ChuckBuck wrote:

CashMoney wrote:

nixluva wrote:

FoeDiddy wrote:it becomes "ridiculous" when people ignore stats and facts when discussing just to stay the course of their argument.

Melo was injured after Memphis game and sucked after that but before that was playing great
Response: Melo sucked most of the season don't blame injury

Melo options to pass to stunk it up when he did pass
Response: Melo never bought into the system and shoots too much

Melo stated first three games under Woodson I've just tried to use more energy on defense and give the team everything I got
Response: Melo was dogging it Under MDA

Man get the hell out of here with this excuse making. Dude was playing major minutes and when he started to stink so bad that he was literally hurting the team he sat his ass down JUST BEFORE WE PLAY THE HEAT!!!! Talk about a bitch move.

No more F'n EXCUSES!!! He didn't break a leg or anything. His ass was able to play 35 minutes a night or more. If he actually worked on his passing and scoring within the flow of an offense and not just off ISO he'd be much closer to Lebron than you guys are making it sound. I NEVER SAID he'd BE LEBRON, but the idea is that if you're as skilled as Melo is there's no reason except for laziness for him not to be putting up better numbers. Melo can score, rebound and pass. He's good enough at the basic skills of the game to be a better player than he is. He needs to do more of the things that are part of WINNING BB. Not just ISO.

What part of the guy was playing hurt is not understood. Oh, I see, thumb, groin, ankle and a wrist injury doesn't count!

FACTS - 10 games into the season Melo is balling.
1/12/12 - Grizzlies - Melo spraines his wrist. (L)
1/14/12 - Sits out against OKC. (L)
1/16/12 - Melo plays against Orlando and rolls his ankle. (L)
1/18/12 - Throws up a stinker against PHX. He sucks! Forget that he's playing on a bad wheel with a sprained wrist. (L)
1/20/12 - Bucks - While injured puts up 35 points and gets ejected in a Knicks loss. (L)
1/21/12 - Nuggets - Puts up 25 points but shoots 10 for 30. Clearly he has had time to recover from his injuries on a back to back. (L)
1/24/12 - Scores 1 pt on 0-7 shooting against the Bobcats. Knicks win by 33 points. Melo injures his thumb. (W)
1/25/12 - Scores 15 pts on 5-14 shooting against the Cavs with an injured ankle, thumb and wrist.(L)

Melo becomes a BITCH and decides to sit out against Miami. In a further bitch move he also sits aginst Western Confernce FInal favorite Houston Rockets.

1/31/12 - After 5 days of rest and therapy Melo suits up and drops 25 against the Pistons going 9-14 from the field along with 6 dimes in a 27 point blowout. (W)
2/2/12 - Knicks lose a hard fought game against the Bulls. Mel 26 points on 10/26 shooting. STAT carries the team but misses a jumper at the end of the game. (L)
2/3/12 - Melo scores 26 on 8 for 17 shooting but Knicks blow a lead and lose to the Celts. (L)
2/4/12 - Nets - Melo stinks up the joint shooting 3 for 15. 3rd game in 3 nights...LINSANITY BEGINS! (W)
2/6/12 - Melo plays 6 minutes against the Jazz and strains his groin. (W)

Melo misses the next 7 games, all Knicks wins....7 in a ROW!!!!

2/20/12 - Melo returns against the Nets and shoots 4 for 11 as Williams throws water on the Linsanity fire. Melo sucks! (L)
2/22/12 - Hawks - Melo scores 15 on 7 for 16 shooting. Knicks win after having a 25 point lead at the half. (W)
2/23/12 - Heat - Knicks get crushed 102-88. Melo scores 19 on 7 for 20 shooting. Clearly this loss is on Melo as Lin goes 1 for 11 from the field with 8 points and 8 to's. (L)
2/29/12 - Knicks crush the Cavs by 17. All Knicks play well. (L)
3/4/12 - Melo has a terrible shooting day but scores 25 with 6 in the final minute and a half. PP kills us and we lose in OT. Rondo kills us with a triple double that hasn't been seen since Magic in 1989. Linsainty continues to rain supreme with 14 points 5 assists and 6 to's. (L)
3/6/12 - Melo and the entire team play like crap against the Mavs with the exception of STAT and Novak. (L)
3/7/12 - Parker drops 32 and the Spurs are too much to handle wihout Tyson to man the middle. Melo goes for 27 on 50% shooting with 2 boards, 3 ast's and 2 stls. (L)
3/9/12 - Bucks - Melo 22 pts, 5 rbs, 2 assts, 1 steal. Knicks lose again with no Tyson Chandler. (L)
3/11/12 - Sixers - Melo 22 points on 5 for 13 shooting with 9 boards & 3 assists. Lin goes 5 for 18 for 14 points 7 assits & 6 to's. Lou Willims score 32.(L)
3/12/12 - Melo goes 8 for 21 and scores 21 with 8 boards, 3 asts and 2 steals and 1 blk. Rose scores 32 to lead the Bulls. (L)

