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ZDwyr

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He was a -20 in about 25 minutes. And his fitness won't be getting any better either. Maybe he'll lose some rust but the guy is a statue on defence and his lateral quickness won't be improving. I've got no issue with Melo at all. I actually think he's been unfairly maligned in certain ways. He is done though.
 

SportingCP96

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He was a -20 in about 25 minutes. And his fitness won't be getting any better either. Maybe he'll lose some rust but the guy is a statue on defence and his lateral quickness won't be improving. I've got no issue with Melo at all. I actually think he's been unfairly maligned in certain ways. He is done though.
Could be a good bench option. When he shakes some rust off I can see him getting 15. He took some good shots and could of had more points but it’s normal after being out for a year.

But dam these blazers do not look good at all. The Bucks are going to run through them.
 

Fridge chutney

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His age is irrelevant if you're assessing whether he's a top 5 player in the league though. He's clearly not, and is not even top 10 probably.
Fair comment and agree. He's not in the Giannis conversation at all yet, let alone Durant, Kawhi, etc.
 

charlton66

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Good win tonight. Defense was best I've seen it so far this year.
 

Fridge chutney

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Warriors lineup is unrecognizable compared to the past few years. Basketball can change so quickly.
 

Eboue

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First game back in over a year from Melo and Clearly is still not NBA level fit which is normal after being out for a year but that will sort itself out, he was gassed in the second half . 10 points and 4 boards in your first game back in over a year was Decent ...missed some normally automatic buckets around the basket but it’s normal with rust. When he knocks the rust off and is more fit I can see at least 5 more points added to that stat line.

Either way was great to see him back in the NBA again!

If only Dudley was there :wenger:
He was a -20 in about 25 minutes.
didnt watch the game but read these two posts together :lol:
 

ZDwyr

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I'm pretty sure Portland were a +9 when he was off the court. That's the same issue from when he was in OKC. The Thunder's point differential in that Jazz playoff series was crazy when you took Melo off the floor. Wouldn't surprise me if it was actually positive across the six games when he was on the bench.
 

SportingCP96

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4 for 14 and 5 turnovers.lmao
Its his first game back after 1 year out of the league....

As you said you didn't watch the game pundits said themselves he took good shots that without rust probably would have gone in.

They didn't lose cause of Melo they have many other issues.

Nonetheless my point was he was a better option then guys like Dudley and that (unsurprisingly) turned out to be a resounding yes :lol::lol:. He will get them 15 more often than not.
 

Sarni

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First game back in over a year from Melo and Clearly is still not NBA level fit which is normal after being out for a year but that will sort itself out, he was gassed in the second half . 10 points and 4 boards in your first game back in over a year was Decent ...missed some normally automatic buckets around the basket but it’s normal with rust. When he knocks the rust off and is more fit I can see at least 5 more points added to that stat line.

Either way was great to see him back in the NBA again!

If only Dudley was there :wenger:
He was bad. 4-14 from the floor, zero attempt on defense, -20. I would have much rather had Dudley out there indeed.
 

Sarni

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Its his first game back after 1 year out of the league....

As you said you didn't watch the game pundits said themselves he took good shots that without rust probably would have gone in.

They didn't lose cause of Melo they have many other issues.

Nonetheless my point was he was a better option then guys like Dudley and that (unsurprisingly) turned out to be a resounding yes :lol::lol:. He will get them 15 more often than not.
‘Resounding yes’?

How has it turned out to be correct? You have this weird tendency of claiming to have been right without any reason. He was terrible last night and you can’t say ‘yeah he’s good like I said’ just because you think he will get better.
 

Sarni

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I'm pretty sure Portland were a +9 when he was off the court. That's the same issue from when he was in OKC. The Thunder's point differential in that Jazz playoff series was crazy when you took Melo off the floor. Wouldn't surprise me if it was actually positive across the six games when he was on the bench.
I think it’s impossible to have a positive +/- with him. He does absolutely nothing on defense and gets targeted frequently. He will be on the floor often with CJ and Dame who are both bad defenders as well, and with Whiteside who is a below average defender too. We will get killed by anybody.
 

elmo

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Its his first game back after 1 year out of the league....

As you said you didn't watch the game pundits said themselves he took good shots that without rust probably would have gone in.

They didn't lose cause of Melo they have many other issues.

