Is Lin a better all around player than Melo ?

[Fan from VT]

I honestly think he is a better player than Melo. Yes Melo is a superior one on one player, but Lin makes everyone else better IMO. He needs to have the ball in his hands.

The Lin thing is so completely overblown its pathetic.  His "run" consisted primarily of the Knicks playing at home against horrible teams.  They had two really quality wins - LA and Dallas.  But LA was playing 2nd game of back-to-back after OT game against the C's, and Dallas is no longer a good team.

The Knicks Are What We Thought They Were - a middling lower playoff seed that, given a couple crazy MSG crowds, could put a scare into someone.  But they aren't going anywhere.  Lin is not bringing them anywhere.  Except to the bank so Jim Dolan can cash more checks he did not earn.

To be fair to Lin, even after his "run" ended, they've played 6 more games, all losses, against Boston, Dallas, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Philly, and Chicago. All playoff teams. And Lin has still averaged 16.2/7.3 with 2.5 steals and down to 3.8 turnovers in those games. Certainly a dropoff, but pretty impressive for a seconnd year point guard.

[Celtics4ever]

No.  That is all that needs to be said.

[incoherent]

I'll take Lin over MElo anyday.

[SHAQATTACK]

Yep , the teams now "know" Lin and have defense to limit his runaway scoring and play.  He still is doing good .

Melo has no idea how to be part of a team , he always has been the team.  The man in college , high school or street ball, just doesn't work at the NBA talent level. His scoring )by itself ) can only take him and his team so far at the NBA level.  He needs to become a great defender /rebounder , and play maker . , and all around balanced team player. Melo could take a lesson from Pippen, Bird, Magic, and MJ.

He and we would be very disappointed on a team play driven club like the Celtics , Spurs, or Bulls .

[BballTim]

I honestly think he is a better player than Melo. Yes Melo is a superior one on one player, but Lin makes everyone else better IMO. He needs to have the ball in his hands.

The Lin thing is so completely overblown its pathetic.  His "run" consisted primarily of the Knicks playing at home against horrible teams.  They had two really quality wins - LA and Dallas.  But LA was playing 2nd game of back-to-back after OT game against the C's, and Dallas is no longer a good team.

The Knicks Are What We Thought They Were - a middling lower playoff seed that, given a couple crazy MSG crowds, could put a scare into someone.  But they aren't going anywhere.  Lin is not bringing them anywhere.  Except to the bank so Jim Dolan can cash more checks he did not earn.

To be fair to Lin, even after his "run" ended, they've played 6 more games, all losses, against Boston, Dallas, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Philly, and Chicago. All playoff teams. And Lin has still averaged 16.2/7.3 with 2.5 steals and down to 3.8 turnovers in those games. Certainly a dropoff, but pretty impressive for a seconnd year point guard.

  Not that I expect a lot more, but he expends roughly 95% of his energy on the offensive end of the court.

[Moranis]

Lin turns the ball over more because he runs the offense.  Point guards and players with high assist numbers are usually high in turnovers.  I'd say Carmelo is at least as turnover prone as Lin, considering how few of Melos turnovers are due to him attempting a pass.  

Lin has a 1.78 assist to turnover ration (tied for 43rd among PG's with at least 30 games played - yes I know Lin has only played 27, but I included him).  Anthony has a 1.38 assist to turnover ratio (25th among SF's with at least 30 games played)

As far as rebounding...melo is 5 inches taller and plays closer to the basket...of course he SHOULD have higher rebound numbers.  However, I'd say that Lin is at least as good a rebounder for his position, as Melo is at his.  

Melo is 8th among SF's, Lin is 28th among PG's. 

I agree that Melo is a more prolific scorer, but while Lins FG%, and 3pt% are as far above Melos as they are now, I think it's tough to say definitively who is the better scorer.  Lin has shown the ability to score 20-30 points a game while also racking up double digit assists.  Melo has never done that.

Lin is definitely more efficient at this point, but Melo has been required to shoot a lot more, which generally reduces ones efficiency. 

The Nuggets made the playoffs with Melo as their best player, but thats not necessarily because of him.  It isnt like he was making those teams better the way Lin was the Knicks in Melos absence.  Melo just happened to be the best player on some pretty stacked, well balanced, and well coached teams.

Really, Denver's teams were stacked?  That is a new one on me.  I seem to recall Denver making the conference finals pretty much solely because of Melo and Billups (who was aging and couldn't go full bore every game).  The rest of that team was comprised of role players. 

[LarBrd33]

I honestly think he is a better player than Melo. Yes Melo is a superior one on one player, but Lin makes everyone else better IMO. He needs to have the ball in his hands.

The Lin thing is so completely overblown its pathetic.  His "run" consisted primarily of the Knicks playing at home against horrible teams.  They had two really quality wins - LA and Dallas.  But LA was playing 2nd game of back-to-back after OT game against the C's, and Dallas is no longer a good team.

The Knicks Are What We Thought They Were - a middling lower playoff seed that, given a couple crazy MSG crowds, could put a scare into someone.  But they aren't going anywhere.  Lin is not bringing them anywhere.  Except to the bank so Jim Dolan can cash more checks he did not earn.

To be fair to Lin, even after his "run" ended, they've played 6 more games, all losses, against Boston, Dallas, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Philly, and Chicago. All playoff teams. And Lin has still averaged 16.2/7.3 with 2.5 steals and down to 3.8 turnovers in those games. Certainly a dropoff, but pretty impressive for a seconnd year point guard.

the 15 and 7 averages aren't that impressive when you consider he's shooting 36%, averaging 4 turnovers and his team has lost 7 of 8 games since the league caught up to "Linsanity".

