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Despite Common Belief, Melo is NOT a Baby Eating Non-Producer and Favors is NOT Tim Duncan

I'm sick and tired of underrating Melo and overrating Favors. Seriously, no I assure you Melo is NOT a serial killer like some of you think. And YES he does produce! And no Favors is not Tim Duncan or Amare or NO he's not both of them combined. The whining is funny. Do you not like good players or something?

A popular comparison to Melo is Vince Carter. 'But Melo rnt as goodz as teh VC!1 he r not are complete as t3H CARTEH1'

Carmelo Anthony Career PER: 20.1
Vince Carter Career PER: 21.1

Nearly equal when factoring points, rebounds, blocks and assists into one stat. Huh. Go figure. If you want to go by win shares here we go.

Carmelo Anthony's Career Win Shares: 48
Vince Crater Career Win Shares: 98

A HA!!!!!!!! PROOF!!! PROOF THAT T3H MELO R TEH SUX0R!!!!!!!!

Not so fast. Win shares are cumulative so the longer you play the more shares you get. Carmelo has half the wins as Vince in EXACTLY half the amount of seasons played. 14 to 7. Honestly, this guy is pegged as an undesirable like he eats babies, murders people or steals candy from a kid or something. He produces and he produces at a high rate. He's not a bust no matter whatever the hell your narrative is.

And that means we should stop treating Favors as if he's a basketball god. It's ridiculous. People put him on par with Brook. That's friggin insane. If Favors turns out to be half of Brook that's a damn accomplishment. Here's a report by FanHouse.

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/05/17/derrick-favors-nba-draft-profile-and-scouting-report/

Strengths: There are so many things to love about Derrick Favors on paper. An exhilarating athlete with perhaps the most physically raw ability in the draft, Favors may have the highest ceiling of anyone, including fellow freshman John Wall. A versatile and rangy kid who can defend three or even four positions, he has the capacity to become a shutdown defender, a weapon every championship contender needs.

Offensively, Favors can get it done in a variety of ways. While he is a long 6-10, he has remarkable dexterity and is adept working from the perimeter. He can face up and beat you from the perimeter or the block; it doesn't matter. His propensity to create mismatches all around the court makes him the most multi-dimensional threat in this draft. He has great hands and quick leaping ability. Favors is the most pure catch-it-and-go guy in the draft.

Weaknesses: All of the above is what makes Favors such a frustrating prospect. Despite his ability, he often disappeared in games this year, looking lost and perplexed about how to get himself involved and in the flow, as evident by his 12.4 points. His lack of discipline resulted in 2.5 turnovers per game, second on the team to point guard Iman Shumpert. His jump shot and offensive game in general needs severe refinement, as most of his points come from the inside off drives, interior moves, and raw ability.

As many of you are shocked, Favors has WEAKNESSES. Every prospect has them. We don't know if he'll be a star or if he busts. He's a lottery ticket, you don't know if you'll win. Forecasting is enarly damn impossible. From the same report.

Forecast: When it comes to Favors, his capacity to become an elite level player is just too tempting to pass up in the top five. Still a teenager, he already has a legitimate NBA body, and while he lacks assertiveness, his high conversion rate at the rim (61 percent) along with his stellar rebounding skills (8.4 per game) is second to none. He could very well turn out to be the best player from this draft -- or he could be Tyrus Thomas. I tend to think the former, as this is one of the most talented kids to enter the league in recent years. While his production is in question, his sheer size, athleticism and NBA body are not. Favors runs the floor with the best of them, showing the rare blend of power and skill to convert on the break. His proclivity to disappear is a worry, as top 3 picks are drafted with the hopes of stardom, but given his strong work ethic and willingness to improve, Favors appears worth the risk.

No one knows what he'll be, stop pretending he's Tim Duncan. Don't trust FanHouse because they say Favors isn't a future Hall of Famer? Too much blasphemy? Fine.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1009551&start=0

Scouting Report: Getting a read on Favors took a while because well, there were no videos of his college play on the net. Not that I hadn't seen a little of his play live, but due to his team's inability to get him quality touches, I found it inconclusive. But the above posted video is excellent and shows his ability in many situations.

What I'm most impressed by in Favors is his agility. He is especially quick turning with the ball when he gets it and exploding to the rim under the basket. According to DX he had exceptional efficiency around the rim in college showing great finishing ability, which is helped by huge length and hands. His explosiveness quickness combined with great hands and big frame, shows to me great potential as a face-up pick and roll weapon. Defensively he should be strong and committed.

The recent prospect Favors actually reminds me most of is Tyrus Thomas who had a similar combination of explosiveness and size. Which doesn't sound too hot, but the reason Thomas sucks is while you'd expect him to be a great finisher, he's actually one of the league's worst. Plus he's an idiot. Favors' upside would be what Thomas should've been. Which is essentially Shawn Kemp. Amare wouldn't be a terrible comparison either, but I'd be surprised if Favors moved off the ball as well as Amare or was quite that agile, making Favors not as strong a scoring weapon, but on the other hand Favors should be good defensively. Both of those points favor the Kemp comparison instead of Stoudemire. My middle ground comparison is young Kenyon Martin. He was an explosive PF and great defender but didn't have nearly the touch of Kemp or Amare, plus he took too many jumpshots. Thus instead of super efficient like those players, Kmart was on the inefficient side. Overall I would take Favors over Demarcus Cousins due to his higher upside and superior character

Low end/Middle Ground/High end

Low end: Tyrus Thomas - Outrageously talented enigma who just has you shaking your head

Middle ground: Pre-surgery, Nets era Kenyon Martin - Super explosive PF who loves to dunk, great defender, nice transition weapon, tough as nails. Possible sneak-in all-star on an elite team

High end: Shawn Kemp - Perenniel all-star, one of the most entertaining players in the league. Explosive as hell, deadly pick and roll PF. A super efficient 18-20pts, 10-11 rebounds with great defense.

He can be KMart or he can be Tyrus Thomas. Pegging him as even being league average is optimistic because we don't know what the hell is going to happen. For a 3rd pick he has quite the floor. But hey if Melo is traded I'm going love the boo's to Melo and the bridge jumpers claiming 2012 is upon us. Acquiring a proven producer is a crime I guess.

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