Nonetheless my point was he was a better option then guys like Dudley and that (unsurprisingly) turned out to be a resounding yes :lol::lol:. He will get them 15 more often than not.
You're either Melo or his mom.

Nobody that watched that game can actually come to the conclusion that he's a positive at all even when compared to Dudley who've you've been trashing despite teams showing more interest in than Melo.

He literally didn't play defense despite your constant proclamation that he's turned over a new leaf and will do whatever the team wants.

The match only confirmed the fact that Melo is still going to jack up shots and not play defense. He'll be cut from the Blazers soon.
 

stepic

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I didn't, I don't really know how to rate him. I would put him with Harden, you could argue that he is top 5 but it would be as the fifth in my opinion, same with Curry.
LBJ is still easily top 5. 25 points, a league leading and career best 11 assists a game and a snip under 8 rebounds a game? come on.

yeah, maybe he doesn't keep those assist numbers up all season, but right now he's still top comfortably 5.
 

syrian_scholes

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Its his first game back after 1 year out of the league....

As you said you didn't watch the game pundits said themselves he took good shots that without rust probably would have gone in.

They didn't lose cause of Melo they have many other issues.

Nonetheless my point was he was a better option then guys like Dudley and that (unsurprisingly) turned out to be a resounding yes :lol::lol:. He will get them 15 more often than not.
How is it a resounding yes when he shot less than 30%? It's not about the number of points.
 

JPRouve

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LBJ is still easily top 5. 25 points, a league leading and career best 11 assists a game and a snip under 8 rebounds a game? come on.

yeah, maybe he doesn't keep those assist numbers up all season, but right now he's still top comfortably 5.
No he isn't comfortably top 5, you can argue that he is but it's not comfortably. He isn't comfortably above Giannis, Paul George, Leonard, Harden, Embiid or Durant. I'm totally okay with arguing that he may be in it but reading this thread every one is easily in the Top 5 with the small issue that there is more than 5 players supposed to be easily in it.
 

stepic

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No he isn't comfortably top 5, you can argue that he is but it's not comfortably. He isn't comfortably above Giannis, Paul George, Leonard, Harden, Embiid or Durant. I'm totally okay with arguing that he may be in it but reading this thread every one is easily in the Top 5 with the small issue that there is more than 5 players supposed to be easily in it.
how can you include Durant who isn't even playing and have no idea what he will be like when he returns? LBJ right now is definitely comfortably ahead of Durant. that's a complete no brainer.

by all objective statistical metrics, let alone the eye test, yes he is comfortably ahead of Embiid (who's numbers are actually down compared to last season) and George.

from your list only Giannis and mmmmaybe Harden i would have over him. Kawhi i also have in my top 5 alongside LBJ and AD. i think that top 5 is pretty set right now, particularly with the injuries to Durant and Curry. but also agree it's all pretty meaningless hypotheticals.
 

RobinLFC

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No he isn't comfortably top 5, you can argue that he is but it's not comfortably. He isn't comfortably above Giannis, Paul George, Leonard, Harden, Embiid or Durant. I'm totally okay with arguing that he may be in it but reading this thread every one is easily in the Top 5 with the small issue that there is more than 5 players supposed to be easily in it.
LeBron
Davis
Leonard
Durant
Giannis

Harden's (lack of) defense hurts him, George is not and has never been close to the absolute best players in the league like James and Durant, and including Embiid in a top 5 players conversation is borderline taking the piss.
 

Sarni

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LeBron
Davis
Leonard
Durant
Giannis

Harden's (lack of) defense hurts him, George is not and has never been close to the absolute best players in the league like James and Durant, and including Embiid in a top 5 players conversation is borderline taking the piss.
I'm not counting Durant in those lists as he's out with Achilles injury and probably won't get back to 100%. Last season's Durant is the best player in the league overall.
 

Sarni

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No he isn't comfortably top 5, you can argue that he is but it's not comfortably. He isn't comfortably above Giannis, Paul George, Leonard, Harden, Embiid or Durant. I'm totally okay with arguing that he may be in it but reading this thread every one is easily in the Top 5 with the small issue that there is more than 5 players supposed to be easily in it.
Any top 5 list without LeBron is a joke. Him, Giannis and Kawhi are automatic in top 5, the rest are debatable between Davis, Harden, some other and then perhaps Curry and Durant (if you are counting injured players).

You can't possibly have Embiid over LeBron.
 

Sarni

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You're either Melo or his mom.

