Gymkata wrote:Kobe, too. He's held up as the gold-standard for all-around superstar, but it wasn't that long ago that he was getting ripped by Jackson for ball-hogging and insinuating that he wanted out of L.A. It took the total fleecing of Memphis for Gasol to really right the Kobe ship, yes?

at that time Kobe had already won 3 rings and was an integral part of that. For me that kinda gives you a much wider birth.

NYKBocker wrote:You can really see that Melo can be an SSOL player. He is just too hardwired of what Wojo described as a decade of bad habits. I am still holding out that a full training camp with MDA and this group will do wonders. The one problem right now with Melo that I think he can correct right now is his sticky fingers. When the ball is passed to him, he has 1 second to decide if he can make his move if not then swing it to move the ball. This is what Gallo was so good at when he was here. The ball kept moving.

Excellent point. He takes too long to decide what he's gonna do with the ball.

martin wrote:

MS wrote:Carmelo is not a smart player. He has pride on one side of the court. He looks off teammates and shots the ball.

I tell you what, MJ used to do the same. It took him forever and Phil Jax to convince him otherwise.

MDA stresses team ball. If he is around, I would give him until about mid-season to see if he can implement something that you can move forward with. Perhaps he has lost his Juice Card with the team but I get the sense that Amare has bought in. MDA does need a PG who some sense and sensibility with the PnR.

Skiles would be a good candidate for this team if MDA does not work out - all about sharing the ball on O and constant energy on D.

fishmike wrote:

martin wrote:

MS wrote:Carmelo is not a smart player. He has pride on one side of the court. He looks off teammates and shots the ball.

I tell you what, MJ used to do the same. It took him forever and Phil Jax to convince him otherwise.

MDA stresses team ball. If he is around, I would give him until about mid-season to see if he can implement something that you can move forward with. Perhaps he has lost his Juice Card with the team but I get the sense that Amare has bought in. MDA does need a PG who some sense and sensibility with the PnR.

Skiles would be a good candidate for this team if MDA does not work out - all about sharing the ball on O and constant energy on D.

I agree he could be a good fit.. but under what circumstances does he get hired? He takes crap from nobody and will fight with a star player till it gets him fired. Karl is a guy who caters to his big players. So does MDA. Skiles does NOT. Also Mil hasnt exactly beaten the doors down and Jennings isnt exaclty looking too special.

I don't care if my stars want to be coddled. If Skiles wants NY, then for me it would be the same situation as Phil Jackson first going to Chicago, no nonsense tough dude who was good at coaching D and preaching sharing.

MIL just doesn't have the talent and their GM sucks. Maggette? Salmons (in a non-contract year sucks)? Bogut is good but not super-star and they are missing Gooden (who is no savior but is decent for PF). And I don't rate Jennings as very high, for me just a flash in the pan last year with the 50 point outing; plus, that team really misses Ridnour who was the real driving force PG for that team.

Juice wrote:

tkf wrote:

fishmike wrote:

BigSm00th wrote:awesome article.

MDA is not the coach for this team. we have two of the top scorers in the game. we don't need his gimmick offense. we need a new coach who will garner the players respect, make them play defense, make them play as a team.

this team's gonna get stomped in the first round. adios

how is ball movement and spacing a gimmick?

I bet if we got Deanre Jordon, Reggie Evans, Raja Bell and Toney Allen we would be a good defensive team

ISO basketball is the WORST to watch.

ISO Basketball is also a thing of the past.. which is why when kobe goes into his iso mode, phil jackson digs into kobe....

it is not winning basketball.. those days are done!!

The key here is Phil openly holds Kobe accountable and calls the best basketball player out in the media without hesitation. Matter of fact recently he made an on blast statement that Ron Artest is better at running the Triangle offense than Kobe. A player who not only is the best in the sport but has also won chips with him as his feature piece....

