VS.
ANTHONY'S REP:"Blake Griffin's a lot like Amare Stoudemire was when he came into the league - an explosive dunker who moves up and down the court with ease. This explains his incredibly high field goal percentage for a rookie. But Griffin's an athlete, not a basketball player; he's got no post moves, no consistent mid range game, and his defense is sub-par, even for a Clipper.
Now Melo, he’s a baller. NCAA National Champion in 2003. Robbed for Rookie of the Year in 2004 (LeBron was overhyped). He's a gold medalist… twice! His free throw percentage is 83%; I’d rather have him shoot a free throw in the clutch. Melo is averaging about 24 points per game for his career. He can put a team on his back and carry them. Blake isn't there yet. Carmelo is strong and doesn't mind playing in the paint. Mid range jumper and consistency."
Who would you rather have this season: Carmelo Anthony or Blake Griffin?
ANTHONY'S REP:
Now Melo, he’s a baller. NCAA National Champion in 2003. Robbed for Rookie of the Year in 2004 (LeBron was overhyped). He's a gold medalist… twice! His free throw percentage is 83%; I’d rather have him shoot a free throw in the clutch. Melo is averaging about 24 points per game for his career. He can put a team on his back and carry them. Blake isn't there yet. Carmelo is strong and doesn't mind playing in the paint. Mid range jumper and consistency."
GRIFFIN'S REP:
"We know who Anthony is: a high volume, inefficient scorer, and an above average rebounder for his position. As ambiguous as the word “clutch” is, Carmelo seems to come through at the end of close games more often than not. His offensive skill is prodigious and he’s got the post game every basketball pundit begs LeBron James to acquire. But let’s dig into the numbers a bit. Anthony’s true shooting percentage was 57.5% last season (only 54.7% when he played in Denver, but we’ll be kind and just use his numbers in NY). That 57.5 number is worse than LeBron, Durant, and Pierce among fellow small forwards. And that was his highest percentage ever; he’s hovered around the 54-55% mark for his career…below league average…
Griffin has only one full season under his belt, but in that one season he averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds, one of only four players to average the vaunted “20-10” last year. As a rookie. How special is that? It’s been done only twenty times in NBA history. He’s the first player to do it in the 21st century. And of the players who averaged at least a 20-10 their rookie season, only five others averaged at least 3.8 assists/game, as Griffin did (Carmelo’s gone as high as 3.8 assists/game once in his eight-year career). Contrary to popular belief, Griffin isn’t an unbelievable highlight reel packed into a 6’10 body; he’s a superstar coming off one of the better rookie seasons ever."
GRIFFIN'S REP:
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Griffin has only one full season under his belt, but in that one season he averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds, one of only four players to average the vaunted “20-10” last year. As a rookie. How special is that? It’s been done only twenty times in NBA history. He’s the first player to do it in the 21st century. And of the players who averaged at least a 20-10 their rookie season, only five others averaged at least 3.8 assists/game, as Griffin did (Carmelo’s gone as high as 3.8 assists/game once in his eight-year career). Contrary to popular belief, Griffin isn’t an unbelievable highlight reel packed into a 6’10 body; he’s a superstar coming off one of the better rookie seasons ever."
ANTHONY'S REP:
"Funny how the same stats you use against Anthony could just as easily be used against Griffin, who too had a below-average TS% of 54.9% last year (worse than fellow power forwards Nowitzki, Love, Gasol, Garnett, Bosh, Stoudemire, Randolph… get the point??). The guy’s a season-ending injury waiting to happen every time he goes up for one of his monster dunks – he belongs with former #1 picks Pervis Ellison, Michael Olowokandi, and Greg Oden as big men plagued by injuries in their actual rookie seasons. How did those guys’ careers turn out anyway? I’m not saying Griffin’s going to be a bust, but I certainly think it’s premature to tout him a franchise player when he’s missed just as many games as he’s played in his NBA career.
For all intents and purposes, Carmelo and Blake’s numbers last year were identical, as they were within eleven-hundredths of a point of each other in Player Efficiency Rating. But what gives Melo the edge is that he has a far greater responsibility in his team’s offense than Griffin does. Melo ranked #5 last season in Usage Rate, trailing only Bryant, Rose, Westbrook, and James. Pretty good company I’d say. Griffin? He was 17th, just behind Jordan Crawford and Andrea Bargnani. It’s much harder to maintain production when a player has to carry the team’s load like Anthony does, yet he manages to do so without conceding anything to Griffin in efficiency. To me that is the ultimate sign of a franchise player."
For all intents and purposes, Carmelo and Blake’s numbers last year were identical, as they were within eleven-hundredths of a point of each other in Player Efficiency Rating. But what gives Melo the edge is that he has a far greater responsibility in his team’s offense than Griffin does. Melo ranked #5 last season in Usage Rate, trailing only Bryant, Rose, Westbrook, and James. Pretty good company I’d say. Griffin? He was 17th, just behind Jordan Crawford and Andrea Bargnani. It’s much harder to maintain production when a player has to carry the team’s load like Anthony does, yet he manages to do so without conceding anything to Griffin in efficiency. To me that is the ultimate sign of a franchise player."
