Who knows if Woody will have them motivated like this the rest of the season, but if he does it won't be an indictment on MDA's system, it'll be an indictment on his ability to coach a roster diverse in talents and personalities.

crzymdups wrote:

MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:

Uptown wrote:When asked whats been different since Woodson took over, Chandler said, "He stays on us. During practice, during warmups and is constantly on us during the games (barking instructions) and during timeouts. He keeps us on our toes." Dare I say that word 'Accountability'. Woodson is constantly coaching and paying attention to the details.

Loved the timely timeout to try and stop the momentum of the Pacers run. Two plays later, he called another one when Feilds missed a defensive assignment. He let Feild no about it immediately. After the second timeout, the run was over and the ship was righted.

I remember when MDA had Melo paying point forward and he along with Stat were struggling to connect. Melo said he would get with Stat and figure it out. Why? Isn't that the coaches job? Woodson would have pulled Melo aside and said, "Pass the F*&%*^#@ ball!" Problem fixed. I love that the players no longer have to police themselves.

Mr Uptown, a question for you: why is expecting players to be responsible for their actions a bad approach?

i don't think it's necessarily a BAD approach, but it's becoming clear it wasn't the right approach for this team.

and i agree with those who say that MDA stubbornly stuck to his system. he almost seemed to be more concerned with proving it worked that actually winning games. and more importantly - trying to prove it worked rather than adapt the game plan to the very obvious talents he had here.

i keep harping on it, but it really does remind me of don nelson as knicks coach. hoping woodson can be as successful as JVG.

Agreed. It seems as if MDA would rather step down, than change his system. He came with the tag of being a stubborn coach more fixated on proven the nay-sayers wrong about his system. It was clear as day, that the system, as he see's it was playing tug-of-war with some of the players and MDA tapped-out.

MSG3 wrote:I respect everyone's opinion on MDA and the relationship with Melo issue. But it does indeed look like all the complaints about MDA look like they were valid during this small but very positive sample size. Defensive intensity, communicating with players, set plays, proper use of timeouts, longer practices, etc.

Who knows if Woody will have them motivated like this the rest of the season, but if he does it won't be an indictment on MDA's system, it'll be an indictment on his ability to coach a roster diverse in talents and personalities.

Agreed with the bolded. I'll also add the word of the week, 'Accountability'.

MDA kept running his system because he wanted the FO to adapt and make the changes (trading Melo). Dolan said nobody is getting traded so made the right decision and walked.

markvmc wrote:Also, shots are falling with more regularity, but that's probably just down to increased optimism at the end of a negative/stressful time.

Shots are not falling with more regularity. Optimism never made anyone shoot better. The Knicks only shot 42 per cent last night. It was the defense that hung tough. We hit clutch shots in the fourth quarter of a game they had to grind out. That is a byproduct of discipline.

Anyway, my main point was that the system being played looks much the same to me.

markvmc wrote:Optimism breeds confidence, and confidence can make people shoot better. Even if we only shot 42% last night, we were shooting better than that the first two games. Smith, who couldn't buy a shot, suddenly couldn't miss. Amare making mid range jumpers, too.

Anyway, my main point was that the system being played looks much the same to me.

I think you need to look closer. It is slowly changing to a very different system. Watch the downscreens and the crossscreens. Watch that everything is now NOT the high PnR. Watch that Melo and Novak are setting picks now too and, instead of rolling, they are sliding to an open spot for a J.

WATCH THEM PLAY DEFENSE AND REBOUND!

markvmc wrote:Optimism breeds confidence, and confidence can make people shoot better. Even if we only shot 42% last night, we were shooting better than that the first two games.

markvmc - You have it backwards. The Knicks shot 53 per cent from the field against Portland and 50 per cent from the field against The Pacers in the first game at home. You simply cannot just throw random ish out there to make a point. Sorry.

yellowboy90 wrote:Another thought: For a team with no point guard to start the season and little time to practice why not put the defense before offense? Also, people who metion that the system is the same except for a few tweaks here and there. Tweaks are what seperate good teams from bad teams. Its what stop a team from going on a 10 pt run or what gets your team on a 10 point run.

yellowboy - excellent point. sometimes, it makes you wonder how carefully people watch games. Most games are decided by less than five points. You nailed it. The difference between winning a losing is a tweak.

We must improve our free throw shooting

misterearl wrote:Thank YOU

mrKnickShot wrote:
I think you need to look closer. It is slowly changing to a very different system. Watch the downscreens and the crossscreens. Watch that everything is now NOT the high PnR. Watch that Melo and Novak are setting picks now too and, instead of rolling, they are sliding to an open spot for a J.

WATCH THEM PLAY DEFENSE AND REBOUND!

Forget the scoring (19 points). Forget the assists (6). Lin had 6 rebounds. That is huge. Any guard who is willing to hit the boards is a friend of mine.

It demonstrates the ability to do the things that win games, whether the shot is falling or not. Momma said there would be days the shot would not fall. She said, "boy, you gotta box out!"

Let that be a lesson to everyone.

7 rebounds broa..Get it right!!!