Anatomy Of a Scorer (Carmelo Anthony vs Lebron James): by T-Rex
I'm testing out a new type of article. You hear commentators say things like "Carmelo Anthony is the best pure scorer in basketball" and you may be thinking..."uhhh...what?" Sometimes these blanket statements are made without justification. Well, here is my justification. "Anatomy Of" will be the things you look for in a type of player. Without further ado!
For the first "Anatomy Of", I'm going to be using two players. Normally I'd only do one. Scorers have six ways they can score. I will talk about each and use LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony as examples.
Slashing: Slashing is getting to the basket. I refer to slashing by definition as being able to drive to the basket in half court basketball. Good slashers generally have a preferred hand (ironically, it's the off-hand instead of the shooting hand). Great slashers can drive on either side of the court with either hand and finish with either hand. Both Carmelo and Lebron are great slashers. Carmelo does it with a sneaky quick first step and deceptive jumping ability (sneaky and deceptive usually mean a guy looks like he should be deficient but is not). James does it with world-class athleticism, strength, and balance. Consensus: They are equally effective.
Post-Up: This is paramount for a big-man scorer, but many guards are doing it as well. A good post-up player has two moves they can execute with accuracy and scoring. A great post-up guy has at least three moves they can use (I will go into detail later about posting up as I had a wide array of moves myself). Usually at least one of the moves you can do with the off-hand. Carmelo is a fantastic post-up player, with a sound drop step, turnaround, and up-and-under move. The drop step and up-and-under he can finish with dunks and with the off hand. James is a growing post player. His drop step is good, but his turnaround is a work in progress. He doesn't always look to score on the block either (similar to Kidd). Consensus: I give the nod to Carmelo!
Mid-range game: What is the mid-range? Mid-range for the NBA is 8-20 feet. In college, it's 8-18 feet (which is why not all mid range players in college don't translate to NBA). Now, having a mid-range game means you have the ability to spot up or face up a player in that range and shoot or take 1-2 dribbles to pull-up or make it to the basket. Michael Jordan has the most lethal mid-range game the NBA has ever seen, which is why he didn't need to be a 3 point shooter. Carmelo's mid-range game is the strength of his scoring ability. He's a smooth shooter with long arms, so he can shoot over most NBA forwards. He can also pull up driving on either side with either hand. LBJ's mid range game is also a work in progress. He's usually ok going to his left (natural for right handed shooters because it's the natural way you pick up the ball to shoot). He's not as strong pulling up to his right. But if his shot is falling, James' mid-range is as effective as anyone. It's consistency that's his issue. Consensus: Carmelo!
The Free-throw Line: Interestingly enough, you can be a great slasher or post-up player and not draw fouls (David West comes to mind). Getting to the FT line is a scorer's paradise. Great scorers try to get at least eight free throws a game and shoot at least 75% from the line (if you're over 80%, you're a big problem for opposing teams). Drawing fouls is an art (I was able to do this as a player). You have to get the defense off-balance by beating them to spots. After that, you force the defense to commit to hitting you. Getting "And 1's" are back-breaking for defensive teams. Carmelo and James are great at getting to the line with James being a little more prolific, but Carmelo being a better shooter from the stripe. Carmelo does it with long strides and a powerful finish while James does it with the ferocity of a freight train and is so strong that unless Shaq or 2-3 people foul him, James will get the shot off. Consensus: James gets a small edge, but Melo's no slouch.
The Three-point shot: In my opinion, this is the least important area. Historically (and I will only use the 3-point era) the great scorers didn't need to be good three-point shooters (and big men generally don't even shoot 3s) like MJ, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, Mitch Richmond, the list goes on. However, a good three-point shot opens the floor for the scorer and extends the slashing range of the player. Anyone who has shot NBA threes for long knows that it's tiring so you have to be in good shape as well as have good hand-eye coordination. Carmelo is an adequate three-point shooter (around 38%) and James is less than (around 32% for his career). To be a three-point shooter, you need to be around 40% (great scorers need to be at least 1.2 points per shot attempt). Consensus: Neither. Both should spend time behind the line.
Running the Floor: The transition game is a great way for scorers to get isolation's and easy points. Now you can cherry pick (or snow bird as we called it in Memphis) and leak out instead of defending and rebounding, but that comes at a price (in the long run you hurt your team). But being able to hit top speed and run the floor after playing defense requires conditioning, speed, and agility. James is excellent at this, and can generate leakouts versus his own defense, while Carmelo is not nearly as good. He's not as good a defender and he generally will only get out ahead if he cheats. Consensus: Lebron James
Final Assessment So Carmelo is better at 3 areas and James at 2. 1 area neither is all that good at but it could also go to Carmelo. In terms of natural scoring (meaning skills that require little to no physical skill to be great at like posting up, mid-range, and slashing) Carmelo is definitely better. And I agree he is the best natural scorer. James combines a lot of the skill with unrivaled athleticism. Both are incredibly effective scorers!
Terraun Jones www.terraunj.blogspot.com www.xanga.com/terraunj
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