Nobody that watched that game can actually come to the conclusion that he's a positive at all even when compared to Dudley who've you've been trashing despite teams showing more interest in than Melo.

He literally didn't play defense despite your constant proclamation that he's turned over a new leaf and will do whatever the team wants.

The match only confirmed the fact that Melo is still going to jack up shots and not play defense. He'll be cut from the Blazers soon.
I'm a Portland fan and if you give me last season's Dudley I am taking him over Melo every single time. No idea how he has performed this year as I do not watch Lakers that much. Melo is such a big negative that I do not really see any point of this signing, it just reeks desperate.
 

Sarni

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How is it a resounding yes when he shot less than 30%? It's not about the number of points.
If you give his shots to anyone else on that team, it's likely that they wouldn't score less. I mean it's 4-14, it's already bad and anything below that would be ridiculous. Hezonja has been more efficient than this.

On defense there's nobody who is worse than him on this team, and the whole team is absolutely atrocious on that end.

He was freaking -20 in 25 minutes. He did not do a single positive thing on defense all game long.
 

Sarni

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Only positive for me this season so far is that Nassir Little looks like he belongs in NBA (he had a postiive BPM last night again) and Anfernee Simons looks like he could be a good guard as well.

Veterans are terrible, giving CJ and Dame those contracts was idiotic too.
 

JPRouve

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Any top 5 list without LeBron is a joke. Him, Giannis and Kawhi are automatic in top 5, the rest are debatable between Davis, Harden, some other and then perhaps Curry and Durant (if you are counting injured players).

You can't possibly have Embiid over LeBron.
I think that they are all debateable, you are free to modify it.
 

JPRouve

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how can you include Durant who isn't even playing and have no idea what he will be like when he returns? LBJ right now is definitely comfortably ahead of Durant. that's a complete no brainer.

by all objective statistical metrics, let alone the eye test, yes he is comfortably ahead of Embiid (who's numbers are actually down compared to last season) and George.

from your list only Giannis and mmmmaybe Harden i would have over him. Kawhi i also have in my top 5 alongside LBJ and AD. i think that top 5 is pretty set right now, particularly with the injuries to Durant and Curry. but also agree it's all pretty meaningless hypotheticals.
I was talking in general terms not specifically this season or next. And I have no problem with you putting Lebron in it.
 

JPRouve

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Giannis, LeBron and Kawhi are not debatable.
And it's fine for me but if someone suggests Durant, Davis, Harden and Georges on top of the ones that you mentioned I will understand and accept it which is my point. If you want to be intransigeant it's your prerogative but on that topic I'm not.
 

Sarni

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And it's fine for me but if someone suggests Durant, Davis, Harden and Georges on top of the ones that you mentioned I will understand and accept it which is my point. If you want to be intransigeant it's your prerogative but on that topic I'm not.
Durant is injured and should be excluded from any list in my view. When healthy last year he's a top 5 player easily though.

Nobody should be allowed to have George over Giannis, LeBron and Kawhi. He's great but come on.
 

JPRouve

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Durant is injured and should be excluded from any list in my view. When healthy last year he's a top 5 player easily though.

Nobody should be allowed to have George over Giannis, LeBron and Kawhi. He's great but come on.
Who suggested that?
 

JPRouve

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Well you said if someone wants to have him over that three it’s fine. It’s not.
I didn't, I added those names to the players that you mentioned. I didn't rank them.
 

Kasper

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If Portland would've had a second, additional Melo to come off the bench they would've won this match as they only lost by 11 points and Melo off the bench gives you 15 points.
 

Bubz27

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Everyone's allowed their own opinion of course, but I think you'd be stretched to find half a dozen people anywhere who wouldn't rank LeBron as a top 5 player right now.
 

RobinLFC

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I didn't, I added those names to the players that you mentioned. I didn't rank them.
JPRouve said:
My top 5 would include Leonard, George, Antetokounmpo, Durant and probably Embiid, you could squeeze Harden instead of Embiid.
So you'd rank George (and Embiid) over James, which is laughable tbh.
 

Eboue

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Its his first game back after 1 year out of the league....

As you said you didn't watch the game pundits said themselves he took good shots that without rust probably would have gone in.

They didn't lose cause of Melo they have many other issues.

Nonetheless my point was he was a better option then guys like Dudley and that (unsurprisingly) turned out to be a resounding yes :lol::lol:. He will get them 15 more often than not.
It didnt turn out that way at all.