Maybe in AZ cantaloupes are easy to grow -- here melons of all kinds get preferential treatment.
Cukes --bah! They don't care about a little shade, they climb anything, less prone to diseases and pests. Faster maturing, more prolific per vine.... The list goes on.
I have been trying to grow Armenian cucumber which is actually a member of melon species for years. Hopeful this year will be successful -- I have a few plants s-l-o-w-l-y growing.
Cucumbers planted to shade the SW side of the house has taken off and is at the top of the trellis already with first fruit developing at the bottom of the vine. They have been somewhat slow this year -- lots of male blossoms, waiting for female blossoms. But I've been eager to see what grows because this is saved seeds from last year's Japanese heirloom and I don't know if it got bee-crossed with an American pickling variety.