These days nearly everybody has a cell phone with a camera on it, and most have the ability to shoot video and audio from it as well. What a great convenience when you need to capture some moment of time to save and share. However, if you are some sort of celebrity, this can be a real pain. Just this week Superstar swimming phenom Michael Phelps’ personal finances and world credibility took a great hit because a picture surfaced of him with his face buried in a bong at what looks like a house party. In the information era, somebody is always watching or listening it seems.
So I am trying to understand the context behind Carmelo Anthony’s latest comments captured in a Denver Post story. Perhaps he was just talking to to a buddy or teammate completely off the record when some nosy Denver Post reporter happened to be in earshot and captured what was said on his cell phone. Maybe somehow the words were taken out of context. Maybe Carmelo has such an inflated self worth that he truly thinks he’s “all that”. Who knows?
According to the Denver Post, Carmelo, apparently discussing his recent absence from the All Star roster was asked “who is the best small forward in the Western Conference”? To which Carmelo replied “I’m the only one out here in the West,” Anthony said Tuesday. “Can you name one better?”…
The first part of the response is a statement, the second part is a question. The statement sort of implies that he’s all there is as far as players worthy of All Star status in the West are concerned. I think that’s incredibly narcissistic if you ask me. The question however deserves an answer, and allow me to answer it: YES.
If Carmelo is the sole Western Conference small forward worthy of All Star consideration, you would expect him to be having the best season among them right? Take a look here at a head to head comparison of Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant thus far this season. Skip on down to the per 36 minute comparison so we can compare apples to apples since Carmelo is playing fewer minutes than Durant. As you will see, Durant is shooting the ball much better than Carmelo any which way you look. He’s got a better field goal percentage, better 3fg percentage and better free throw percentage (KD is actually 18th in the entire league in 3fg% at this time). There’s no denying Durant is shooting well, significantly better than Carmelo.
Credit where credit is due: Carmelo has some points in his favor. He is a better rebounder than Durant. Carmelo is also better at distributing the rock to his teammates and he gets to the line more frequently than Durant. Those are all aspects of the game that are significant. However, Durant is a better shot blocker, turns the ball over less, and draws fewer fouls. Also consider that Durant spent the first 13 games of the season out of position at the shooting guard position. You will probably notice that Carmelo actually scores 4/10ths of a point more per 36 minutes of play, but also notice that he uses more than an extra field goal attempt to do it in. Durant is a more efficient scorer than Carmelo.
Now skip on down to the advanced stat line. There you will notice that Durant has a higher offensive rating (points per 100 possession), and a lower usage. Those are good things. Durant does more with each possession, and uses fewer of them. Admittedly Carmelo has a better defensive rating which can’t be ignored, but defensive ratings and offensive ratings are still a function of team play, and so it is hard to really parse out the individual offensive and defensive ratings of these two.
Also on the advanced line you will notice the PER (player efficiency rating) for each guy. See how Kevin Durant’s is higher? Higher is better. PER is John Hollinger’s statistical yardstick for overall statistical contribution by a player.
By my own calculation, Kevin Durant has a *Win Score (per 48) of 10.25. Carmelo’s Win Score is 9.2. Again higher is better.
Perhaps you can make the arguement that Carmelo is every bit as good or even better than Durant. So be it, you’ve seen the stats, you make the call. People have their opinions. But remember, Karma has a way of biting you in the butt. Not too long ago, a super narcisssitic Stephon Marbury was asked who was the best point guard in the NBA? Well you guessed it, according to him, it was him. Now just a couple of years later, where is Stephon? Oh that’s right, begging to be bought out by the Knicks because he is a cancer. It’s much better to let the experts engage in the soap box pontifications about the best and the greatest than to open your mouth and insert your foot by naming yourself.
Just for fun, here is a little head to head to head comparison of Kevin Durant, Camelo Anthony and Lebron James each at 20 years old in their second seasons, of which, Durant is still completing.
Kevin Durant is also the only player remotely near an All Star on his team. That can be argued either way, but Melo went through a fairly major system overhaul, and has changed from being a shoot first, score first offensive option next to AI, to a well rounded rebounder, passer, and scorer with Chauncey. Most teams take time to gel when a change like that happens, but they Nuggets have the third best record in the West right now, and I'd attribute that to Melo's willingness to change his game, and make his team better. Also, I don't feel the best player on any team as bad as the Thunder deserves to be an All Star. That's what ruins baseball's All Star game. I'm sure Durant will get to be an all star plenty of times when he opts out of Oklahoma after next season. Melo didn't make it in his first two years even though he had high offensive output. Sometimes you've got to pay your dues.