3/13/12 = Off day - Knick record = 18 Wins 24 losses

3/14/12 - MDA, after having a brain cramp, asks managment to get rid of the fat, ball hogging, no heart Carmelo Anthony. Management refuses and hands the reigns to Mike Woodson.

3/14/12 through 3/24/12 - Knicks go 6-1 with Lin, Melo and STAT. All in Knicks Land are happy.

3/26/12 - Lin is done for the year and STAT's back is F'd up. Time for Melo to put up or shut up.

Melo than leads the Knicks to an 9-4 record without Lin and without STAT!

MELO LEADS THE KNICS TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!

I nominate this for post of the millenium!

Im gonna take a week off from work and review all the tapes of those games. My wife is going to act as "video coordinater" and compile his minutes in a condensed version. Than I'll put them up on youtube or do a "Webinar" as a group to break them down.

Ha, and some accuse me of being a Net fan!

CashMoney wrote:

nixluva wrote:If Melo was hitting shots he would've kept playing cuz he was hurt and not injured. There's a big difference. And yeah he made a bitch move and was questioned by every NBA analyst that was on the NBA broadcast for the timing of his self benching. BITCH MOVE!!!! Melo played 39, 38, 36, 45, 30 and 38 mins in the games just before the Miami game. ALL LOSSES except for one game and he feared getting ripped on National TV. He was playing like crap. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get his game back in time for that meeting and it could be a hugely embarrassing spot to have a poor performance. I know bitch moves when I see them. The poor performances and losing got to him and he couldn't deal with the prospect of getting punked by Lebron and the Heat like that.

Look you guys can all kiss Melo's behind if you want, but this guy has a lot to make up for in my book. I don't hate Melo, but I also don't like players that are a lot of hype and when the going gets tough they bitch out. Melo is on the ARod and Steph track at the moment. If he doesn't help this team win and get past the 1st rd. he's gonna get ripped for sure.

FACTS - 10 games into the season Melo is balling.
1/12/12 - Grizzlies - Melo spraines his wrist. (L)
1/14/12 - Sits out against OKC. (L)
1/16/12 - Melo plays against Orlando and rolls his ankle. (L)
1/18/12 - Throws up a stinker against PHX. He sucks! Forget that he's playing on a bad wheel with a sprained wrist. (L)
1/20/12 - Bucks - While injured puts up 35 points and gets ejected in a Knicks loss. (L)
1/21/12 - Nuggets - Puts up 25 points but shoots 10 for 30. Clearly he has had time to recover from his injuries on a back to back. (L)
1/24/12 - Scores 1 pt on 0-7 shooting against the Bobcats. Knicks win by 33 points. Melo injures his thumb. (W)
1/25/12 - Scores 15 pts on 5-14 shooting against the Cavs with an injured ankle, thumb and wrist.(L)

What part of the above do you disagree with?

He wasn't injured he was hurt? Semantics at best my friend.

Analysts? Easy for people to talk crap from the sidelines. Who are you referring to? Stephen A, Skip Bayless? He was playing major minutes, ineffective minutes as well and the Heat would have made the 3rd game in 4 nights. He was such a bitch that he sat against Houston as well but I guess he only did that to reassure analysts that he sat out against Miami for a reason to protect himself againt the criticism.

He bitched out when the going got tough? How about the team battling for a playoff spot with no PG and without their second best player? He really bitched out then.

Melo doesn't hype himself, that's on fans and the media, especially those NBA analysts who roasted him for sitting out against Miami, the 19th game of the season.

What does he have to make up for? Losing in ths 1st round 2 years in a row even though we were decimated by injuries going into/into the playoffs? Did he dog it, quit on the team or not play hard in the playoffs?

If the Knicks are at full strength come playoff time and Melo plays like crap he deserves to get ripped. He doesn't deserve to get ripped the way he does on this board. That's not be being a homer, just being truthful. He can HELP this team get into the 2nd round with HELP being the key word. He can't do it by himself. He is part of a TEAM.

Steph? C'mon man....really?

