Cast your mind back to October and November 2009. The 2009/10 season was tipping off, early games were being played and people were feeling things out. As is always the case, pundits were making predictions and observers were feeling out the lie of the land.
Carmelo Anthony came out of the gate strongly, putting up some big scoring numbers across those early games. Tongues got wagging. Television announcers, people that write columns for a living, they were taking this play as a sign. They declared this signified that Melo was going to have an MVP-like season.
At the time, all I could do was laugh. The way that people can draw conclusions from such a small sample size is always ludicrous. And I have always maintained one thing when ‘Melo for Most Valuable Player’ talk comes up: how can you be the league MVP when you are not even the most valuable player on your own team?
Chauncey Billups makes that Denver Nuggets team fire. He gets the offence flowing. He sets the tone. He brings a certain mature cockiness to the table. As yet, Anthony is yet to prove that type of mature leadership. No doubt, he is a great scorer — unstoppable some nights. But is he the on-court leader that Mr Big Shot is? Nope.
Recently Anthony hit the 13th game-winner of his career. No small feat. He serves that role of primary scorer on the Nuggets perfectly. But is he integral to the team’s success in an MVP-like fashion? The change in the team’s identity that occurred when Billups replaced Allen Iverson would say otherwise. Billups is that guy that sets a team in motion.
So, back this up with more than rhetoric, you could understandably request. Check this out for a statistic that proves Billups’ staple as a floor leader and winner, one that is integral to his team’s success:
When Billups dishes 8 assists or more this season, the Nuggets are 17-0.
When Billups dishes 4 assists or less this season, the Nuggets are 11-11.
He gets things rolling. Justifiably, you could respond to this by saying, “well, yeah, this proves that Billups is important, but what have you got to say to disprove Melo’s worth?”
And to that question I present you this surprising statistic. You know those games were Anthony absolutely goes off, scoring like a fiend and apparently controlling the game? Well, perhaps he’s not doing as much for his team as it first appears.
When Anthony scores 32 or more points, the Nuggets are 11-11.
When Anthony scores 30 or more points, the Nuggets are 17-13.
When Anthony 24-28 points, the Nuggets are 13-1.
Clearly the trend that is presented here would suggest that, when Anthony plays within the team’s offence, which is largely dictated by their floor general Billups, the team is much more successful. As a scorer in that 24-28 point range, the Nuggets are near unstoppable this season. Once Anthony lets rip with a big game, they have a record which would put them out of playoff contention in the tough Western Conference.
Getting the entire team involved is what this is all about. A one man wrecking crew is a nice thing to have at your disposal, but sometimes playing in that way detracts from your team. Fortunately for the Nuggets, they have a facilitator like Billups to set things up for the team. Unlike Kobe Bryant for the Los Angeles Lakers, or LeBron James for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Melo is not the guy to distribute the ball and get his team playing team basketball. He is a killer of a scorer — in the same mould as Kevin Durant is.
Just to demonstrate further, that team ball is what makes the Nuggets tick, take a look at this interesting statistic on occasional second or third cog, (Earl) JR Smith.
When Smith scores 22 points or more, the Nuggets are 7-2.
When Smith scores 21 points or more, the Nuggets are 9-3.
When Smith scores 11 points or less, the Nuggets are 10-10.
Clearly, there is a correlation between Smith putting up scoring numbers for the Nuggets and them winning. It is almost an inverse relationship to that which Melo has with the team’s success. To clarify that, the relationship holds true for Melo when he scores to excess… once he tips that 30 point mark.
The thing in all of this argument is, surely I’m slipping somewhere. Right? I mean, clearly Melo is an amazing player and an elite scorer in this league — one who commands the attention of defences on a nightly basis. However perhaps he is not at this stage performing at an MVP level. Or is he? What do you think? Hit me up in the comments.
*Footnote: I should clarify that I don’t seriously consider Melo for an MVP candidate at this stage of the season and hopefully no one else does either. That honour will clearly belong to LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or even Kevin Durant according to most opinions. This debate is more centred around whether Melo deserves to even be the MVP of his own team.
