MDA loves the zone cuz it can force teams into bad deep shots, which is what he wants. It also forces more passes which we can contest and attempt to steal. Also cuz it allows you to play lineups with your best players regardless of position ie. Gallo instead of a real SG.

Remember we have an unusually long team with guys who have good hands and anticipation. Steals and deflections are a big part of MDA's defense and always has been. He wants his players to get into the passing lanes.

EwingsGlass wrote:

franco12 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Gallo isn't a stopper but he's not a matador either. How soon we forget. What Gallo often does is back off smaller quicker players and uses his length to get a hand in their face. We're gonna use zones a lot too so who cares about man 2 man? With all the length we'd have on the floor it would be hard for teams to get all the way to the basket. Felton, Gallo, AR, Amar'e n Turiaf would be a nightmare on D cuz all of our guys can move well and block shots. The MDA Zone could work real well for long stretches.

To me- this is the thing I'm most worried about.

We're going to play zone a lot- and plan on everyone switching on defense. That is the philosphy of MDA, I guess. And something about that just made players last year, I think, lazy about defense because guys switched when there was no reason to.

And I'm sorry, good defensive teams don't use gimmicks and don't switch at every instance.

I agree we have better defenders- but the question is can we maybe have a better game plan for playing defense?

Can't be argued that the best defensive teams in the NBA play man coverage and have great help defense. That said, there are a lot of non-NBA teams that play excellent zone defense. I don't know enough to say that one form of defense is far superior to another, but I think it is clear that playing good man-to-man coverage requires skilled defenders at every position, otherwise use picks to switch the assignments until they have a favorable matchup. It seems like zone defense is the easiest to coach (and if players are lazy--- whether in zone defense or man coverage) the defense fails. The switch off of picks concept is not exactly a zone defense, it is just man-coverage without specified defensive assignments. In that sense, Gallo has to guard the SG at various points-- the question is still whether it is worth starting him there so you can put arguably your best 5 on the court at the same time or whether either Randolph or Gallo have to come off the bench.

Maybe this is a better question-- is it better to have Gallo initiating defense at the SG with a lineup of

Felton
Gallo
Randolph
Amare
Turiaf

or

have Randolph (or Gallo--but I am opposed to Gallo and his back) playing Center? I think both Randolph and Gallo are too young and fragile to have banging in the paint.

or

just have Randolph be the first big off the bench?

To be perfectly honest, I'm concerned with Gallo guarding the bigger true 4s down low just as much as I am about him guarding quicker players out on the perimeter. I don't see him succeeding defensively at either spot over long stretches..To me Gallo's best position on the floor is SF on both ends..The best lineup might have Gallo off the bench as the 6th man coming in for Randolph...We'll have to see. We do have a ton of versatility and interchangability now so that's good..

Finestrg wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

franco12 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Gallo isn't a stopper but he's not a matador either. How soon we forget. What Gallo often does is back off smaller quicker players and uses his length to get a hand in their face. We're gonna use zones a lot too so who cares about man 2 man? With all the length we'd have on the floor it would be hard for teams to get all the way to the basket. Felton, Gallo, AR, Amar'e n Turiaf would be a nightmare on D cuz all of our guys can move well and block shots. The MDA Zone could work real well for long stretches.

To me- this is the thing I'm most worried about.

We're going to play zone a lot- and plan on everyone switching on defense. That is the philosphy of MDA, I guess. And something about that just made players last year, I think, lazy about defense because guys switched when there was no reason to.

And I'm sorry, good defensive teams don't use gimmicks and don't switch at every instance.

I agree we have better defenders- but the question is can we maybe have a better game plan for playing defense?

Can't be argued that the best defensive teams in the NBA play man coverage and have great help defense. That said, there are a lot of non-NBA teams that play excellent zone defense. I don't know enough to say that one form of defense is far superior to another, but I think it is clear that playing good man-to-man coverage requires skilled defenders at every position, otherwise use picks to switch the assignments until they have a favorable matchup. It seems like zone defense is the easiest to coach (and if players are lazy--- whether in zone defense or man coverage) the defense fails. The switch off of picks concept is not exactly a zone defense, it is just man-coverage without specified defensive assignments. In that sense, Gallo has to guard the SG at various points-- the question is still whether it is worth starting him there so you can put arguably your best 5 on the court at the same time or whether either Randolph or Gallo have to come off the bench.

