BlueSeats wrote:martin wrote:BlueSeats wrote:nixluva wrote:There was nothing wrong with the D in the 1st 2 games. 2 tough defensive games by the Knicks and today one bad one. We come into this game and lay an egg. Did Mike suddenly stop coaching them for this game? Did the players simply not focus in and defend with the same energy? Did the C's just have one of those games where guys just get hot from outside? Whatever the reason, this team played 2 of the 3 playoff games with intensity on D so let's not exaggerate this one game.
'luva, if you're honest with yourself you'll admit that the defensive intensity was surprisingly good for the first two games. When that level of intensity is no longer surprising but the norm then this coach will be getting a pass on defense, but not until.
I thought Amare was a big reason in game 3 for the dropoff. I know he was hurt, but he stood around looking a balls that were like 3-5 feet away from him while Rondo sprinted, grabbed and then hit Ray for open 3s. Horrible.
I had trouble getting a solid feed for the 1st quarter, but my sense is they shut off Melo, took the wind out of our sails and pounced. And Amare was a mannequin all game.
But the point remains, why style the regular season on scoring 110 pts and "making them adjust to us" only to do a 180 for the post season? Do we really want good defensive intensity to be a surprising treat?
I'm not in the "fire D'Antoni" camp, I'm in the let him finish out his contract next year camp. D' seems to have been adjusting the system to the roster since the trade (not like he had a choice w/ Felton gone.) We're getting a sense of how this team could play d (in spite of the excuse that we don't have the defensive players for it) and I think we all like it when they do. If they pick up where they left off next year then MDA might get an extension, if not, he had his chance.
I think you answered your own question: "why style the regular season on scoring 110 pts": The Knicks have had 2 entirely different teams from start to finish, and realistically they now have a 3rd'ish team to adjust playing style to over the past 2 games now that Amare is out and TD has replaced Billups (TD can't push and he can barely do PnR).
I never understood the correlation between the offensive output - whether it be 85 points, 106.5ppg, or 110ppg - and the tact of pinning that number to defense. You either play defense or you don't, and just because you score 110 vs 85 isn't an indication of whether you are playing defense or not.
The Knicks need interior defense, and they need Amare to actually play defense and rebound, no doubt about it. I think Amare/MDA/Knicks used the excuse of both a thin front line regarding size (AR, Moz provided zero for the first half season+ while Turiaf was effective for about half games cause of injury and only 20 or so minutes when he could play) and thin in terms of offensive focus if Amare was not playing, and that all added up to Amare playing less defense so as to be on the floor more (we all know he turned to matador when getting 2 fouls in first half or 4 in second half of games).
With Melo on roster, Amare has zero excuse with the foul trouble thing. JJ/Sheldon provide some depth at the C/PF spots, although both are seriously flawed.
I am in the same boat you are with MDA. The first 2 years everyone should have known they were going to be losing efforts and you can't really get much value from watching and making a determination. This year was about getting to playoffs and Knicks still had too much turnover and 2 really ill-timed injuries during playoffs. C'est la vie.
MDA gets until about mid-season for me, especially if Melo and Amare are healthy. I am guessing Billups will be back too.
