Prime Carmelo Anthony vs Prime Paul Pierce?

[TAZORAC]

Who would you rather have on your team and why?

I'm going prime Carmelo, one of the top 5 mid-range scorers history. Could also rebound in his prime. If I was coaching the team I would actually play him at Small Forward instead of PF.

[RRR3]

Pierce.

[Axe]

The truth.

[Gohan]

ill take melo. he would win in 2008 too on that celtics team

[RRR3]

ill take melo. he would win in 2008 too on that celtics team
No he wouldn’t.

[Gohan]

No he wouldn’t.

i bet they would of won in 10

[Spain_]

Prime Melo was good and took his team to the CF.
Although his playstyle became increasingly outdated in the tail end of his prime , the league passed superstars like him by.
Would still take him over Pierce though.

[Xiao Yao You]

Pierce. Not close

[pandiani17]

Paul Pierce. Melo was more talented, but Pierce was more serious and focused, he actually gave a **** about winning and losing.

[paksat]

lol @ you guys saying pierce

carmelo anthony is probably the greatest overall scorer this game has ever seen when it comes to overall talent. He has NO weaknesses

[AirBonner]

Pierce. He gave Kobe one of the most thorough ass whoopings in nba finals history.

[Wally450]

Pierce. Better defender than Melo and could do just as much on the offensive end.

[MaxPlayer]

I'll take The Truth over the chucker with the .337 career playoff win %

[theballerFKA Ace]

I'll take The Truth over the chucker with the .337 career playoff win %

Prime Pierce was a chucker. Carmelo should have been in his prime in New York, and while he was more skilled and experienced, he lost the fire in his heart because the teams sucked and the distraction of the NY lifestyle.

I'd still take a young Carmelo in Denver than any year PP. The first few years in the league it was a genuine debate on who was better LeBron or Melo. Melo should have won ROY, not the preanointed King, LeBron. He got robbed

[Gohan]

prime pierce was a chucker. Carmelo should have been in his prime in new york, and while he was more skilled and experienced, he lost the fire in his heart because the teams sucked and the distraction of the ny lifestyle.

I'd still take a young carmelo in denver than any year pp. The first few years in the league it was a genuine debate on who was better lebron or melo. Melo should have won roy, not the preanointed king, lebron. He got robbed

indeed there was no way lebron should of won over melo. Melo even got his team to the playoffs

[fsvr54]

Pierce

[ImKobe]

Melo.

[72-10]

Pierce for his superior ability off the dribble, hard to choose shooters, tho

[HoopsNY]

People forget how good Pierce was between 2000-07, before the formulation of the super-team. Pierce was a great 4th quarter player and overall scorer.

Pierce had better playmaking and defensive abilities than Melo at any point of his career. He was also putting up 25-26 PPG in the greatest defensive era, ever. Melo is not much of a leader and more of a locker room cancer. The choice really seems obvious to me, despite Melo being the superior scorer.

[RRR3]

lol @ you guys saying pierce

carmelo anthony is probably the greatest overall scorer this game has ever seen when it comes to overall talent. He has NO weaknesses
:roll: :roll: :roll:

[j3lademaster]

Carmelo Anthony is the better player, don’t be fooled. This is a prime example of how a ring affects the perception of a player.

If we break it down in terms of skill set, in terms of creating shots off the dribble, shooting in general, post game, footwork etc they’re pretty even… you can nitpick one over the other in this and that category but you won’t find much gap between their skillsets. The gap comes in with Melo simply being a bigger, stronger and more explosive athlete.

And inb4 people start linking height and weight like it’s no big deal, anyone who’s watched them can easily see that Melo was better at bully-ball.

[Ice Trae]

The truth

[Real Men Wear Green]

Pierce defensive edge is not being emphasized enough and a few posters are talking about Melo offense like it was historic. Anthony was a great scorer but there are no 30 ppg seasons in his resume so it doesn't make sense to act like he was on a higher offensive level than Pierce. He never did anything Pierce could not have done.

The assertion that he was on a higher level athletically is also weird.

[PP34Deuce]

Paul was the guy I emulated when I played ball. Easier to relate to a 6'6 just athletic enough NBA player with great skill.

Melo is more talented and could get nuclear hot while PP was slow and steady with consistency.

They are extremely similar offensively as far as how they got their points. Defensively PP was a smarter defender and a bigger hustler. Passing was similar.

PP except for later 2 years was more likely to play 73+ games for you and be available.

Khris Middleton is like if Melo and PP had a baby.

[HoopsNY]

Pierce defensive edge is not being emphasized enough and a few posters are talking about Melo offense like it was historic. Anthony was a great scorer but there are no 30 ppg seasons in his resume so it doesn't make sense to act like he was on a higher offensive level than Pierce. He never did anything Pierce could not have done.

The assertion that he was on a higher level athletically is also weird.

Agreed. Melo was a great scorer, but not on the level of some of the other ATGs. In addition, Pierce was putting up 25-26 PPG in the height of the defensive era. It's not 28 PPG like Melo, but it's damn near close when you consider how slow and physical the league had become between 1999-2004.

Pierce's playmaking and defensive abilities trumps that of Melo, which also can't be ignored. What this boils down to is recency bias. Most people will remember Melo circa 2011-13. Not many will remember Pierce back in 2000-03.

[ELITEpower23]

Paul Pierce

[72-10]

Pierce defensive edge is not being emphasized enough and a few posters are talking about Melo offense like it was historic. Anthony was a great scorer but there are no 30 ppg seasons in his resume so it doesn't make sense to act like he was on a higher offensive level than Pierce. He never did anything Pierce could not have done.

The assertion that he was on a higher level athletically is also weird.

Agreed, Pierce has defensive edge, though Melo's offensive output was close to historic, rather loud when he's outscoring Iverson

[Gohan]

Agreed, Pierce has defensive edge, though Melo's offensive output was close to historic, rather loud when he's outscoring Iverson

this if you outscore iverson you're a bad mofo

[TAZORAC]

People forget how good Pierce was between 2000-07, before the formulation of the super-team. Pierce was a great 4th quarter player and overall scorer.

Pierce had better playmaking and defensive abilities than Melo at any point of his career. He was also putting up 25-26 PPG in the greatest defensive era, ever. Melo is not much of a leader and more of a locker room cancer. The choice really seems obvious to me, despite Melo being the superior scorer.

Pierce put up 25-26 because he was a chucker. Pierce would go 6 for 24 alot

[Reggie43]

Pierce nowadays gets glorified because he got to team up with Garnett and Allen. People forget the unconscious volume shotjacking and ball dominance he did earlier in his career.

[Wally450]

Pierce nowadays gets glorified because he got to team up with Garnett and Allen. People forget the unconscious volume shotjacking and ball dominance he did earlier in his career.

The same thing Melo has done for most of his career?

[Reggie43]

The same thing Melo has done for most of his career?

Exactly! They both have the same negatives especially on offense yet some guys label only one player as the chucker.

For the record Im not a fan of both players but it is still a close comparison with Melo being the more natural talent while Pierce being the feistier player.

[3ba11]

Pierce easily - Pierce had a fully-fledged guard handle

And his jumpshot was just more effective and could perform better against the best comp

[tontoz]

I'll take Pierce pretty easily. More efficient scorer not as much of a ball stopper.