Maybe this is a better question-- is it better to have Gallo initiating defense at the SG with a lineup of

Felton
Gallo
Randolph
Amare
Turiaf

or

have Randolph (or Gallo--but I am opposed to Gallo and his back) playing Center? I think both Randolph and Gallo are too young and fragile to have banging in the paint.

or

just have Randolph be the first big off the bench?

To be perfectly honest, I'm concerned with Gallo guarding the bigger true 4s down low just as much as I am about him guarding quicker players out on the perimeter. I don't see him succeeding defensively at either spot over long stretches..To me Gallo's best position on the floor is SF on both ends..The best lineup might have Gallo off the bench as the 6th man coming in for Randolph...We'll have to see. We do have a ton of versatility and interchangability now so that's good..

The problem is if Gallo comes off the bench, who is the gunner in the starting lineup-- who spreads the floor? Without a three point threat, we look a lot more like the Bobcats then any other team...

Finestrg wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

franco12 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Gallo isn't a stopper but he's not a matador either. How soon we forget. What Gallo often does is back off smaller quicker players and uses his length to get a hand in their face. We're gonna use zones a lot too so who cares about man 2 man? With all the length we'd have on the floor it would be hard for teams to get all the way to the basket. Felton, Gallo, AR, Amar'e n Turiaf would be a nightmare on D cuz all of our guys can move well and block shots. The MDA Zone could work real well for long stretches.

To me- this is the thing I'm most worried about.

We're going to play zone a lot- and plan on everyone switching on defense. That is the philosphy of MDA, I guess. And something about that just made players last year, I think, lazy about defense because guys switched when there was no reason to.

And I'm sorry, good defensive teams don't use gimmicks and don't switch at every instance.

I agree we have better defenders- but the question is can we maybe have a better game plan for playing defense?

Can't be argued that the best defensive teams in the NBA play man coverage and have great help defense. That said, there are a lot of non-NBA teams that play excellent zone defense. I don't know enough to say that one form of defense is far superior to another, but I think it is clear that playing good man-to-man coverage requires skilled defenders at every position, otherwise use picks to switch the assignments until they have a favorable matchup. It seems like zone defense is the easiest to coach (and if players are lazy--- whether in zone defense or man coverage) the defense fails. The switch off of picks concept is not exactly a zone defense, it is just man-coverage without specified defensive assignments. In that sense, Gallo has to guard the SG at various points-- the question is still whether it is worth starting him there so you can put arguably your best 5 on the court at the same time or whether either Randolph or Gallo have to come off the bench.

Maybe this is a better question-- is it better to have Gallo initiating defense at the SG with a lineup of

Felton
Gallo
Randolph
Amare
Turiaf

or

have Randolph (or Gallo--but I am opposed to Gallo and his back) playing Center? I think both Randolph and Gallo are too young and fragile to have banging in the paint.

or

just have Randolph be the first big off the bench?

To be perfectly honest, I'm concerned with Gallo guarding the bigger true 4s down low just as much as I am about him guarding quicker players out on the perimeter. I don't see him succeeding defensively at either spot over long stretches..To me Gallo's best position on the floor is SF on both ends..The best lineup might have Gallo off the bench as the 6th man coming in for Randolph...We'll have to see. We do have a ton of versatility and interchangability now so that's good..

There is now way MDA starts Randolph who just got here over Gallo

Randolph & Douglas might be the only two who get off the bench- would not be surprised to see MDA try to go with just 7.

franco12 wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

franco12 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Gallo isn't a stopper but he's not a matador either. How soon we forget. What Gallo often does is back off smaller quicker players and uses his length to get a hand in their face. We're gonna use zones a lot too so who cares about man 2 man? With all the length we'd have on the floor it would be hard for teams to get all the way to the basket. Felton, Gallo, AR, Amar'e n Turiaf would be a nightmare on D cuz all of our guys can move well and block shots. The MDA Zone could work real well for long stretches.