Now ask yourself TKF or any other coach apologist what does D'AnToni do other than to make suggestions in the media that "Players may be pressing or fighting the System needing to trust each other more" and for fans to.."Take Some Prozac"......That's passive aggressive, generic, canned, bad attempt at humor, ultra sensitive, and no one will respect this approach. They will walk all over you eventually.

This coach will use up all moments of coddling on players like Duhon/Lee/Felton/Amar'e who have been extremely guilty of not playing up to expectations for long periods of time. But he sure is quick to blast young players or rookies like Hill/AR/Darko/Nate/even Gallo(at times). He's a fake bully, who needs to be bullied in the fullest sense himself. He's a good coach when it comes to offense, he just fails in so many other areas of his job which quite frankly consist a lot of PLAYER MANAGEMENT(the thing Phil Jackson gets applauded for most throughout his career).

Pringles simply sucks at defensive scheme implementation and managing of his personnel.... from egos, to rotations, to playing favorites, to appropriate disciplining, to correct player positions, to player assignments within his scheme, not assessing talent correctly, game awareness(clock and fouls) etc etc.

Brent Barry who actually is a very good in studio analyst who played probably for the best coach since 2000 in Popovich says our problems most certainly involve coaching philosophy and commitment to play the other side of the ball. He also mentions quite often teams love to play us because they know if pressure is applied to the team we'll crack eventually.

When Doc told TMAc to play this way TMac quit on him and got Doc fired. It happens all the time. This notion that a "good coach" can push or bully soft players into being tough is highlarious to me. Certain coaches have made breakthoughs with certain players and helped their careers. OThers have been cannon fodder.

Phil JAckson's won 11 rings. He can say anything he wants, and the quote makes ZERO sense because just this season Artest said he doesnt understand the offense, runs to a spot and stand there not knowing what to do next. From his mouth.

Every coach here has been killed by posters. Guys killed Chaney. Guys killed Lenny. EVERYONE killed Larry. Now its MDAs turn. When the talent gets better and PLAYS better the coaching will look a lot better also.

Was Nash a great defensive player in Dallas? Is Dirk now? Cmon people

fishmike wrote:

Juice wrote:

tkf wrote:

fishmike wrote:

BigSm00th wrote:awesome article.

MDA is not the coach for this team. we have two of the top scorers in the game. we don't need his gimmick offense. we need a new coach who will garner the players respect, make them play defense, make them play as a team.

this team's gonna get stomped in the first round. adios

how is ball movement and spacing a gimmick?

I bet if we got Deanre Jordon, Reggie Evans, Raja Bell and Toney Allen we would be a good defensive team

ISO basketball is the WORST to watch.

ISO Basketball is also a thing of the past.. which is why when kobe goes into his iso mode, phil jackson digs into kobe....

it is not winning basketball.. those days are done!!

The key here is Phil openly holds Kobe accountable and calls the best basketball player out in the media without hesitation. Matter of fact recently he made an on blast statement that Ron Artest is better at running the Triangle offense than Kobe. A player who not only is the best in the sport but has also won chips with him as his feature piece....

Now ask yourself TKF or any other coach apologist what does D'AnToni do other than to make suggestions in the media that "Players may be pressing or fighting the System needing to trust each other more" and for fans to.."Take Some Prozac"......That's passive aggressive, generic, canned, bad attempt at humor, ultra sensitive, and no one will respect this approach. They will walk all over you eventually.

This coach will use up all moments of coddling on players like Duhon/Lee/Felton/Amar'e who have been extremely guilty of not playing up to expectations for long periods of time. But he sure is quick to blast young players or rookies like Hill/AR/Darko/Nate/even Gallo(at times). He's a fake bully, who needs to be bullied in the fullest sense himself. He's a good coach when it comes to offense, he just fails in so many other areas of his job which quite frankly consist a lot of PLAYER MANAGEMENT(the thing Phil Jackson gets applauded for most throughout his career).