Melo on the ARod track is fine by me.....just means a CHAMPIONSHIP is on it's way.

+100000000 CashMoney, possibly in the running for best off-season post thus far.

nix, as Cash points out, you've really got to proofread your hate, my friend.
And please don't forget, I am a nixluva post appreciator from the lockout days...

CashMoney wrote:

fishmike wrote:you just cant talk about Melo's done for the Knicks since the trade without being a hater because very little is noteworthy.

How about carrying them to the playoffs? Probably not noteworthy considering he couldn't man up and run point and play SF and PF at the same time while playing 48 minutes a game.

Mr. 470 didn't carry the team into the playoffs. He hurt the team for 80% of the season and then had a great 20% at the end. You trade him for some OK SF like Iggy, Gay, or Wallace and the team still makes the playoffs. The team had to go 18-6 toward the end just to have close to a .500 record in games Melo played in last year.

Bonn1997 wrote:

CashMoney wrote:

fishmike wrote:you just cant talk about Melo's done for the Knicks since the trade without being a hater because very little is noteworthy.

How about carrying them to the playoffs? Probably not noteworthy considering he couldn't man up and run point and play SF and PF at the same time while playing 48 minutes a game.

Mr. 470 didn't carry the team into the playoffs. He hurt the team for 80% of the season and then had a great 20% at the end. You trade him for some OK SF like Iggy and the team still makes the playoffs. The team had to go 18-6 toward the end just to have close to a .500 record in games Melo played in last year.

Trade Melo?

What happened to continuity? The GM/Capologists on this board state that this is a prerequisite to winning. Don't you want us to win?

On a side note, Woody has shown that these guys play well for him so instead of looking backwards, why not look forward to what he can (continue to) do with this team?

The knicks missed the playoff for a number of years. Now, they have made the playoffs for 2 straight seasons. Let hope and root that they BUILD on that.

CashMoney wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

CashMoney wrote:

fishmike wrote:you just cant talk about Melo's done for the Knicks since the trade without being a hater because very little is noteworthy.

How about carrying them to the playoffs? Probably not noteworthy considering he couldn't man up and run point and play SF and PF at the same time while playing 48 minutes a game.

Mr. 470 didn't carry the team into the playoffs. He hurt the team for 80% of the season and then had a great 20% at the end. You trade him for some OK SF like Iggy, Gay, or Wallace and the team still makes the playoffs. The team had to go 18-6 toward the end just to have close to a .500 record in games Melo played in last year.

What did I post that you disagree with?

Bonn1997 wrote:

CashMoney wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

CashMoney wrote:

fishmike wrote:you just cant talk about Melo's done for the Knicks since the trade without being a hater because very little is noteworthy.

How about carrying them to the playoffs? Probably not noteworthy considering he couldn't man up and run point and play SF and PF at the same time while playing 48 minutes a game.

Mr. 470 didn't carry the team into the playoffs. He hurt the team for 80% of the season and then had a great 20% at the end. You trade him for some OK SF like Iggy, Gay, or Wallace and the team still makes the playoffs. The team had to go 18-6 toward the end just to have close to a .500 record in games Melo played in last year.

What did I post that you disagree with?

That Mr. 470 carried the team to the playoffs

Whats DWil? Mr .230?

Hahaha - thats great stuff - the sabermetric nickname that is used to define the players contributions.

nixluva wrote:Melo is out on the floor for 35+ a night. With his amount of touches and the way he plays grabbing his own misses for rebounds, it doesn't mean he's playing well just cuz he's putting up numbers. All I know is that for MOST of the season Melo did not play like an Elite player. He wasn't hurt enough to not be able to log normal star minutes in most of the games he played and as other pointed out his injuries didn't seem to effect him from Rebounding or passing if he wanted to.

You guys can keep kissing his butt for a months worth of star level BB, but as Woody himself said IF Melo had played like he did after MDA left all year they wouldn't have been fighting for a playoff spot.

I guess Rodman was not really a good rebounder since many of them were of his own misses - Hhhhmmmm, never thought of that.

Maybe Melo was not healthy enough to log those minutes but he did anyway and didn't bitch out like you know who????? Maybe?

You were the biggest "butt kisser" there was on this board when it pertained to MDA. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Maybe?

nixluva wrote:Melo is out on the floor for 35+ a night. With his amount of touches and the way he plays grabbing his own misses for rebounds, it doesn't mean he's playing well just cuz he's putting up numbers. All I know is that for MOST of the season Melo did not play like an Elite player. He wasn't hurt enough to not be able to log normal star minutes in most of the games he played and as other pointed out his injuries didn't seem to effect him from Rebounding or passing if he wanted to.