To me- this is the thing I'm most worried about.

We're going to play zone a lot- and plan on everyone switching on defense. That is the philosphy of MDA, I guess. And something about that just made players last year, I think, lazy about defense because guys switched when there was no reason to.

And I'm sorry, good defensive teams don't use gimmicks and don't switch at every instance.

I agree we have better defenders- but the question is can we maybe have a better game plan for playing defense?

Can't be argued that the best defensive teams in the NBA play man coverage and have great help defense. That said, there are a lot of non-NBA teams that play excellent zone defense. I don't know enough to say that one form of defense is far superior to another, but I think it is clear that playing good man-to-man coverage requires skilled defenders at every position, otherwise use picks to switch the assignments until they have a favorable matchup. It seems like zone defense is the easiest to coach (and if players are lazy--- whether in zone defense or man coverage) the defense fails. The switch off of picks concept is not exactly a zone defense, it is just man-coverage without specified defensive assignments. In that sense, Gallo has to guard the SG at various points-- the question is still whether it is worth starting him there so you can put arguably your best 5 on the court at the same time or whether either Randolph or Gallo have to come off the bench.

Maybe this is a better question-- is it better to have Gallo initiating defense at the SG with a lineup of

Felton
Gallo
Randolph
Amare
Turiaf

or

have Randolph (or Gallo--but I am opposed to Gallo and his back) playing Center? I think both Randolph and Gallo are too young and fragile to have banging in the paint.

or

just have Randolph be the first big off the bench?

To be perfectly honest, I'm concerned with Gallo guarding the bigger true 4s down low just as much as I am about him guarding quicker players out on the perimeter. I don't see him succeeding defensively at either spot over long stretches..To me Gallo's best position on the floor is SF on both ends..The best lineup might have Gallo off the bench as the 6th man coming in for Randolph...We'll have to see. We do have a ton of versatility and interchangability now so that's good..

There is now way MDA starts Randolph who just got here over Gallo

Randolph & Douglas might be the only two who get off the bench- would not be surprised to see MDA try to go with just 7.

I disagree. I think AR will start and play 30-35 mins. a game. We traded David Lee to get this guy...He will be the second banana right alongside Amar'e. He should anyway imho..I think Amar'e/AR is the new face of the franchise. Gallo will serve as a support player to those two, albeit a good support player getting his fair share of mins. as well either starting or coming off the bench...I could be wrong but that's how I see it...Time to take the gloves off with this kid Randolph..I think it's time for this kid to assume a much bigger role than he had out in GS. I gotta believe he was brought here with that specifically in mind..We're in a much better place with AR logging 30-35 minutes every night imo. I think that's what he was brought here to do -- start, log a lot of minutes and be productive. Not to come off the bench as a sub.

franco12 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Gallo isn't a stopper but he's not a matador either. How soon we forget. What Gallo often does is back off smaller quicker players and uses his length to get a hand in their face. We're gonna use zones a lot too so who cares about man 2 man? With all the length we'd have on the floor it would be hard for teams to get all the way to the basket. Felton, Gallo, AR, Amar'e n Turiaf would be a nightmare on D cuz all of our guys can move well and block shots. The MDA Zone could work real well for long stretches.

To me- this is the thing I'm most worried about.

We're going to play zone a lot- and plan on everyone switching on defense. That is the philosphy of MDA, I guess. And something about that just made players last year, I think, lazy about defense because guys switched when there was no reason to.

And I'm sorry, good defensive teams don't use gimmicks and don't switch at every instance.

I agree we have better defenders- but the question is can we maybe have a better game plan for playing defense?

You know the saying about changing a pig's ear into a silk purse? Can't be done. Last year's team didn't have it in them. A lot of sons of matadors. This year's team may have a different mindset. A few timely blocks and steals, plus the Garden's propensity for demanding defensive stops, may yield a different result this season.

EwingsGlass wrote:If healthy, I bet Azu wins the SG role out of training camp.

If this happens, look for Chandler to be shopped.

EwingsGlass wrote:

Sangfroid wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:If healthy, I bet Azu wins the SG role out of training camp.

