Posted by djsunyc:

so we read alot of articles today about how both isiah and eddy are upset he's not getting the ball. and that the guards must get him the ball everytime down the court. isiah feels this is the best way for this team to win.

i propose this question for debate: should isiah be telling the team this?

let me explain...this is a developing team. this is a team that need to learn how to win and what kind of committment it takes to win big. this is what isiah should be trying to teach them. how to come into the gym early, and leave late. how to spend all summer working on your game and your physique. that's what seperates great teams from good ones.

by isiah basically saying that eddy is the focal point of the offense and is ready to punish anybody that doesn't conform to that, well, is that sending a good message to eddy that it's OK to be rewarded with the ball everytime down the court even tho he doesn't give 1/4th the effort on the defensive side of the ball?

should we have a culture in place where the coach says, "ok eddy, you want the ball 20 times a night...then earn that. go and grab 8 rebounds and you'll get the ball. go a block 1-2 shots a game and you'll get the ball. anchor this team's defense and you'll get the ball." is that the type of ethic we should be creating?

or is isiah doing the right thing and trying to maximize the pros on this team without dwelling too much on the negatives? is that a more effective way to get his players to produce, mainly eddy? sort of be a nurturer and accentuate his positives regardless of anything else?

discuss.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 03-16-2007 09:56 AM]

Posted by Bippity10:

And by the way I am a benchaholic as a coach. I learned from the best. One mistake and you come out. I trust my players and will put them back in, in a heartbeat. But these guys know not to make the same mistakes. Some guys don't respond well to this. Even as much of a benchaholci("disciplinarian" is what the babies of the world call me) I understand that there are some players you cannot do this too and have to cut some slack. I personally think Eddie is that type of guy. I don't coach him so I could be wrong. But I'm just going based on what LB tried to do last year.

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by BlueSeats:

Isiah said years ago that anyone who can score 20 ppg is athletic enough to play D, but it wasn't until he started benching Marbury that it made a difference. The same may be true for Eddy.

But it's two different messages. One is to bench Eddy if he's not playing D and bringing intangiables. The other is that the guards need to get him the ball when he is on the floor.

I know Marbury and Francis have given us a boost in Eddy's absence, but the Franbury show will never make it on Broadway.

Our priority has to be on lessening Eddy's absence more than lessening the impact of Eddy's absence.

Give us more Mardy if need be.

The same may be true for Eddie but the same may not be true. You have to know your players. From my memory when LB tried to do that last year, Eddie spoke about how confused he was, his game did not improve and fans called LB the dumbest coach in the world. Isiah is not going to follow that line of thinking.

Isiah after much debate and flip flopping has finally decided that the offense will center around Eddie. That is what our offense is right now. TMS is correct we have gotten away from what works and are now watching both guards freelance. Marbs probably by design and Francis because that's all he knows. Isiah wants the ball back in Eddie's hands. Rebounding and D for Eddie are a bigger issue that will not be fixed simply by giving him pine time. My guess is that you will ahve to bench him for the rest of his life to get him to do these things. Instead we should be focusing on building a team that counteracts these weaknesses.

Posted by BlueSeats:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by BlueSeats:

Isiah said years ago that anyone who can score 20 ppg is athletic enough to play D, but it wasn't until he started benching Marbury that it made a difference. The same may be true for Eddy.

But it's two different messages. One is to bench Eddy if he's not playing D and bringing intangiables. The other is that the guards need to get him the ball when he is on the floor.

I know Marbury and Francis have given us a boost in Eddy's absence, but the Franbury show will never make it on Broadway.

Our priority has to be on lessening Eddy's absence more than lessening the impact of Eddy's absence.

Give us more Mardy if need be.

The same may be true for Eddie but the same may not be true. You have to know your players. From my memory when LB tried to do that last year, Eddie spoke about how confused he was, his game did not improve and fans called LB the dumbest coach in the world. Isiah is not going to follow that line of thinking.

Isiah after much debate and flip flopping has finally decided that the offense will center around Eddie. That is what our offense is right now. TMS is correct we have gotten away from what works and are now watching both guards freelance. Marbs probably by design and Francis because that's all he knows. Isiah wants the ball back in Eddie's hands. Rebounding and D for Eddie are a bigger issue that will not be fixed simply by giving him pine time. My guess is that you will ahve to bench him for the rest of his life to get him to do these things. Instead we should be focusing on building a team that counteracts these weaknesses.

The difference is when LB did it he didn't have the trust of the players and Curry possibly had Marbury in the other ear telling him "this guy is a fool and if Isiah and I have any say in it he'll be gone by summer."

Some think that's a haters perspective but that's actually the optimistic view, cuz if this is the best we can expect from Eddy we're probably building championship aspirations around a player with the impact of perhaps Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Is it possible to build a championship caliber team that includes such guys? Sure, if they're like your third best player. But then we don't need to be talking about building around such guys and we've got a much longer way to go than some will admit.

Posted by Bippity10:

I can see your point BlueSeats. I'm not saying benching Curry wouldn't be the answer. I am saying that it's not the route I would go personally.

I personally would never build around a one dimensional player. But this is the hand we are dealt. This is the route Isiah is taking until he changes his mind 80 times so I'm just trying to discuss what we need to do to maximize Eddy. If he is our focal point we need to build a specific team so that he actually will become the third or fourth best player. We can taylor our offense around him, but to be a good team he is never going to be our superstar with his current flaws.

Posted by BlueSeats:

Posted by Bippity10:

I can see your point BlueSeats. I'm not saying benching Curry wouldn't be the answer. I am saying that it's not the route I would go personally.

I personally would never build around a one dimensional player. But this is the hand we are dealt. This is the route Isiah is taking until he changes his mind 80 times so I'm just trying to discuss what we need to do to maximize Eddy. If he is our focal point we need to build a specific team so that he actually will become the third or fourth best player. We can taylor our offense around him, but to be a good team he is never going to be our superstar with his current flaws.

And I'm not disagreeing with you, I have no idea the best way to get to Eddy. I'm just frustrated that we're either/or oriented in that it's either Eddy or Steph, and the two can't intertwine. Ditto our defensive guys: Skinny, Lee and Balkman. Not a shooter among them. I'm into feeding Curry the ball, I only wish it wasn't such a "force feed" off a stagnant offense.

At some point I'm hoping nixluva - who couldn't believe any of us would doubt our PGs ability to orchestrate an uptempo motion offense, and who considered himself uniquely in tune with the reality of of this squad - will enlighten us on why the triple-dipple, Bobby Knight shuffle, high-post boogalloo, ring around the rosey offense went out the dipsey doo window and now we have Steph holding the ball and calling Eddy out for screens on the arc when Eddy is backing down single coverage on the low block.

As to why Eddy wont jump for rebounds, I don't think even nixluva knows the answer to that one.

The offense is missing that TURBO and has a hard time BREAKIN down the OZONE!













[Edited by - TrueBlue on 03-16-2007 2:43 PM]