@Mat
I understand what you are saying, but my main point was that you can't compare last year's Melo to this year's Durant. If you can, then I should be able to compare this year's Durant to 20 year old Melo. I think Melo is one of the greatest talents in the league, but he is also having an off year. His efficiency, rebounds, and FTs are all down, and I really don't feel he's been the centerpiece of the team like an All Star should be, of course for this year only.
I don't think he's an All Star caliber player this year simply because he's not the force he was in past years (due in large part to the injury, but that's the point, he's not playing like an All Star). I think Durant is the better player this year because he is the absolute focus of every team he plays, and still sports All Star numbers and play. Next year will be a better comparison. Durant should start moving into the realm of where he will stay for the next few years, and hopefully Melo can be healthy and playing like his old self. Until then, I have to give this year to Durant, and overall career to Melo.
Look, this article...while I appreciate the reasons for defending Durant...is very one sided. I don't want to call it homerish...but it is borderline.
No one can deny that Durant is All-Star calibre player. No one can also deny that Melo IS an All-Star, and will be selected to many many more before his career is over. Everyone knows the reason Melo wasn't selected this year was because he was injured for 15 games...that is a big chunk to miss and still be selected by the coaches.
As for head to head comparisons, Durant is a better shooter, Melo a better well rounded scorer. Melo can score from the 3 point line or driving or posting up, and has probably the best mid-range game in the League. He quite simply was the most dominant player in the world in the FIBA championships. It is not like he got old or worse or something...he has been injured!!! As has already been brought out, he shot right around 50% last year and this year he is at 44%, albeit with a much smaller sample size than Durant due to the injuries. And as a fan of the league, I can tell you when I watched Melo play earlier this year he was hurting after every shot. You have to take a larger sample size than the first part of this year to legitimately compare the two players.
Yes, your discussion was based on the fact that Melo said he was the best SF in the West. That was a haughty statement, but since when have NBA atheletes but humble creatures??? Sure, some maybe are, but you cannot be shocked by that statement. He is confident in his abilities and sometimes these comments come across as narcissistic when they are nothing more than a player believing in his skills. Melo does tend to say some stupid stuff sometimes, but I think it makes him more real. When have any of us been perfect in our statements about ourselves. We all tend to want to believe we are the man...so really, I think this article has more to do with you disliking Melo than truly comparing the two players.
"two PFs selected to START in the West"
Let me start out by saying that I think it was a stupid thing to say and I don't agree with the claim that there are no other great SFs in the west. Durant is very worthy of being an All-Star, as are about 4-5 players in the West that didn't make it. Carmelo is absolutely close to being All Star caliber this year, and his numbers bear that out. 21.5 ppg 7 rpg 3.8 apg playing on a team that is 3rd in the west at 34-17 is absolutely worthy of all star consideration. You may wish to argue that other players (Durant, Al Jefferson) are more worthy, but that doesn't mean that Melo isn't worth consideration as well.
The reason the FG% is flawed is that this is why Durant's shooting NUMBERS are better but it does not mean that Durant is the better player in general. Were Durant selected to be an all star this year in light of that FG difference, I would have no problem with it whatsoever. But just because he is presently shooting a better percentage, does not make him a better overall player than a healthy Carmelo Anthony.
Last year, Carmelo shot 49% from the field, this year he is shooting 44% percent from the field. I think it's a fair statement that this is in large part due to his elbow injury. Since returning from his broken hand and having a chance to rest his elbow, he's shooting 50% from the field and his team has gone 4-1. While Durant may be having the better statistical season, at the end of the year, the Nuggets are going to have about 55 wins while OKC will be in the lottery. Carmelo's stats will look about the same as Durants, except with higher rpg and apg. I'm not sure who will be the better player in the future, Durant has a very bright future ahead of him but Melo is just 24 himself and far from a finished product himself. Based off the two DEN-OKC games this year, I can't wait to see them match up in the future.
The real problem with the All Star selections, is that there are almost always two PFs selected in the West and no SFs because the PFs are always going to have better rebounding and block numbers compared to the SFs. Personally, both players should be in PHX in a few weeks, they are easily the 2 best SFs in the West.
