MozelGovCocktail wrote:I like the results, so far. I want to see if Woodson can pass the test of getting the most out of all of the players, though.

CrushAlot wrote:

MozelGovCocktail wrote:I like the results, so far. I want to see if Woodson can pass the test of getting the most out of all of the players, though.

I think the way the team is playing defense says a lot about his getting the most out of his players. While it has only been 16 games his team hasn't lost consecutively yet which I think is a huge sign. Other than this continuing is there something else you are looking for from Woodson?

With Amare Stoudimere missing atlease half of those games.

With Jeremy Lin missing 3/4th of those games.

With Jared Jeffries missing 1/3th of those games.

Anyone of these injuries would have been an accepted and expected excuse for the old coach.

Against mostly teams contending for the playoffs.

Wins against the Bucks, Magic, Bulls, Pacers, Sixers

Mike Brown is without a doubt making MDA look Foolish!!!

misterearl wrote:Woodson coached the Atlanta Hawks to fifty win seasons with nothing but impostors and stunt men at guard.

He coached them without a center.

Imagine what he can accomplish with the earthly remains of Baron Davis and Mike Bibby being replaced by live bodies.

ChuckBuck wrote:Woodson basically got the shaft in ATL:

The Hawks improved every season under Woodson, but general manager Rick Sund decided against re-signing him for committing the same crime as coaching legends Lenny Wilkens and Mike Fratello: Woodson couldn't get the Hawks out of the second round of the playoffs.
The fact that the Hawks were swept in the second round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs by 25.3 points per game at the hands of the Orlando Magic certainly didn't help his cause, but many feel Woodson was treated unfairly by the franchise. No one will look back at his rosters and think Atlanta should have beaten the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic of the late 2000s. Heck, the Hawks went to seven games in the first round of the 2008 Eastern Conference Playoffs with a Celtics team that would eventually win an NBA title. Not even the Los Angeles Lakers came as close to beating Boston that year.
And Woodson wasn't just treated unfairly by the front office. As The Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro wrote on March 20th, Woodson had to battle his players as well:
"How Woodson emerged from these exigent challenges speaks highly of him, and makes you conclude this: Dealing with Carmelo Anthony and Jim Dolan will be a milk run.
Because when we see Woodson, we still see Josh Smith, a billion-dollar talent with a 10-cent head. Some say the Atlanta forward's issues started the minute Jay Bilas tagged him as the bust of the '04 draft on national TV, seconds after the Hawks drafted him. Some say they began early in his rookie year, when noted role model and financial planner Antoine Walker pulled the 18-year-old aside and said, "You don't have to listen to the coach."
All we know is, Woodson and Smith body-slammed each other for six long years, and if Woody begged his GMs to airdrop this profoundly and profanely talented kid over Sacramento or Salt Lake City, there's no record of it. In fact, Mike Bibby told us Monday that when 'Coach and Josh did their thing,' the other guys in the gym considered it the most entertaining part of their day.'"

Battled with both GM Rick Sund and Josh Smith, and then the final nail. Got snaked by his old friend/teammate/assistant Larry Drew:

“We haven’t talked,” Woodson said. “I just want to talk about basketball. Let’s keep it that way.”

Drew confirmed that the two haven’t talked since Woodson left, and it’s not hard to figure why.

To get his first head-coaching job, Drew had to convince Hawks owners that he would do things differently than Woodson. Drew also told the owners he had ideas that Woodson never implemented–ideas that the owners also favored.

You can see why that might lead Woody to think his old friend and former teammate turned on him. But the bigger problem, according to Woody confidants, is that Woody believes Drew was making his case to be head coach with the team’s owners while Woody still had the job.

Good guy, tough luck coach, but he's a straight shooter. A defense first coach that's flexible.

Extend this man!

* In game adjustments, time out management and XO's
* Appropriately focusing on Melo, the best player on the team.
* Emphasizing defense and rebounding
* Keeping Toney Douglas mostly on the bench. Sorry, aside from one game, he has been a horrendous basketball player this year, especially as a PG.
* Having a quick hook with TD and Landry when they make crucial mistakes, instead of riding it out.
* Having the right kind of approach for this group of players.
* Giving Shumpert PG minutes over Bibby and TD. It's the right thing to do most nights.
* Simultaneously getting in JRs grill and pumping him up by telling him he believes in him and staying with him when he struggles. Recognizing that JR can be a big player for us, and someone we will need to play big if we want to win any playoff games without Stat and Lin.
* Overall good decisions with substitutions and rotations.

That said, no need to extend him now. Play out the season and make the decision then. He should be the front runner though. Results should not matter that much this post season given the circumstances of the year. What should matter in whether to sign him is the effort level that the players give. That has been through the roof so far, and that's a big part of what the coach has to do.

Without question thats been the impressive part

Solace wrote:

Uptown wrote:

Solace wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

Solace wrote:This is silly. We played very well as a team earlier this season. It was one or two individuals who weren't making enough effort in the coach's system. Now they buy into this coach's system and we win. That's great and I'm happy to see that we're winning, but two things: 1) Let's sustain it - we've had multiple impressive winning streaks this season and we're only a .500 team right now. 2) This is not a knock on MDA's system - it's proven to be a winning system. You can't take it out on the coach when your star player pulls a Marbury.

You can take it out of the coach if the stars buy into the next coach, play hard for them and play SIK defense.

Different systems. Stars tried in one and not the other. We had the talent to be a perennial high 50s to 60 win team like Phoenix was, but we'll never know because Carmelo wasn't interested. As far as Woodson, I'm impressed; but let's sustain it for a full season and into the playoffs. The 7 game winning streak was impressive, too, and that came crumbling down quickly.

MDA was a grand total of 121 w's and 167 L's. You make it sound like Melo didnt try at all in any of the games he played in which is not true. The problem with MDA, is he refused to make any adjustments, his in game coaching was horrific, he was way too passive and his priorities were all wrong. Woodson's emphasis on defense, rebounding, ball pressure and accountability top the list of his game plan while floor spacing on the offensive end topped MDA's list.

Like Frank Vogel, Woodson is a new voice and is motivating the players to play the right way/ or the way they need to play in order to win ball games. Thats the bottom line. So Woodson gets the credit for doing with this unit what MDA couldn't. so far so good. For the sake of the Knicks, I hope it conitnues.

What is the point of quoting the W-L record of MDA's entire tenure here? No coach could've won with those teams. He walked into a disaster. Between him and Walsh, it was turned around.

As for the criticisms, way too extreme. I did have some issues like giving too many minutes to certain players, but overall, MDA is still a very good coach. We've had a lot of very good coaches this decade and we always blame the coach. I hope Woodson works out.

nykshaknbake wrote:
Apparently no coach could win with the current roster except the 1st guy after MDA. It's inconceivable that Woodson could win with so much roster change and no training camp. He lost 2 starters so his team should be getting blown out on a nightly basis. All the MDA excuses apply here yet a middling levl coach apparently doesn't need them.

Cosign

I Mean

Csign!!!!!!!