I get you though.  Poor man's Raymond Felton.

[thirstyboots18]

Lin is a point guard.  He doesn't have to be the better player, in fact it would be better if he was not (IMO), but he does have to be the better leader .  I believe both these things are true at present...that Melo is the better player and that Lin is the better team leader.  

[EDWARDO]

C'mon, this has to be the dumbest thread ever. Are we really saying that on even contracts you'd take Lin over Carmelo. This is flat out stupid.

Guys, Carmelo is Pierce 10 yrs ago... in fact, he's better... great scorer on flawed teams who doesn't fully get it yet...

Put it this way... game 6 of the finals... tied 81-81... tough physical playoff battle... how many guys would you prefer to give the ball to for the next 5yrs to carry you over the line offensively? I say "NO ONE"... if NYK are dumb enough to deal him, i'd take him for virtually any combination of our players...

this is a joke... looks bad for him now just like it looked bad for Pierce on a team that lost 20 in a row, but he's better than this and maybe the best scorer in the league in the half court offense...

[KevinConnor]

How do you compare a PG with a SF? Fact of the matter is the Knicks are back to their losing ways now Melo is back. He is what he is a very selfish and overrated player(just as Lin was during Linsanity). With Melo out they were winning and now...
I for one wouldn't want my team to have Melo as my no 1 player! I'm very curious what the other Knicks players are thinking of all of this. Maybe someone can poll them.

[mgent]

I honestly think he is a better player than Melo. Yes Melo is a superior one on one player, but Lin makes everyone else better IMO. He needs to have the ball in his hands.

So Jose Calderon is better than Durant?

Melo is by no stretch of the imagination a passer, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the rest of his and Lin's overall games and declare him the worse all around player.

Lin was the definition of the right place at the right time.  The pressure alone probably kept him going, but let's not act like he did anything too crazy.

If you take another team with only two players and put them both on the bench, you could find a ton of players that could step up and have the same stats if given the green light, probably a lot of them with better efficiency.  That's simply what happens when NBA-caliber players suddenly get an MVP-caliber number of touches.

[EDWARDO]

I'll take Lin over MElo anyday.

[Edited.]

There's no need to insult others just because they have a different opinion than you do.  Please respect others at all times.

[Employee8]

I think a better question is: who would you take to build your team around- Melo or Chris Bosh?

I see them both on the B+ list of superstars in the league.  I'd take Bosh as he has a better overall skill set than Melo and actually looks like he gives a crap about winning with his attitude.  Melo seems way tuned out these days.

[dtrader]

Lin turns the ball over more because he runs the offense.  Point guards and players with high assist numbers are usually high in turnovers.  I'd say Carmelo is at least as turnover prone as Lin, considering how few of Melos turnovers are due to him attempting a pass.  

Lin has a 1.78 assist to turnover ration (tied for 43rd among PG's with at least 30 games played - yes I know Lin has only played 27, but I included him).  Anthony has a 1.38 assist to turnover ratio (25th among SF's with at least 30 games played)

As far as rebounding...melo is 5 inches taller and plays closer to the basket...of course he SHOULD have higher rebound numbers.  However, I'd say that Lin is at least as good a rebounder for his position, as Melo is at his.  

Melo is 8th among SF's, Lin is 28th among PG's. 

I agree that Melo is a more prolific scorer, but while Lins FG%, and 3pt% are as far above Melos as they are now, I think it's tough to say definitively who is the better scorer.  Lin has shown the ability to score 20-30 points a game while also racking up double digit assists.  Melo has never done that.

Lin is definitely more efficient at this point, but Melo has been required to shoot a lot more, which generally reduces ones efficiency. 

The Nuggets made the playoffs with Melo as their best player, but thats not necessarily because of him.  It isnt like he was making those teams better the way Lin was the Knicks in Melos absence.  Melo just happened to be the best player on some pretty stacked, well balanced, and well coached teams.

Really, Denver's teams were stacked?  That is a new one on me.  I seem to recall Denver making the conference finals pretty much solely because of Melo and Billups (who was aging and couldn't go full bore every game).  The rest of that team was comprised of role players. 

Having a lower assist/turnover ratio is basically what I was saying about Lin.  My point, was that his turnovers are inflated by his play making. Having a lower assist to turnover ratio is what is really important, and shows Melo to be more turnover prone in my eyes.

I dont think Lin is the 28th best rebounding point guard.  Maybe you are counting his 28 total games played to get that ranking, but that doesnt illustrate what he's doing now.  I think it's more appropriate to look at where his rebounding numbers would rank for the games he's been starting.  I highly doubt that analysis would show him to be close to the 28th best at his position.  I'd say there are maybe 5 or 6 starting point guards that rebound better than him.

When Lin was playing without Melo or Amare (and before JR smith), I'd say that he had to shoot more than Melo ever has to make some offense on that team....it didnt appear to reduce his efficiency. If anything, having the ball in his hands appeared to raise his efficiency.

Yes, I do this Melo played on stacked teams.  Chauncey was playing at an all star level then, but they also had a premier center in Nene, allen Iverson playing some of the best ball of his career, along with kenyon Martin, jr smith, marcus camby, andre miller...ALONG with great role players.  Any of those teams would have been very dangerous with or without melo.

[Fafnir]

Ability to do more than one thing also matters. Lin up to this point is entirely reliant on the pick and roll to have a positive impact on the game.

Dtrader:
In his first 7 games or so Lin shot 80% at the rim, its not having the ball a lot that led to his efficiency it was an unsustainable hot streak. No guard is going to shoot 80% at the rim for very long.