You guys can keep kissing his butt for a months worth of star level BB, but as Woody himself said IF Melo had played like he did after MDA left all year they wouldn't have been fighting for a playoff spot.

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony caused a bit of a stir on Monday when he seemed to admit to trying harder under interim coach Mike Woodson than he had under previous coach Mike D’Antoni.

“I think in the last three games, my focus was to have an energy that I haven't had so far this season, especially on the defensive end,” Anthony said. “Everybody on this team knows, everybody in the world knows I can score the basketball. It's not that important to me.”

So, naturally, the subject was broached prior to tonight’s game against the Toronto Raptors. Woodson’s initial instinct was to not add fuel to the fire. In the end though, he may have done the exact opposite of that.

“I’ll say to you and I’ll say to Melo, he’s got to bring the energy now,” Woodson said. “I’m the head coach and I can’t speak for what has happened. I was a part of it, but he’s got to play harder and Amar’e’s got to play harder and everybody’s got to get us where we need to go. That’s the only way it’s going to happen. We can’t have lackluster performances out of anyone. It’s my job to continue to push and I’m going to do that.”

The answer didn’t raise an eyebrow except for the fact that Woodson was an assistant with the team for 42 games before his promotion last week. Certainly he’s had to have seen a difference in Anthony’s effort, and if so, to what does Woodson attribute that too?

“I can’t explain that,” Woodson said. “I wish I could. We probably wouldn’t be sitting in this position that we’re sitting in today, fighting for a playoff spot.”

It’s tough to say whether Woodson was implying that the Knicks wouldn’t be fighting for a playoff spot if Anthony had put in more effort defensively prior to the last three games. The Knicks are effectively tied with the Bucks for the eighth seed in the East, so that would not be out of the question.

The one thing that is certain is that Woodson is getting the defensive effort from Anthony, Jeremy Lin and everyone else, and that’s something he’ll continue to demand.

“Sure there’s a difference,” Woodson said of Anthony’s intensity. “There’s a difference with everyone. I think that sense of urgency is floating right now and it’s got to stay that way because I don’t know what Milwaukee’s gonna do and I don’t know what Philadelphia is going to do and Boston—the teams that are above us. We just got to figure out the Knicks and continue to play the way we’ve been playing.”

Woodson admitted to adding a few things schematically, but insists a lot of the improvement has centered around defending the pick and roll. Specifically he’s asked his players to switch off less frequently and Woodson added that he has seen an individual in that improvement from several players, including Anthony.

“Jeremy Lin, I think he’s done great on the ball,” Woodson said. “(Landry Fields has) been great on the ball… Melo, you know, has been pushing it, not in terms of pick and rolls, but just getting over screens and, you know, playing wing denials. I mean, it’s been a total team effort so I it’s really hard to single out everyone because everybody’s been responsible for the three-game win streak.”

One strategic choice that Woodson hasn’t changed from the D’Antoni era has been the use of a half-court trap. The only alteration has been personnel. Whereas D’Antoni would frequently use starting center Tyson Chandler in the half-court trap, Woodson has been giving those assignments to bench players like Jared Jeffries, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.

“We’ve done that since Day 1,” Woodson said. “And this team has been pretty good at it. I try and instill it in the second unit, when they come in with Jared and Shump… They’re defensive guys, they’re aggressive guys that like to get after it a little bit. J.R.’s the same way. You’ve got to utilize their talents defensively by letting them trap some and getting up the floor. I just really like the way we’ve extended our defense. It’s really helped us, I think.”

Woodson has stressed that he’s not making radical changes with the Knicks, but he is clearly fine-tuning a few things and that’s been helpful through three games. Knicks fans can only hope these habits don’t die if the team hits a speed bump.

Like Woodson would come out and say D'Antoni did a bad coaching job. Under Woodson Knicks won games pretty, ugly and so-so. Games under D'Antoni would routinely lose they would fight out. If you recall Melo didn't find his show right away under woodson. that's took awhile. but they still found ways to win. Melo was never the problem in my opinion...it was D'Antoni...always was. Even before Melo got here.

I never like the way he coached my Knickerbockers. If were weren't hot shooting we were losing..no matter the competition. That's not winning basketball.

Nix, go back and watch those first Woody games with Stat - its obvious to the honest eye.

Also, didn't Woody change the defensive philosophy this year? Not forcing baseline? Switching? etc ...?