@Mat
Why does Melo being hurt make the numbers flawed? Correct me if I'm wrong, but injury lessens your ability to plays. That is to say, if one player is injured, he probably isn't as good as a relatively equal player who is healthy.
The whole premise of this article was started by Melo claiming himself the best and only SF in the West worth consideration. That claim is ridiculous. Melo isn't even close to being All Star caliber this year. Just because someone was great in the past doesn't mean they are great NOW.
If you are going to use Melo's potential (from past seasons) to declare him the better player, you would be remiss not to use Durant's potential as well (comparisons at age). And if you do that, Durant looks like he'll be the far better player in the future, while also being the better player THIS YEAR.
Why does this article and nobody in these postings seem to acknowledge that the shooting numbers presented are entirely flawed? Carmelo has had an elbow injury on his shooting arm the entire season that he has been struggling with and even missed several games with. Isn't this quite relevant to the article and why Durant is shooting better? How does this not get brought up?
I was very disappointed in Durant seemingly not even considered for the All Star game, and no one mentioning it. The biggest problem is that coaches and voters in the NBA don't decide things based on merit, they decide based on record. Lebron James has been the best basketball player in the world for the past 3 or so seasons, but has never been an MVP due to to his playing with mostly sub-par players.
The idea that Melo's past success and playoff caliber teammates make him a better player than Durant is preposterous. By that logic, Allen Iverson is a better player than Devin Harris and Vince Carter this year. Sure, Harris and Carter are more efficient scorers, defenders, and all around players, but AI has had considerably more success in his career, and the Pistons have a better record than the Nets.
I very much respect Carmelo and what he's brought to Denver, but let's not pretend he has been having a good year. Denver's success is due mostly to Nene and Billups, so record really shouldn't be as much of a factor when comparing Melo to anyone.
By the way, I really enjoy the blog. It's nice to hear someone actually extrapolate once in a while, and not just regurgitate ESPN announcers force feeding us their outdated opinions.
:O)
On the issue of there being no-one else, clearly Durant should be in the conversation, and to not mention him is a gross oversight. Still, most of the other points are moot: Durant and Anthony have a lot of similarities, and what one does better (e.g. Durant on D, passing for Anthony), the edges are not big enough to uncategorically put one about the other. Even arguing that Anthony has played on better, but still average-at-best teams could be considered unfair when Durant has never even had a chance at decent teammates most of the time.
So agreed with your point: Durant deserves more respect. Probably wouldn't have argued it as forcefully, but what's a blog for :)?
"Lol this blog is about as good as the team it covers."
This is an excellent basketball blog. Lots of posts, interesting analysis, links to commentary from around the web. Very well done.
Admittedly though, the comments section goes down the toilet when haters visit to drop their turds.
Look, if you had included the fact that Melo's team has a better record, Melo has hit TWO game winners when Durant thought he had hit them just a few seconds prior on both occasions, Melo has been in the league longer and enjoyed far more team success (what matters most), and left out the whole "melo is narcissistic" talk and then came to your conclusion that KD is better it would have been a whole lot easier to accept. I would expect a Thunder blogger to be much more humble :)
You basically said that Melo is better because the team is better. I replied and said that by that reasoning Joel Anthony is better than EO.
How did I make it hard to be nice?
If you want to continue this, I will be glad to. But I want to finish watching the Thunder Sacto game that is on right now.
Ooooh ok, so please explain how my first post implies in anyway that a bad record=inferior players?? Please tell me how it is narcissistic for Melo to believe he is the best small forward in the league? Please try to deny that most other players in the NBA would say the same thing! And a troll is someone who goes around spewing nothing but hate; I tried being nice about it but you make it hard. And KD isn't better just because he has better scoring and shooting numbers, no matter how you try to spin it.
Brandon in Denver :
Lol Sorry Joe but removing my comment because you obviously have your foot in your mouth is just as narcissistic as Melo saying he is the best small forward in the league. Man up and defend your post, or concede that it is blatantly flawed and one sided.
I removed the comment because you stopped talking about basketball and just started being a troll. I stand by my comments. Melo isn't better because his team is better, no matter how you try and spin it.
If you want to tell me why Melo is having a better season than Durant and give me proofs other than his team has a better record, I am all ears. I clearly admitted that he is a better rebounder and assist man, but he is less efficient offensively in every regard. Melo says who else is out there. I pointed out Durant. What else other than what I've mentioned makes Melo far superior to Durant and be the "only guy out there"?
