franco12 wrote:Am I the only one who would want to bring Patrick Ewing in?

If you are going with a coach specifically for defense, and potentially positioning him to take over should Dolan realize what crap MDA is - then go for Ewing.

Defensive minded big man who to some degree, by default would require D'Antoni to find a sizable 5 that he could accept.

Plus Ewing was always a fan of setting extremely high, useless picks. That mindset fit's perfectly with schemes.

Sangfroid wrote:

DrAlphaeus wrote:

martin wrote:that and boinking the owner's daughter.

Ha, forgot about that... puts that hip surgery he had in a different light.

That's called rehabbing.

Doubt Old Montana's getting any rehab value out of boinking. The dude's got no spine left. He probably just lays on his back while she works out on top. Can you actually see that old fool trying to prop himself up over that?

You know what, nevermind. I'm getting myself sick visualizing this.

Can we talk about 70's porn again, instead?

JrZyHuStLa wrote:

TheGame wrote:MDA needs to bring in someone and let that person run the defense. Our defensive scheme is flawed. Several players have said as much. I am not sure if MDA is not paying enough attention to details or if the system is too complicated or if the system is too simple. Whatever it is, it is not working and I don't think it is just a matter of personnel (although our personnel certainly is not helping). We need a defensive specialist in here to put an emphasis on defense and to develop schemes these guys can actually run and that will actually work.

D'antoni won't be willing to commit to his defensive assistant's strategy, because it would require slowing down the pace. And that's the key ingredient to his gimmick offense.

I think many would have called Phil's triangle a gimmick too, but his gimmick has several rings - and MDA's has nothing, really.

But - anytime I've watched the triangle - besides not really being able to figure it out- it always seems that the teams running it get good, high % shots/fouls.

Yes, Phil has had the best players in the league at any time - so naturally, it works.

But for MDA- its about getting open looks, and there is a preference for the 3pt line - so its not really about getting high % shots - just open looks from whereever.

And I think that makes it a gimmick.

franco12 wrote:

JrZyHuStLa wrote:

TheGame wrote:MDA needs to bring in someone and let that person run the defense. Our defensive scheme is flawed. Several players have said as much. I am not sure if MDA is not paying enough attention to details or if the system is too complicated or if the system is too simple. Whatever it is, it is not working and I don't think it is just a matter of personnel (although our personnel certainly is not helping). We need a defensive specialist in here to put an emphasis on defense and to develop schemes these guys can actually run and that will actually work.

D'antoni won't be willing to commit to his defensive assistant's strategy, because it would require slowing down the pace. And that's the key ingredient to his gimmick offense.

I think many would have called Phil's triangle a gimmick too, but his gimmick has several rings - and MDA's has nothing, really.

But - anytime I've watched the triangle - besides not really being able to figure it out- it always seems that the teams running it get good, high % shots/fouls.

Yes, Phil has had the best players in the league at any time - so naturally, it works.

But for MDA- its about getting open looks, and there is a preference for the 3pt line - so its not really about getting high % shots - just open looks from whereever.

And I think that makes it a gimmick.

The biggest difference between the two is that one has yielded championship after championship like you mentioned, while the other is still unproven. Of course having Michael and Kobe helps, but Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire aren't exactly chopped liver.

Let's get serious. The Knicks made a stab at playing professional defense during Games 1 and 2 in Boston, but coming away down, 0-2, despite their sincere effort to D-up must have taken the heart out of them, because once they got home they fulfilled every Mike "No'' D'Antoni stereotype.

-Bob Ryan, Boston Globe

nixluva wrote:

JrZyHuStLa wrote:"With all due respect to that team playing its home games in Madison Square Garden, actual playoff competition began for the Celtics yesterday afternoon.

That is to say, some honest-to-God defense was played.

Let's get serious. The Knicks made a stab at playing professional defense during Games 1 and 2 in Boston, but coming away down, 0-2, despite their sincere effort to D-up must have taken the heart out of them, because once they got home they fulfilled every Mike "No'' D'Antoni stereotype.

-Bob Ryan, Boston Globe

This is the kind of crap that just defies logic. So Ryan doesn't think that perhaps Billups being out and STAT being a shell of himself might have had something to do with the results of that series???? Last I checked the Heat was 100% healthy and already a better team than the Knicks.

The Heat at least has had the entire season together to get things right. The Knicks had just cleaned out the cupboard and basically the only real talent they got back was CB and Melo. So the Knicks lost a lot of depth and had very little chemistry.

The biggest issue to me is that in addition to all the other things mentioned the strength of the Knicks isn't defense and any team with STAT and MELO as it's 2 best players and not much else is gonna be weak on D no matter who is coaching!!!! The offense was actually hampered after the trade. We lost the versatility and speed that made SSOL work. So it's not like we had our offense running at top level. If it was that would've made a huge difference in the series. Even if the team only avg'd another 5% more production it could've meant wins.

