Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Dudley sorry for calling Melo most overrated

Milwaukee Bucks veteran Jared Dudley believes New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is the most overrated player in the NBA.

“The reason I say Carmelo is because Carmelo is viewed as a top-five player, he’s viewed in the NBA as a top-five,” Dudley said in an interview with ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd. “Carmelo, he has the talent to be able to facilitate. The triangle should fit him to where he’s got to make guys better, and defensively he’s got to take it to the next level up."

On Anthony's ability to facilitate, his assist ratio (number of assists per 100 possessions) in 2014-15 ranked 29th out of the 40 players who had usage rates of at least 25. His defensive rating was the worst among the 40 players with usage rates of at least 25 who played 40 games last season.

Dudley also criticized Anthony for not advancing in the postseason. Anthony has made the playoffs in 10 of his 12 seasons but has advanced past the first round just twice.

“Carmelo, you gotta get out, you gotta out the first, second round,” Dudley added. “You gotta get your team to the playoffs. LeBron (James) with that (Knicks’) roster ... he would have got them to the playoffs, he would have got them to at least the eighth seed. He’s not LeBron, he doesn’t have to be.”

Later on Wednesday, Dudley appeared on ESPN New York 98.7 FM's "Hahn & Humpty Show" and apologized for calling Anthony the most overrated player in the league.

"I shouldn’t have said that that was my fault for saying that because it’s not the truth," Dudley told hosts Alan Hahn and Rick DiPietro. "... I apologize for saying that about Carmelo.

"You get kind of frustrated at times seeing because of him having to make his other guys better and defensively certain things, but for me to say he's the most overrated that was wrong for me to say. He’s arguably a top 3 or 4 scorer, between him (Kevin Durant) and (Russell Westbrook). But if you see, that’s not enough in this league. If your a No. 1 guy and you’re a max guy, this is a superstar league, you have to be able to do certain things."

One of the things Anthony needs to do, according to Dudley, is to elevate the play of his teammates.

"He’s got to make guys like Tim Hardaway Jr. better … for them to get to the next level," Dudley said.

Anthony missed nearly half of the 2014-15 season with knee ailments and New York finished with a franchise-worst 17 wins.

Anthony had surgery to repair his knee issue in late February and is currently rehabbing. He plans to be fully healthy for training camp.

Assuming Anthony is healthy heading into the season, the next Knicks-Bucks game should be an interesting one.

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