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Carmelo Anthony 2017-18 player preview: Melo Unleashed

By Lawrence George

TULSA, OK- OCTOBER 3: Carmelo Anthony
TULSA, OK- OCTOBER 3: Carmelo Anthony /
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DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 10: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the OKC Thunder puts up a shot over Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on October 10, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 10: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the OKC Thunder puts up a shot over Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on October 10, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Did you say there’s three Melo’s?

According to the media, Carmelo Anthony has three aliases: NBA Melo, Olympic Melo and Hoodie Melo. Lets be real, they are all the same guy. While you maybe rolling your eyes, fans actually believe there is a difference.

A great example of this belief is shown below. SportsCenter host Michael Smith alludes to Anthony as being two different people.

This offseason, Hoodie Melo took on a life of its own purely because Anthony was working out in a hoodie. For the sake of clarity, I will refer to Olympic Melo as being the catch and shoot option.

Catch and Shoot

Coined from his success with Team USA, Olympic Melo has widely been recognized as Anthony’s catch and shoot alter ego. Melo came up big against Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics. After Team USA struggled through 3 quarters, Anthony caught fire in the 4th. He finished with 31 points on 11-21 shooting and 9-15 from 3.

Anthony has always been a fantastic scorer and is able to score in a myriad of ways. However, for Oklahoma City to be successful, Melo needs to be a lethal catch and shoot option. In catch and shoot opportunities last season, OKC ranked 28th in points per game (22.8), 29th in 3-point percentage (33.9) and dead last in field goal percentage (35.2). Luckily for OKC, Anthony shot 44.8 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from 3 when wide open. Only Alex Abrines shot above 40 percent in both categories last year.

With Russ and PG13 on court, Anthony will see more open shots than he ever has before. Below is a clip of every 3 point shot he made last season. Thunder fans should prepare to see plenty of these flying through the hoop.

The beauty of Melo isn’t his ability to shoot. Carmelo’s true value comes from his ability to score from anywhere on the court.

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