This thing with Hakeem is all about Woody and his use of his friends as his support system. This makes sense and I think he's really learned from his mistakes in the past and wants to make sure that he's doing EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to give this team a chance to succeed. I wasn't sure about Woody, but he's been making nothing but smart moves that make sense even if some don't like them. You have to respect that Woody has a vision for what he wants this team to be and he's executing that vision.

“It was something I wanted to do for Mike”

“Mike showed a flash toward the last part of the season of what he can do. You can tell he is comfortable making the right move to succeed.”

“When you work with a player for hours, days and weeks, you want to see them play. You want to see how quickly they improve and mature.”

mrKnickShot wrote:

nixluva wrote:Ewing seems to have this thing where he keeps making poor decisions. The decision to push for a trade. The refusal to accept a lower coaching position and build up his credentials. I just think he's missing something in his prideful attitude and hurting himself.

This thing with Hakeem is all about Woody and his use of his friends as his support system. This makes sense and I think he's really learned from his mistakes in the past and wants to make sure that he's doing EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to give this team a chance to succeed. I wasn't sure about Woody, but he's been making nothing but smart moves that make sense even if some don't like them. You have to respect that Woody has a vision for what he wants this team to be and he's executing that vision.

Good post Nix.

TO be honest my biggest knock on Woody was that he didn't seem to have a plan. No vision about the game and what he wanted to do. He scared me in the playoffs with his lack of ability to adjust, but now i'm thinking he was just in a bad situation and with time he's been able to more clearly figure out how he could structure things and how exactly he wants the team to play on BOTH ENDS.

Woody isn't too proud to solicit help and the help he's getting is first rate. He and Glen seem to be completely in sync and that is so key to a teams success. For SOOOOOOOO long this team has not had a completion of it's coaches vision. The MDA years were maddeningly insufficient in terms of the roster fitting with the coaches vision. This roster has been retooled and is shaped to fit even more with Woody and what he wants to do now. I fully expect the team to get off to a much better start than in previous years. The 82 game schedule will test the rosters older players, but hopefully they have so much depth that it won't effect them too negatively.

mrKnickShot wrote:

nixluva wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

nixluva wrote:Ewing seems to have this thing where he keeps making poor decisions. The decision to push for a trade. The refusal to accept a lower coaching position and build up his credentials. I just think he's missing something in his prideful attitude and hurting himself.

This thing with Hakeem is all about Woody and his use of his friends as his support system. This makes sense and I think he's really learned from his mistakes in the past and wants to make sure that he's doing EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to give this team a chance to succeed. I wasn't sure about Woody, but he's been making nothing but smart moves that make sense even if some don't like them. You have to respect that Woody has a vision for what he wants this team to be and he's executing that vision.

Good post Nix.

TO be honest my biggest knock on Woody was that he didn't seem to have a plan. No vision about the game and what he wanted to do. He scared me in the playoffs with his lack of ability to adjust, but now i'm thinking he was just in a bad situation and with time he's been able to more clearly figure out how he could structure things and how exactly he wants the team to play on BOTH ENDS.

Woody isn't too proud to solicit help and the help he's getting is first rate. He and Glen seem to be completely in sync and that is so key to a teams success. For SOOOOOOOO long this team has not had a completion of it's coaches vision. The MDA years were maddeningly insufficient in terms of the roster fitting with the coaches vision. This roster has been retooled and is shaped to fit even more with Woody and what he wants to do now. I fully expect the team to get off to a much better start than in previous years. The 82 game schedule will test the rosters older players, but hopefully they have so much depth that it won't effect them too negatively.

I appreciate your optimism, however, I need to see how Woody gets this team to blend. While I too love the offseason moves/extra work. I love that he communicates and has the respect of the team.

I need to be sold that he can run this offense.

OF course they have to actually execute what he's asking them to do. What I like is that Woody isn't just talking about how he wants them to go inside more. He's actively making sure that they have the kind of preparation to succeed and have confidence in playing in the post. If you think about it, he's looking to get some of that excellent inside/out play that Hakeem and the Rockets had.

If he's successful in improving STAT's post game along with Tyson and even Melo, that really opens up the offense to be a lot different than it was. Then you really increase the effectiveness of Felton and Kidd. You really give Novak more time to get his shots off. Nothing stretches a defense out more than having legit post offense. If STAT and TYson get down court and setup inside quickly that really helps to put pressure on defenses. IMO all Tyson needs is a solid jump hook and a little mix of pump fakes to draw fouls. It just makes the offense so much harder to defend when Tyson is a threat to look for his offense in the post. The you have single coverage on STAT and Melo. No matter who sits you ALWAYS have a serious post threat between Melo, STAT and Tyson. That's a very legit offensive attack.

We talk about how Dwight and Lebron are athletic freaks, but Hakeem, to me, has them both beat. A legit seven-footer that moved like a two-guard.

Gymkata wrote:Really love this. I know he's well-respected around the league, but I sometimes feel like Hakeem might be one of the more underrated--or at least under-talked-about--all time greats.

We talk about how Dwight and Lebron are athletic freaks, but Hakeem, to me, has them both beat. A legit seven-footer that moved like a two-guard.

Hakeem was 6'10"...I would venture to say he might have been a touch under that....

holfresh - Carmelo Anthony can only benefit from having his running buddies elevate their inside games. If he adds another wrinkle, that is only one more thing for a defender to be concerned about.

Melo's Olympics experience is another huge plus in The Answer Man's Book Of Love. Can we give extra credit to a player who stays extra sharp in the off season?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/sports/basketball/how-hakeem-olajuwon-became-invested-in-the-knicks.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share

I can't imagine a better tutor than Hakeem!!! Just watching the workout videos you can tell that he's very detail oriented and is teaching not only the moves but the thought process behind the moves. That has more impact than just memorizing footwork. The more time he spends with our players the more they'll get to learn his mind on how to play BB. IMO that's a huge plus for this team. We've got a lot of talent and it's still possible to get more out of that talent.