We'll see how all of that talk goes once this team regroups next year. I think it's fair to say that everyone knows this wasn't the best this Knicks team could be. We'll see who's laughing and talking crap next year. I'm confident the Knicks will be one of the top teams in the East next year.

If the Knicks beat Boston in 6 games because Garnett and Pierce were hurt all series, would you be saying the same things for Boston in regards to the way you say them for New York?

Since the main reason to let him off the hook was all the chaos and turnover of the roster, what if the same turnover occurs next year? Billups gets traded, injuries other trades? Donnie is really building for the following year (cap room). So, these passes might need to be extended for another year.

I am all for bringing in M. Brown but can an assistant work if forced on a coach? I do not think that Phil Jackson need to be cajoled to take on Tex ...

We go into next year with CB and Melo and I would assume many of the same vets we ended the year with. We'll probably add another Vet big to help inside. I would guess another fast PG off the bench. I just don't see how this team won't be better and one of the top teams in the East next year.
People are taking the fact that we got swept by the C's that this team isn't already better than the team we started the year with and that's not the case. This team is better and hopefully we can improve it a bit more this summer.

She asked me if it has all wheel drive. I tell her no. If it has a tape player, I tell her it has a hard drive. She asks if its fast, I say yes. She then asks "whats the hurry". I say its fun.

She asks if its good in crashs cuz its kind of small. I say its made to outrun trouble. I tell her fast cars are made to finish first and handleing and brakes are very important. Not just a straight away.

So she says if your racing a caddilac you don't want to crash into it.

I say yeah, the idea is to finish ahead.

She then says its like "SSOL", and if the right pieces are in place the other team has to worry about matching up with you?

I say, somting like that. "Oh", she says,

Why didn't you just say so!

A few weeks later I pick her up again for lunch and she askes if the car is all finished with all the modifications and new tires.

Before I answer she says its very nice and shiney and looks fast, but did I put new brakes on it yet?

Naw, still looking.

"new tires"? Not yet.

So she askes if I can take it to the track? I said "Yeah, but it won't do much on it, but I can get on it with the car". What about a caddilac"? Naw mom, I replaied, no Caddys allowed like your thinking.

She humphs and says: "So its like getting some nice new fancy players and making the playoffs but you don't have the right roster to really do anything once your there"! "yeah mom" I repllied.

She then asks: Are you a good driver? On the track that is?

Before I can answer she says: "Well, if you don't have the right parts than how good can you really be if the car don't work like you want it?"

I agree with her.

Then she interrups me; "but if you got all the parts and the car is really good, if you can't drive well it would be apparent?".

Knowing she will interupp me anyway I say nothing.

She then crosses her arms and says: " Well that old car you had a few years ago you fixed was really good and won with right"? "So it would be safe to say you'll do it again when you get it together!".

"Good going mom!"

"SOnny, one more thing: who the hell is that JrZyHuStLa fella on the UK?"

"he thinks MDA is a bad driver but the new car is not finish"!

She replies: "So he wants to blame MDA and thinks the team could do better even though the roster is incomplete"

"Yeah. Something like that"

"Oh" she replies, "Well if he wants a caddilac then he should get one!"

"Whats for lunch?"

mrKnickShot wrote:I think that most of us agree that if the Knicks do not make it out of the first round this coming season and/or MDA does not show significant improvement he should be canned. I guess the problem is:

Since the main reason to let him off the hook was all the chaos and turnover of the roster, what if the same turnover occurs next year? Billups gets traded, injuries other trades? Donnie is really building for the following year (cap room). So, these passes might need to be extended for another year.

I am all for bringing in M. Brown but can an assistant work if forced on a coach? I do not think that Phil Jackson need to be cajoled to take on Tex ...

The difference between now and then is that D'Antoni was told that basically everything that proved to be an asset was going to be dealt by Donnie Walsh to clear cap space for "LeBron James." I put that in quotes because I knew that he was never going to come here, but I don't really disagree with the process of clearing out Isiah's mess. Everybody knew that the team wasn't very talented, wasn't going to be that good, and in the event that it was, guys were going to be traded for expiring contracts and draft picks. In reality, D'Antoni took the job at a time when he was the most sought-after coach and could have gone to a better situation.

Now, the team has more talent and you're not going to see that type of significant roster turnover, even if Billups is dealt. They acquired superstar players in Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, and now it's time for the team to actually have success. It's not completely done as it stands right now, but now it's going to be Mike's job to make the team play better defense and have more success. The other factor is that next year is the final year of his contract, so New York isn't tied to him and doesn't have to pay him any money.