Is Carmelo Anthony Overrated?

Career Averages: PPG - 24.7, RPG - 6.3, APG - 3.1, SPG - 1.1, BPG - 0.5, FG% - 45.6

Team Finishes:

2004: Denver Nuggets - 43-39 (Lost in 1st Round to Min 4-1)

2005: Denver Nuggets - 49-33 (Lost in 1st Round to SA 4-1)

2006: Denver Nuggets - 44-38 (Lost in 1st Round to LAC 4-1)

2007: Denver Nuggets - 45-37 (Lost in 1st Round to SA 4-1)

2008: Denver Nuggets - 50-32 (Lost in 1st Round to LAL 4-0)

2009: Denver Nuggets - 54-28 (Lost in Western Conference Finals to LAL 4-2)

2010: Denver Nuggets - 53-29 (Lost in 1st Round to Utah 4-2)

2011: New York Knicks - 42-40 (Lost in 1st Round to BOS 4-0)

2012: New York Knicks - 36-30 (Lost in 1st Round to MIA 4-1)

Breakdown

Carmelo Anthony has played a total of 9 seasons now and in that time has established himself as one of the best scorers (if not the best) in the game. When it comes to Carmelo the player there is a  serious mix of opinions. To some he's top 5, others top 10, and then he's closer to 20 for some others. Those in favor of Melo's game and that think he's an elite player will often point to his scoring ability and high ppg averages throughout his career. Those who put him around that 20 range come down hard on him for his lack of success in the playoffs, his lack of effort on defense, and his lack of ability to really make the players around him better. I say a little bit of all that it true which is why the answer to my initial question, is Carmelo Anthony overrated is both yes and no. If you have Anthony in that top 5-8 range like alot of people I know do then your overrated him. But if you have him in that 15-20 range you have him underrated. 1st lets address the positives. As we all know he's a great scorer. He's also extremely clutch. And say what you want about his playoff failures but in 9 seasons he's never missed the playoffs once and not alot of players can say that. But that's not enough to be a top 5 player or to be considered a true superstar in my opinion. All the stuff about Melo not being a great leader and lack of defense is all true but his playoff resume gets blown way out of proportion in my opinion. If your using his playoff resume to say he's not elite, not top 5 then you have a case. If your using it to say he's in that top 15-20 range then your an idiot. He clearly has the stats to be a top 15 player no question so to say he's not would mean your putting alot of stock into his playoff resume. And if that's the case I'd like to know who you have ahead of him? The 1st thing you have to keep in mind is that Melo has been the best player on ALL of the teams he's played for. So don't bring me players who were 2nd or 3rd best players on their teams that might have better playoff resumes and try to convince me that their better than Melo. Guys like Gasol, Parker, Ginobili, Rondo, etc are not better players than Carmelo Anthony despite having better playoff resumes. If you give Melo a equal supporting cast of those guys or better yet put him on a team where he has the luxury of actually being the 2nd best player on the team I can guarantee you he'd have a better playoff resume. The only players who have actually been the best players on their team and have a better playoff resume than Melo in 2012 and are still in their prime and talented enough to be considered better than Melo in my opinion are Lebron, Wade, Dwight, Kobe, CP3, D-Will, and Rose. Now that doesn't mean I'm saying a player that's the 2nd best player on his team CAN'T be better than Melo. My point is that you can't use the playoff resume of players like Parker, Gasol, or Rondo that have never had to LEAD a team to justify saying their better players. As I look back and reanalyze the old Nuggets teams Melo played for and the teams they lost to in the playoffs the only series you could even make the argument for that they should have won was the series they lost to Utah in 2010 and to be honest those teams were pretty much equally talented so it was more of a toss up. Now it's true that true superstar players lift their teams up but the whole point of this article is that Melo isn't a superstar player, he's just a star player. I mean the Knicks just got beat by the Heat and twitter is killing Melo like he was somehow good enough to lift the Knicks past them, it's really hilarious. Melo is a great scorer and appears to actually be improving a little on defense and as a passer. The good news is he's still getting a little better and could one day reach superstar status. But as of right now he's not quite there yet and if you think he is then your overrating him. But those of you acting like he's not a great player and that he's a bum or overrated or not a top 10-15 player because his teams lost to teams that were better than his in the playoffs your clearly hating and your underrating him. I can tell you right now there's no shame in losing to the Spurs and Lakers twice, or the Heat, or the Celtics. Sometimes as good as you are your just simply going against somebody better and I think that's been the case most of Melo's career and that goes overlooked.