Why can't Melli be the other half of our PF tandem

[embellisher]

Too soon, I know. The real test will come against NBA teams. 

If what we saw was for real, though, he could help cut Maxi's minutes back to 25, which is where he has been the most effective. Maxi is best when he plays all-out on D, and that's hard to do when you're being asked to play 35 minutes. 

Melli really looks like a RC player. Good looking shot, plays with high BBIQ, lots of energy, and brings us something we don't have, a big who looks like he really wants to rebound. 

We won't know what we really have for a few games, but if he is for real, then healthy JJ is just gravy. If the real Wolverine is the guy we saw last night, we won the trade.

[fifteenth]

or superstar franchise player?

[KillerLeft]

At first glance, I thought this was the long awaited "Why can't Melli be a superstar?" thread. 

I'm actually cautiously optimistic that Melli could actually be the 3rd big by the end of the year. I'd say he's a shoe-in for the 4th, just on the basis that he even has a game like last night in him. The question is: can he play well consistently enough to leap frog the Powell/WCS combo in the rotation? It's a tall order, but then again, the fact that neither of them seem to have claimed the job exclusively leaves the door open a crack, imo. 

This might a bit too harsh on WCS, though, since his health/safety stuff has set him back a bit recently. Maybe a better question is whether Melli can claim Powell's half of the 8th man ownership shares.

[embellisher]

or superstar franchise player?

I started to do that bit

[david75090]

I was thinking, poor-man's-Kevin-Love. Looks like a guy who knows the game, plays below the rim, hopefully can shoot. Not super athletic. I think I just described what we used to call "a white guy". Not sure that's politically correct nowadays.

[fifteenth]

I was thinking, poor-man's-Kevin-Love. Looks like a guy who knows the game, plays below the rim, hopefully can shoot. Not super athletic. I think I just described what we used to call "a white guy". Not sure that's politically correct nowadays.

LOL, before I got to the end of your post I was thinking, "come on now, you're just labeling him 'white guy'". 

:-D

[KillerLeft]

I was thinking, poor-man's-Kevin-Love. Looks like a guy who knows the game, plays below the rim, hopefully can shoot. Not super athletic. I think I just described what we used to call "a white guy". Not sure that's politically correct nowadays.

Yeah, that's pretty fair. 

We're projecting a lot based on one outing, obvs, but he looked to me very much like a guy trained in Europe (which he was) in that he seems to be able to do a bit of everything. 

He handled a bit, and while I'm sure that's not his best skill, he seemed confident, safe and purposeful with it. 

He made some GREAT passes, which again were confident, safe and purposeful. They weren't "wow" passes, but they were "smart guy who moves the ball in a timely fashion to the right place" style, and THAT is something Johnson didn't demonstrate while here. 

He played with high energy, especially on the glass. I'd almost forgotten how that looks. This team is thirsty for that right now, imo.

He clearly isn't selfish, but didn't hesitate at all to put up shots when it was correct to do so. That ATO Carlisle drew up for him to shoot off of the curl cut was pretty gorgeous, imo. 

There was even one possession that stood out because of some pretty darn effective on-ball defense he played, though I forget who the ball-handler was. 

All in all, this was fun to watch. Simmons and some others noted how good Melli was throughout the week, and I kind of took it semi-seriously, but if he can do this with any sort of frequency, I'm going to get on board quickly.

[Kammrath]

he seems to be able to do a bit of everything.

You forgot to mention his D. He moved his feet really well IMO and looking back at his NBA stats, his D impact has been his best impact by far. He has struggled to help NBA offenses so far.

[KillerLeft]

You forgot to mention his D. He moved his feet really well IMO and looking back at his NBA stats, his D impact has been his best impact by far. He has struggled to help NBA offenses so far.

You're right, I forgot. I was actually editing a comment about that into the post as you were writing this. I agree, the D looked good last night!

[HanspardShowerVoice]

I don't know what he'll be on the Mavs, but absolutely doesn't surprise me if he's a better player than he was with the Pels.   Zion seems to be a rising superstar, but the team as a whole has been a discombobulated hot mess and Melli essentially played the same position and Ingram and Zion's natural position.    He was too good against very high level  Euro competition to be that bad.


“It’s going to be great,” Doncic said. “He’s an amazing player. He’s a great person. We connected from the first moment. I know Europeans connect better, but he’s a good person from the locker room. And you saw today, he was playing amazing basketball. It’s tough to play a first game with a new team and he was playing great.”

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Does anyone have anywhere I can find some of his clips from last night?  All I've seen is the possession with his first bucket.  I wasn't able to catch the game for the first time in a while and been searching for a replay now that it appears he created some hype.  I know his shooting numbers have been abysmal this year but he definitely reeked of "Rick's guy" coming in so I was hopeful.

[Chicagojk]

Does anyone have anywhere I can find some of his clips from last night?  All I've seen is the possession with his first bucket.  I wasn't able to catch the game for the first time in a while and been searching for a replay now that it appears he created some hype.  I know his shooting numbers have been abysmal this year but he definitely reeked of "Rick's guy" coming in so I was hopeful.

Check these out.  I seem to remember a few more passes that may not have lead to baskets but were smart plays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiO-lI9gYdY

[StepBackJay]

I voted up this thread.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Check these out.  I seem to remember a few more passes that may not have lead to baskets but were smart plays.

Thanks man!  That work on the glass looks real nice.

[KillerLeft]

Check these out.  I seem to remember a few more passes that may not have lead to baskets but were smart plays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiO-lI9gYdY

Thanks for this video - I also forgot to mention screen setting before. My dude is a swiss army knife!

[Thukydides]

Regarding his rim protection in Europe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQPMEUKei8I

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Regarding his rim protection in Europe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQPMEUKei8I

Feels very Maxi-esque and I love that.

Also, big Khem Birch siting at the end!  Always love when the Euro highlights turn out to be against NBA level talent, gives some peace of mind when I read too much into them and decide we should max Melli this offseason.

[dirkfansince1998]

I don´t think he is a real stretch big. NO used him as a spot up only guy and it did not work. 0.63 3PAr / 31% from 3. In the game against OKC he looked really good in the high post / mid range area. Compared to Maxi for example he certainly has more of an inside game. Maxi rarely enters the paint and rotates around the 3-point line. Melli prefers the short roll to the ellbow/high post. His midrange percentages are elite and I absolutely loved his inside passes against OKC.
My premature (one game and some highlights from europe) comparisation would be Boris Diaw.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

I don´t think he is a real stretch big. NO used him as a spot up only guy and it did not work. 0.63 3PAr / 31% from 3. In the game against OKC he looked really good in the high post / mid range area. Compared to Maxi for example he certainly has more of an inside game. Maxi rarely enters the paint and rotates around the 3-point line. Melli prefers the short roll to the ellbow/high post. His midrange percentages are elite and I absolutely loved his inside passes against OKC.
My premature (one game and some highlights from europe) comparisation would be Boris Diaw.

Ya that's very true about Maxi kind of being solely a floor spacer these days vs where Melli was operating.  I think I was reacting more to the blocked shots in that video with the Maxi comp.

[StepBackJay]

2 Maxis!?