Silverfuel wrote:D'Antoni had an amazing run in Phoenix. He went to a conference finals and his teams were always high scoring and fun to watch. The knock on him has been his lack of emphasis on defense and the way the Lakers are playing, he really doesn't focus on defense. He has Kobe, Artest and Dwight Howard but the lane is open for penetration almost all the time. It's obvious he doesn't spend time on an creating an efficient defensive system.

After Linsanity, I thought it was Melo who couldn't play team ball. There were so many issues with defense and offense just wasn't smooth. When Woodson took over for D'Antoni last year and the Knicks went 18-6, I thought the team just needed a change. That's how I explained the amazing record after Woodson took over.

But now that Woodson's Knicks are 17-5 so far this season without Amare and Shumpert, I am beginning to think D'Antoni was a huge mistake.

This topic has been brought up like 50 mill times, but to answer your question, yes he is. Only because he preaches defense, and doesn't do a half hr walk through in that dept.

Like most coaches, you need the proper roster to execute your system. Woodson tweak MDA's system and is seeing much better results because he has high IQ pgs to work with.

knicks1248 wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:D'Antoni had an amazing run in Phoenix. He went to a conference finals and his teams were always high scoring and fun to watch. The knock on him has been his lack of emphasis on defense and the way the Lakers are playing, he really doesn't focus on defense. He has Kobe, Artest and Dwight Howard but the lane is open for penetration almost all the time. It's obvious he doesn't spend time on an creating an efficient defensive system.

After Linsanity, I thought it was Melo who couldn't play team ball. There were so many issues with defense and offense just wasn't smooth. When Woodson took over for D'Antoni last year and the Knicks went 18-6, I thought the team just needed a change. That's how I explained the amazing record after Woodson took over.

But now that Woodson's Knicks are 17-5 so far this season without Amare and Shumpert, I am beginning to think D'Antoni was a huge mistake.

This topic has been brought up like 50 mill times, but to answer your question, yes he is. Only because he preaches defense, and doesn't do a half hr walk through in that dept.

Like most coaches, you need the proper roster to execute your system. Woodson tweak MDA's system and is seeing much better results because he has high IQ pgs to work with.

You also have to be ready, willing, and able to adjust your system to the team you have. D'antoni wasnt the right coach for this team because he 1)Didnt get along with the star player and 2)Was dead set on running his system no matter who we had. I fault the Knicks front office though. If you're gonna bring in a coach who only runs one system, then get him the players that fit that system.

Woody, the plays Woody calls during timeouts and the tweaks he makes during halftime are far superior to anything Mike D did.

Woodson is not only the perfect fit for this group, he seems to combine the best traits of the last 3 coaches we had.

He runs whats clearly a version of MDA's offense
He runs a swarming defense like Larry's Pistons
He's connected with some of these guys like Isiah was able to do and really get the most of them.

There isnt an NBA coach that isnt good. Doc Rivers was run out of Orlando and TMac quit on him but he won a ring in Boston. MDA's coaching in PHo and Larry's in Detroit was some of the best in NBA but those guys obviously were not able to duplicate much of that success here. Woody's ATL teams were always middle of the road (they are playing better now with less talent) and his ISO-Joe offense was brutally predictable yet he's clearly the perfect fit for this group of players. We could kinda do this all day.. I guess my point is the right fit is great and yields results, but usually its just a chemistry thing. Look at how well Doug Collin's 76ers played last year and how hard they played, but most would agree Collins is a bit of a dinosaur, yet Hubie Brown was great. Mix and match, but it starts and ends with the players. Rick Carlisle ran out of Det, and Larry immediatly wins a chip with them, but obviously Carlisle knew some things also as the Mavs won a title with him... you get the idea

fishmike wrote:Woodson is not only the perfect fit for this group, he seems to combine the best traits of the last 3 coaches we had.

He runs whats clearly a version of MDA's offense
He runs a swarming defense like Larry's Pistons
He's connected with some of these guys like Isiah was able to do and really get the most of them.

It is clear Woodson has taken a lot of plays from the D'Antoni system and created his own hybrid from it. He is able to play a system that keeps turnovers ridiculously low and have good defense. We had Tyson Chandler and Shumpert last year but our defense was almost non-existent. Then Woodson takes over and we go 18-6. What was he doing so different that he was able to maximize production from the same players last season?

Same things carry over into this season. And we are stretching the floor so well with our long range shooters that Melo and Amare are going to have an open lane in the paint a lot of the times. So Woodson is able to create space, keep TO's low and get them to play solid team defense.

D'Antoni is obviously a good coach. He took the Suns to a West Conf Finals when the West was a powerhouse. Why was he such a failure in NYC? Was it just the Melo trade or is Woodson just a better coach for the Knicks?

See I think when Amare comes back he is going to flourish. I think Woodson will figure something out. Call it blind optimism but with this team defense, finding the open shooters and consistent scoring threats from Amare and Melo we could win a championship. I didn't think that with D'Antoni.

Silverfuel wrote:

fishmike wrote:Woodson is not only the perfect fit for this group, he seems to combine the best traits of the last 3 coaches we had.

He runs whats clearly a version of MDA's offense
He runs a swarming defense like Larry's Pistons
He's connected with some of these guys like Isiah was able to do and really get the most of them.

This is what I don't get. It sounds straight forward to you and me. Why didn't D'Antoni do this? To me it felt like he refused to change his system to match his talent. Instead he asked players to change to fit his system. Now as a fan, I wish Melo/JR and all else had done that so I didn't have to watch crap last season but would that have really brought us a championship?

It is clear Woodson has taken a lot of plays from the D'Antoni system and created his own hybrid from it. He is able to play a system that keeps turnovers ridiculously low and have good defense. We had Tyson Chandler and Shumpert last year but our defense was almost non-existent. Then Woodson takes over and we go 18-6. What was he doing so different that he was able to maximize production from the same players last season?

Same things carry over into this season. And we are stretching the floor so well with our long range shooters that Melo and Amare are going to have an open lane in the paint a lot of the times. So Woodson is able to create space, keep TO's low and get them to play solid team defense.

D'Antoni is obviously a good coach. He took the Suns to a West Conf Finals when the West was a powerhouse. Why was he such a failure in NYC? Was it just the Melo trade or is Woodson just a better coach for the Knicks?

See I think when Amare comes back he is going to flourish. I think Woodson will figure something out. Call it blind optimism but with this team defense, finding the open shooters and consistent scoring threats from Amare and Melo we could win a championship. I didn't think that with D'Antoni.

George Karl has said he wished he had more time to work with and get through to JR, but Woody was able to much easier. Look at Felton under MDA vs. Felton under Larry Brown.

You cant force chemistry. You can work on it and make it better, or piss on it and make it worse and those two things and can happen daily depending on how volitile the individuals. Not really fair to put too much blame on the coaches for not being able to reach players most of the time. Players have to be willing to be coached.