GRIFFIN'S REP:
"Wait, I didn’t just read a Greg Oden-Blake Griffin comparison, did I? Griffin did indeed miss his rookie season, but you’re calling him injury plagued after not missing a single game in 2010 and averaging upwards of 38 minutes per game? I’m confused. I won’t reiterate what I wrote in my opening argument, but Griffin’s first season was comparable to the best rookie seasons in history. Hell, he’s one of three or four players in the entire league capable of putting up a 22-12 in a season. Big men are a rare, rare commodity in today’s NBA, and Griffin happens to be one of the very best…at age 22.
Blake and Carmelo’s numbers were not, for all intents and purposes, identical. Griffin averaged over 12 rebounds per game. Not to beat a dead horse, but here’s the entire list of guys who grabbed double-digit rebounds last season: Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Zack Randolph, and Kris Humphries. There are always guys in the league that can put up 25 points a game, fail to make their teammates better, and score inefficiently as a small forward. But big men with the talent and capability of Blake Griffin? They’re once in a million. I’ll take my chances with Griffin coming off of his sensational rookie campaign. We know what Carmelo does, but Blake Griffin can only get better."
Blake and Carmelo’s numbers were not, for all intents and purposes, identical. Griffin averaged over 12 rebounds per game. Not to beat a dead horse, but here’s the entire list of guys who grabbed double-digit rebounds last season: Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Zack Randolph, and Kris Humphries. There are always guys in the league that can put up 25 points a game, fail to make their teammates better, and score inefficiently as a small forward. But big men with the talent and capability of Blake Griffin? They’re once in a million. I’ll take my chances with Griffin coming off of his sensational rookie campaign. We know what Carmelo does, but Blake Griffin can only get better."
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What do you guys think - is Griffin going to have more serious injuries throughout his career or was 2009 just a fluke?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's fair to compare Blake to Nervous Pervis, the Kandi-man, or Oden, since none of those 3 ever did anything close to what Blake did last year (Ellison came closest, with a 20-11 season in 1991-92). Griffin was never really hurt in college (3 games missed in two years), so I don't think there's any evidence to suggest he's injury-prone. Chalk 2009 up to bad luck and the curse of the Clippers. Something I don't think was mentioned is the fact that Melo has never missed the playoffs in his entire career. Now is that solely because of his play, or would his teams have made the playoffs anyway, as the Knicks appeared on their way to doing before acquiring Anthony and as the Nuggets did after trading him away?
ReplyDeleteExcellent point about Melo never missing the playoffs, Canaan, and no I don't think his teams would have made the playoffs anyway - that '04 Nuggets team with Miller, Leonard, Hilario, and Camby was solid, but not a playoff team in the West without Melo (who I think should have at least shared Co-ROY honors with LeBron)
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the injury plagued career argument at all, especially with Blake looking better than ever last season. Personally, I love Carmelo Anthony and I think he's definitely a winner. But with a longer breadth of work to judge from it's hard to know how that compares against Blake's short career.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the Melo Drama was quite the exciting/annoying event last year and Denver was pretty terrible during that trade saga. Partly due to Melo's distractions, partly due to Melo actually not making teammates better? Not sure. But it's undeniable that Melo received quite a mixed bag of reviews last season while Blake received mostly positive ones.
Nice points on both sides. GRIFFIN'S REP built a solid case for argument, which is remarkable considering Melo is without question a better basketball player. These two players do not deserve to be put in the same class or comparison.
ReplyDeleteBSMART, you seem very convinced that Melo is a far superior player to Blake. May I ask why you think so?
ReplyDeleteBSMART, doesn't Carmelo give Pierce a run for the money in the overweight category? And doesn't Ray Felton from the playoffs last year have them both beat?
ReplyDeleteFelton looked like Shawn Kemp's son and Boris Diaw's younger brother in the playoffs last year - no wonder he played so poorly.
ReplyDeleteThere isn’t much to argue here; it’s not an opinion, but a fact. These debates are based on facts and if we dissect them, I believe we will conclude that Melo’s basketball stats, skills, and most importantly IQ are superior. Both reps presented good arguments, personally these players are far apart “with a longer breadth of work to judge from it's hard to know how that compares against Blake's short career.” Larry
ReplyDeleteRay Felton.., that name gives me nightmares!! I matched up with Felton as a junior playing summer ball. Talk about the longest game in the history of basketball. You guys know that feeling when you’re having a great day and everything’s going just as planned?? Where time is not of the essence and you look up at the clock and magically several hours have past. You just had the best day of your life and you’re asking yourself “Wow where did the time go??” Well this was NOT the case here. This guy was a nightmare and the clock slowly ticked as he consistently drove past our entire team for lay ups. Weight has surely slowed him down; but at that time, in my mind, he was the fastest man on the planet!!
I work downtown Chicago and lately have been crossing paths with Dahntay Jones; the former Duke Guard with the unbelievable defensive and vertical leap who nows plays for the Pacers. This morning we talked for a minute. I said hopefully you guys can get back to work soon... He smiled and responded, yeah me too.
I’m excited for next week’s debates; you guys had a great week. Keep up the good work guys.
Thanks for your insight BMSART, that's really cool that you played against Ray Felton and talked with Dahntay Jones this morning. Appreciate you following us.
ReplyDelete