It seems there are two conflicting narratives of Carmelo Anthony. One says that he is just a star on the stat line that can't help an organization win. The other contends he simply needs an elite PG--a trade to the Clippers, which would unite him with Chris Paul is often rumored--to complement his offensive talents and consistent winning will follow.
The chart below questions the logic of the 'Melo needing an elite PG' narrative. I pulled data from NBA Stats for Carmelo through last night's games on the % of field goals (FG) that he makes that are assisted and the % that he makes that are unassisted. The chart shows that starting in the 2008-09 season something fundamentally changed in Carmelo's game--he went from being an above 50% shooter on assisted FGs to below 50% and the opposite trend occurred on unassisted FGs.
In what has become especially stark over the last three years, Melo is becoming a much less efficient shooter unless he is in an unassisted scenario. In other words, these numbers suggest that Carmelo needs the ball in his hand and only his hand to be an effective scorer. And, adding a high assist, distributor, like Chris Paul, may not actually benefit his game as his FG% off of assists continues to decline.
The chart below questions the logic of the 'Melo needing an elite PG' narrative. I pulled data from NBA Stats for Carmelo through last night's games on the % of field goals (FG) that he makes that are assisted and the % that he makes that are unassisted. The chart shows that starting in the 2008-09 season something fundamentally changed in Carmelo's game--he went from being an above 50% shooter on assisted FGs to below 50% and the opposite trend occurred on unassisted FGs.
In what has become especially stark over the last three years, Melo is becoming a much less efficient shooter unless he is in an unassisted scenario. In other words, these numbers suggest that Carmelo needs the ball in his hand and only his hand to be an effective scorer. And, adding a high assist, distributor, like Chris Paul, may not actually benefit his game as his FG% off of assists continues to decline.
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