of awards. He only has one title despite being as "good" as he was. You just have to ask yourself when trying to put together an All-Time list, what do I value in Melo's game that I would put him above certain guys? I think he falls short in a lot of ways, but hes a Hall of Famer, no doubt about it.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
*
