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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So agreed with your point: Durant deserves more respect. Probably wouldn’t have argued it as forcefully, but what’s a blog for :)?