Pringles simply sucks at defensive scheme implementation and managing of his personnel.... from egos, to rotations, to playing favorites, to appropriate disciplining, to correct player positions, to player assignments within his scheme, not assessing talent correctly, game awareness(clock and fouls) etc etc.

Brent Barry who actually is a very good in studio analyst who played probably for the best coach since 2000 in Popovich says our problems most certainly involve coaching philosophy and commitment to play the other side of the ball. He also mentions quite often teams love to play us because they know if pressure is applied to the team we'll crack eventually.

so your a player apologist... whats the difference? Is Artest played here would he played hard on defense? Raja Bell was first NBA defensive team under MDA.

When Doc told TMAc to play this way TMac quit on him and got Doc fired. It happens all the time. This notion that a "good coach" can push or bully soft players into being tough is highlarious to me. Certain coaches have made breakthoughs with certain players and helped their careers. OThers have been cannon fodder.

Phil JAckson's won 11 rings. He can say anything he wants, and the quote makes ZERO sense because just this season Artest said he doesnt understand the offense, runs to a spot and stand there not knowing what to do next. From his mouth.

Every coach here has been killed by posters. Guys killed Chaney. Guys killed Lenny. EVERYONE killed Larry. Now its MDAs turn. When the talent gets better and PLAYS better the coaching will look a lot better also.

Was Nash a great defensive player in Dallas? Is Dirk now? Cmon people

I'm not a player apologist? Not sure how you got that out of what I wrote when I touched on "coddling" and "accountability" and "favoritism"

I think Melo sucks incorporating his talents into a TEAM concept

I think Amar'e is absolutely horrible at rebounding and manning the interior

I think Douglas is one of the most thirsty players I've ever seen in my lifetime

Don't get me started on Effries

I think Billups is out to pasture... probably should play coming off the bench at this stage in his career(I was suggesting Denver trade him last year for Iggy if at all possible so Lawson could run the show)

The rest of the roster is par for course throughout the league

Doesn't matter this coach has a far better roster than he's had since coming here and he has to show he's capable of getting the most out of whatever is set before him. Otherwise you're just indicting the GM as putting a poorly constructed roster together and stamping down Amar'e and Melo as less than desirable Stars in this game. We can't keep turning the roster over to prop up the coach. That's bass ackwards philosophy here

For the record I don't think Phil truly feels Ron Artest grasp the scheme better than Kobe. It's his way of telling Kobe cut out the bullchit. If D'AnToni's lack of ring credentials is the reason he has no say to speak blunt truth about his players 1-12 in the media when appropriate, once again we have the wrong coach on the bench.

nyk4ever wrote:

Vmart wrote:Put the torches and pitch forks down. Melo will be fine and so will the Knicks, you guys lack the patients that is need to be great.

well im not a doctor so...

Its not like you never made a mistake.

Juice wrote:Your 1-4 overview is suspect in a couple areas and let's be honest he had a playoff roster at seasons begin on paper. At least to grab the 8th spot. That's the problem with some of you fans Fishmike the credit you like to afford is often times laid on a little too thick. Most coaches in the NBA could accomplish 1-4. Mike was never brought here with the idea he was AVERAGE. He was brought here and compensated as if he's ELITE, a true DIFFERENCE MAKER. But going by what you posted.... ultimately you're telling me he's AVERAGE, you're cool with it for now...I'm not and rather dismiss the AVERAGE coach.

Okay that's cool, we understand each other here

So I think he did a good job. We never got a chance to see if he was a difference maker did we? If Gallo lights up the Bulls and Felton keeps Rose from dropping 40 a night and we advance wouldnt MDA's grade go from a B- to a strong A?

Once again the coach has a big imcomplete. Whole new team w/ 30 games left, big holes in the rotation, a key piece getting hurt, etc etc

How can anyone judge MDA's performance at this point? You have to look at body of work. These last 2.5 years have totally phucked up.