Lol Sorry Joe but removing my comment because you obviously have your foot in your mouth is just as narcissistic as Melo saying he is the best small forward in the league. Man up and defend your post, or concede that it is blatantly flawed and one sided.
Lol this blog is about as good as the team it covers.
You also forgot the fact that Melo plays in the NBA and not the ABA like Durant
James :
Joe, I don’t think that’s an accurate way to describe his reasoning. No one claims Joel Anthony is the best player on the Heat. On the other hand, ‘Melo is clearly the best player on the Nugs (Billups said as much on PTI the other day). I’m not saying I think ‘Melo is better necessarily, but I do think the record is relevant for comparing the two.
My reaction when I first read the quote was, “Wow, an NBA player thinks he’s the best. Shocking.”
In any case, I want to thank you and the other guy for actually starting a Thunder blog at the start of the season. I moved out of Oklahoma this summer and as a result have never seen the Thunder play. It’s kind of weird being a “fan” of a team that you have literally never seen. But you make it much easier to follow the team, and hopefully I can get to a game over spring break.
- James
Thanks for the kind words and thanks for reading James.
nick :
If basketball was only about shooting wouldn’t Durant’s team have more wins. Carmelo is a better total player on a team very good team. He would probably go 30 and 8 in OKC because there are no there options.
Joe, you are an ass/tard. People who make faulty extrapolations to try and prove a point do everyone a disservice. People will dislike you as a fan and your team because of you. To think that I wasn’t hating OKC anymore.
Nick, see, when you have to go to name calling, your whole argument is shot. I could blow it off and delete it, but I don't have any problem with dissension or disagreement, just keep it clean.
I never suggested shooting was it, the point I am making is that Durant is a more efficient scorer, and every bit as worthy, if not more worthy of all star consideration in the west, and that Carmelo should think before he speaks.
hey nick...
Joe's comment was legitimate, whether you agree with it or not, and was not mean spirited.
Your comment "Joe, you are an ass/tard" was vile. I don't like you.
If basketball was only about shooting wouldn't Durant's team have more wins. Carmelo is a better total player on a team very good team. He would probably go 30 and 8 in OKC because there are no there options.
Joe, you are an ass/tard. People who make faulty extrapolations to try and prove a point do everyone a disservice. People will dislike you as a fan and your team because of you. To think that I wasn't hating OKC anymore.
Again Joe, you are leaving out a lot of information. I never said that their records are the ONLY thing to take into consideration. Joel Anthony averages 2.5 points and 3.5 boards, compared with 14 and 11 for Okafor, so obviously no one thinks that he should be in the All Star game. But when two players have comparable statistics, one player's team is 3rd in the conference, 1st in the division, and the other is last in the same division, you cannot just looks at their head to head stats. The Thunder obviously rely more heavily on KD, and that cannot be overlooked either. Also, if you ask every player in the league who the best player at their position is, many players are going to say themselves, so your Marbury comparison is faulty at best.
Joe, I don't think that's an accurate way to describe his reasoning. No one claims Joel Anthony is the best player on the Heat. On the other hand, 'Melo is clearly the best player on the Nugs (Billups said as much on PTI the other day). I'm not saying I think 'Melo is better necessarily, but I do think the record is relevant for comparing the two.
My reaction when I first read the quote was, "Wow, an NBA player thinks he's the best. Shocking."
In any case, I want to thank you and the other guy for actually starting a Thunder blog at the start of the season. I moved out of Oklahoma this summer and as a result have never seen the Thunder play. It's kind of weird being a "fan" of a team that you have literally never seen. But you make it much easier to follow the team, and hopefully I can get to a game over spring break.
- James
Well ok Brandon, then by your reasoning, Joel Anthony, the starting Center for Miami is a better player than Emeka Okafor because Okafor has never been to the playoffs and is on a losing team, while Joel Anthony's Heat has a winning record. Bad record = inferior players right?
I know you are high on your player, and I appreciate the kind words about Durant, but the above example shows why your argument doesn't work.
You forgot to mention one little stat bro. CARMELO's team is 34-17, Durant's is 12-38. Melo has lost in the first round of the playoffs every year he's been in the league, I will grant you that. But Melo has BEEN in the playoffs every year he has been in the league. Melo resurrected our franchise, and so I am obviously biased but you left out A LOT of pertinent information here. Having said all that, Durant is out of this world, and a lot more consistent this year, and you guys are obviously going to be a little biased too, so I see the point but winning is still the bottom line to me.