If this happens, look for Chandler to be shopped.

I thought Chandler was currently being shopped.

With Walker and Landry on the roster and the fact Chandler is in a contact year, Chandler should be on his way out. Knicks need better ball handling in the backcourt/shooting

Allow Gallanari to dominate the second unit with the green light with probable mismatches.

The starting 5 will pound the offensive boards, Chandler now has no pressure of trying to match Gallo shot selectiion with 3 point bombs just to please the coach.

That starting 5 should have awesome defensive chemistry that would in turn increase and create more fast break opportunities.

fishmike wrote:

franco12 wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:

franco12 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Gallo isn't a stopper but he's not a matador either. How soon we forget. What Gallo often does is back off smaller quicker players and uses his length to get a hand in their face. We're gonna use zones a lot too so who cares about man 2 man? With all the length we'd have on the floor it would be hard for teams to get all the way to the basket. Felton, Gallo, AR, Amar'e n Turiaf would be a nightmare on D cuz all of our guys can move well and block shots. The MDA Zone could work real well for long stretches.

To me- this is the thing I'm most worried about.

We're going to play zone a lot- and plan on everyone switching on defense. That is the philosphy of MDA, I guess. And something about that just made players last year, I think, lazy about defense because guys switched when there was no reason to.

And I'm sorry, good defensive teams don't use gimmicks and don't switch at every instance.

I agree we have better defenders- but the question is can we maybe have a better game plan for playing defense?

Can't be argued that the best defensive teams in the NBA play man coverage and have great help defense. That said, there are a lot of non-NBA teams that play excellent zone defense. I don't know enough to say that one form of defense is far superior to another, but I think it is clear that playing good man-to-man coverage requires skilled defenders at every position, otherwise use picks to switch the assignments until they have a favorable matchup. It seems like zone defense is the easiest to coach (and if players are lazy--- whether in zone defense or man coverage) the defense fails. The switch off of picks concept is not exactly a zone defense, it is just man-coverage without specified defensive assignments. In that sense, Gallo has to guard the SG at various points-- the question is still whether it is worth starting him there so you can put arguably your best 5 on the court at the same time or whether either Randolph or Gallo have to come off the bench.

Maybe this is a better question-- is it better to have Gallo initiating defense at the SG with a lineup of

Felton
Gallo
Randolph
Amare
Turiaf

or

have Randolph (or Gallo--but I am opposed to Gallo and his back) playing Center? I think both Randolph and Gallo are too young and fragile to have banging in the paint.

or

just have Randolph be the first big off the bench?

To be perfectly honest, I'm concerned with Gallo guarding the bigger true 4s down low just as much as I am about him guarding quicker players out on the perimeter. I don't see him succeeding defensively at either spot over long stretches..To me Gallo's best position on the floor is SF on both ends..The best lineup might have Gallo off the bench as the 6th man coming in for Randolph...We'll have to see. We do have a ton of versatility and interchangability now so that's good..

There is now way MDA starts Randolph who just got here over Gallo

Randolph & Douglas might be the only two who get off the bench- would not be surprised to see MDA try to go with just 7.

I'm all in favor of a 7 man rotation... Especially the way this team is build with interchangable parts no reason that 7 guys wouldnt play close to the same amount of minute (7 guys = 34 minutes each). The 8th guy would most likely be an extra bigman for size, but I would think his minutes would be much less.

PG Felton
SG Chandler
SF Gallo
PF Amare
C Turiaf
bench: Douglas, AR, Drago

Azu may not be ready to play. I'm under the impression that Turiaf will be. Walker showed nice things last year but will need to clearly earn his minutes. Same with the other guys.

On the ZONE DEFENSE:

Its just like any defense. Its as good as the guys who play it. Look at the starting lineup I have up there. One tough PG and 4 long athletic bigs. Especially when AR comes in we will be an ultra long team. The zone defense will force teams to beat you with the jumper and there are a lot of teams that just dont shoot that well.

Never in a million years would a seven man rotation work, players would be completely dead by the 8 min mark in the 4th qtr, on top of that, your going to be run doown and beat up, by late feb.

Thats just all around not a good idea