FoeDiddy wrote:

nixluva wrote:

FoeDiddy wrote:

nixluva wrote:Melo is out on the floor for 35+ a night. With his amount of touches and the way he plays grabbing his own misses for rebounds, it doesn't mean he's playing well just cuz he's putting up numbers. All I know is that for MOST of the season Melo did not play like an Elite player. He wasn't hurt enough to not be able to log normal star minutes in most of the games he played and as other pointed out his injuries didn't seem to effect him from Rebounding or passing if he wanted to.

You guys can keep kissing his butt for a months worth of star level BB, but as Woody himself said IF Melo had played like he did after MDA left all year they wouldn't have been fighting for a playoff spot.

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony caused a bit of a stir on Monday when he seemed to admit to trying harder under interim coach Mike Woodson than he had under previous coach Mike D’Antoni.

“I think in the last three games, my focus was to have an energy that I haven't had so far this season, especially on the defensive end,” Anthony said. “Everybody on this team knows, everybody in the world knows I can score the basketball. It's not that important to me.”

So, naturally, the subject was broached prior to tonight’s game against the Toronto Raptors. Woodson’s initial instinct was to not add fuel to the fire. In the end though, he may have done the exact opposite of that.

“I’ll say to you and I’ll say to Melo, he’s got to bring the energy now,” Woodson said. “I’m the head coach and I can’t speak for what has happened. I was a part of it, but he’s got to play harder and Amar’e’s got to play harder and everybody’s got to get us where we need to go. That’s the only way it’s going to happen. We can’t have lackluster performances out of anyone. It’s my job to continue to push and I’m going to do that.”

The answer didn’t raise an eyebrow except for the fact that Woodson was an assistant with the team for 42 games before his promotion last week. Certainly he’s had to have seen a difference in Anthony’s effort, and if so, to what does Woodson attribute that too?

“I can’t explain that,” Woodson said. “I wish I could. We probably wouldn’t be sitting in this position that we’re sitting in today, fighting for a playoff spot.”

It’s tough to say whether Woodson was implying that the Knicks wouldn’t be fighting for a playoff spot if Anthony had put in more effort defensively prior to the last three games. The Knicks are effectively tied with the Bucks for the eighth seed in the East, so that would not be out of the question.

The one thing that is certain is that Woodson is getting the defensive effort from Anthony, Jeremy Lin and everyone else, and that’s something he’ll continue to demand.

“Sure there’s a difference,” Woodson said of Anthony’s intensity. “There’s a difference with everyone. I think that sense of urgency is floating right now and it’s got to stay that way because I don’t know what Milwaukee’s gonna do and I don’t know what Philadelphia is going to do and Boston—the teams that are above us. We just got to figure out the Knicks and continue to play the way we’ve been playing.”

Woodson admitted to adding a few things schematically, but insists a lot of the improvement has centered around defending the pick and roll. Specifically he’s asked his players to switch off less frequently and Woodson added that he has seen an individual in that improvement from several players, including Anthony.

“Jeremy Lin, I think he’s done great on the ball,” Woodson said. “(Landry Fields has) been great on the ball… Melo, you know, has been pushing it, not in terms of pick and rolls, but just getting over screens and, you know, playing wing denials. I mean, it’s been a total team effort so I it’s really hard to single out everyone because everybody’s been responsible for the three-game win streak.”

One strategic choice that Woodson hasn’t changed from the D’Antoni era has been the use of a half-court trap. The only alteration has been personnel. Whereas D’Antoni would frequently use starting center Tyson Chandler in the half-court trap, Woodson has been giving those assignments to bench players like Jared Jeffries, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.

“We’ve done that since Day 1,” Woodson said. “And this team has been pretty good at it. I try and instill it in the second unit, when they come in with Jared and Shump… They’re defensive guys, they’re aggressive guys that like to get after it a little bit. J.R.’s the same way. You’ve got to utilize their talents defensively by letting them trap some and getting up the floor. I just really like the way we’ve extended our defense. It’s really helped us, I think.”

Woodson has stressed that he’s not making radical changes with the Knicks, but he is clearly fine-tuning a few things and that’s been helpful through three games. Knicks fans can only hope these habits don’t die if the team hits a speed bump.

Like Woodson would come out and say D'Antoni did a bad coaching job. Under Woodson Knicks won games pretty, ugly and so-so. Games under D'Antoni would routinely lose they would fight out. If you recall Melo didn't find his show right away under woodson. that's took awhile. but they still found ways to win. Melo was never the problem in my opinion...it was D'Antoni...always was. Even before Melo got here.

I never like the way he coached my Knickerbockers. If were weren't hot shooting we were losing..no matter the competition. That's not winning basketball.

You know there was only one time in the season when the defense wasn't good. The 2-8 stretch when Melo came back! Just before he came back and with a depleted roster the team was playing GREAT defense.

When the Knicks knocked off the Kings at Madison Square Garden last Wednesday night, beating Sacramento 100-85 for their seventh straight victory, it was also the seventh straight game New York had held their opponent to below 100 points. This tied the organization’s longest streak of that kind over the past 18 seasons. The last time New York had matched that feat was back in 2001, which, coincidentally, was the last time the Knicks won a playoff game.

And despite losing to New Orleans on Friday, the Knicks defense kept an opponent under 90 points for the 10th time (they are 9-1 in such games). Prior to this season, the Knicks held their opponents under 90 points five times in their previous 95 games.

Coming into the 2011-2012 campaign, the Knicks had allowed over 110 points per 100 possessions in each of their previous four seasons, including all three under D’Antoni. This season, New York is allowing just 99.5 points per 100 possessions, which ranks sixth-best in the entire league. This is the first time New York has allowed under 100 per 100 possessions since… yes, 2001.

New York is currently holding its opponents to 93.9 points per game on 44.5% shooting after allowing 105.7 points on 47.2% shooting last season. This type of terrific turnaround is rarely seen in the NBA from one year to the next.

In early January, the Knicks actually held three straight opponents under 90 points. Prior to that stretch, the last time New York had held even two straight opponents under 90 points was all the way back in December of 2005. In fact, during that streak, the Knicks kept those teams under 88 points. As a point of comparison, in NY’s three previous seasons with D’Antoni at the helm, they held an opponent under 88 a TOTAL of nine times. That’s three games in a row, versus nine times total over the span of three complete seasons (246 games).

As these numbers illustrate, New York’s team defense hasn’t just been adequate, it’s been very good. And by just reading the headlines you might not know it, but there have actually been other players sharing the court with Jeremy Lin. The most important of these players has been big man Tyson Chandler.

Rarely is one player credited with turning around a team’s defensive aptitude, but Chandler is not your common defender.

Chandler finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, and is actually having a statistically better year in 2011-2012 – averaging more blocks, more steals and more rebounds. In fact, Chandler is one of just three players in the NBA averaging over 9 rebounds, at least 1 steal, and 1.4 blocks (the other two are Marc Gasol and Dwight Howard).

Even under MDA the Defense was great. The biggest change to the Knicks D wasn't Woody. Heck he was using the EXACT SAME defense MDA has always used. The difference was Tyson and Shump as well. None of you had ever seen MDA's defense with a legit defensive Center in it. Instead he had STAT I've said for years that the biggest issue was a lack of defensive TALENT. At the end of the year Woody had the advantage of a fully involved Melo, giving 110% on the defensive end, which he had not been doing all year. Trust me it makes a difference when the teams best player suddenly busts his butt!!! That's why it's clear the team would've won a lot more games if Melo had played hard all year.

Defense was definitely not the same or "great" under MDA. It was improved but not great. Add to that in crucial moments the defense was still crap. And just because Woody was an assistant doesn't mean all his philosophies and strategies were being implemented. MDA still had final say on what was going on.

Defensive Energy comes from the coach and accountability. Playing organized ball it's always come from the coach. If the coach doesn't value it..no one will.

And here are your stats to refute you Knicks Defense was great under MDA
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/1/20/2718345/new-york-knicks-amare-stoudemire-carmelo-anthony-defense-hook

As far as the defense goes, my stats cover a longer period than the article you presented. In any event Woody's system was pretty much the same even before he came to the Knicks. Plus he was here all year and if he saw something that needed to be addressed he most certainly could suggest it to the player or MDA. Woody wasn't at the end of the bench with no voice. MDA gave him a big voice from day one.

Coming into the 2011-2012 campaign, the Knicks had allowed over 110 points per 100 possessions in each of their previous four seasons, including all three under D’Antoni. This season, New York is allowing just 99.5 points per 100 possessions, which ranks sixth-best in the entire league. This is the first time New York has allowed under 100 per 100 possessions since… yes, 2001.

New York is currently holding its opponents to 93.9 points per game on 44.5% shooting after allowing 105.7 points on 47.2% shooting last season. This type of terrific turnaround is rarely seen in the NBA from one year to the next.