jrodmc wrote:Finestrg wrote:If nothing else, I'd just love to see them play at a quicker pace. I really think it would help us TREMDOUSLY. Compared to other teams, it's just so laborious watching the Knicks play most of the time. You watch other teams play on ESPN and TNT, they're getting the ball up quickly, one or two passes, open shot and someone's letting it fly with a good 10-15 secs. left on the clock! I'd love to see how we'd look playing like that. WE CAN PLAY LIKE THAT! It's not like we don't have the personnel. WE DO!! And we have a coach who'd prefer to play like that. So WTF's the problem!! Instead, our players always seem to be confused, scurrying around chewing up clock running to their spots on the floor, time is lost because guys are making mistakes getting to their spots, then more than half the time the ball just goes to Melo anyway, he holds it for an eternity trying to create a shot for himself while his teammates just stand there in their designated spots on the floor (notice there's never any cutting or any player movement whatsoever once Melo gets the ball in an ISO situation. Why is that?? Because guys don't want to get in his way?? Come on.. And why is none of this **** ever addressed or corrected? Because no one ever wants to approach Melo and say, 'hey, I know you love your ISO ball, but it's hurting the team--we're gonna try something different.'? Well Melo might finally have to be told. It might be that simple. But then flip side--he's successful with it, so do we completely abandon it? They have to work to get a happy medium out there. Of Melo's 20 shots he takes in a game give or take, how 'bout we see ISO ball only 5 times, not 15+ times? And Courtney Lee man -- I dunno what it is, if it's him not being aggressive enough or the system or what, but he needs to be more aggressive out there. There's quite a few issues going on out there but if nothing else, give me those two things the rest of the way: (1) play ball at a quicker pace (attack before teams have a chance to set up their defense. We have the personnel to play quicker, most of our guys want to play a quicker style--even Melo welcomed it, and so does the coach--this shouldn't even be an issue) and (2) a more aggressive/engaged Courtney Lee (and Derrick Rose too while we're at it). We just have so many ways to attack the **** out of teams and we're just not doing it. Not playing up to our collective capabilities--not even close.
SSOL? Didn't we live through that already? I guess Dantoni was a good coach? Like Derek Fisher was a good coach?
Why don't the 4 other players move and do SOMETHING to create an open look for each other AWAY FROM THE BALL? Do you really think Melo sits in practices and timeouts during games going "Yeah fellas, once I get the rock, please PLEASE PLEASE don't move, just stand perfectly still, because I just LOVE reliving my time playing with Landry Fields, Toney Douglas, etc, etc..." Is Horny saying this? "THAT'S IT! STAND STILL! DON'T DISTRACT MY OVERPAID OVERSIZED SLOW AS SHIT DOUCHE 3!!!"
First off, YES, D'Antoni is a good coach. I had absolutely no problem with him when he was here. You weren't excited for SSOL when he was hired?? I was...And YES, I like that style of ball. I think it would serve us well, some variant of that style. There's definitely something to that style of ball that works if you ask me (A LOT less thinking, more reacting and allowing talent to take over, get the opponent back on their heels defensively as opposed to allowing them to set up, more shot attempts up at the basket, etc..). We have the personnel, starting with our two new PGs, that can thrive in that system. Our coach, a good coach, wants to play that way. He said so. We all heard it. And we heard from all the players in the preseason, even Melo, saying they want to play that way--up and down. Then why the F aren't we playing like that?? I can't explain it. I mean WTF, was that all lip service?!? Practice what you preach fellas!!! We played HOU two times this year--once in preseason and once in the regular season at our place--and it was no contest both times. Why was that exactly?? I mean that team's basically James Harden and a bunch of role players. I'd even argue we have more talent than HOU pound for pound. So why weren't we even in both games?? Looks like they're executing their gameplan 100% out there and look good, look together, cohesive; and we're running around looking lost most times, like we don't even have a real gameplan or we have one and the players either don't fully grasp it or don't buy into it. If that's not accurate--then you tell me what's up out there!!! 4-6 record buddy, and underperforming BIGTIME. You tell me the major problems and tells me the solutions. Even gimmie one or two tweaks that can improve the situation (which is what I was going for here).
I'm not saying anyone's sitting around in practice and saying anything -- all I'm saying is what I'm seeing with my own eyes every game for the most part isn't right. SOMETHING'S WRONG out there and it's hard to put a finger on the root cause(s) and come up with a magic fix-all solution. I know this though -- things need to run a lot quicker, a lot smoother. I'd start there. I say get that damn ball up and the first good shot someone has, I don't even care if it's Maurice N'Dour (who a lot of people think is worthless yet the man has good offensive skills), shoot the damn ball!! Tell me you don't see multiple guys passing up shots, then it goes to Melo and he has to bail us out under 10 secs to go with ISO ball. That's got to stop. We need to DO A MUCH BETTER JOB of utilizing the rest of the talent on the floor besides Melo. Start there. Again, I understand the defense has been poor--no question about that--but with this roster, the personnel we have, I think it's a shame--make that A SIN--that we're not executing better offensively. With Carmelo Anthony, Jeff Hornacek our head coach and all the roster upgrades we made, how on earth are we not executing better offensively??? It's mind-boggling to me. Last game 2nd half, we saw a little step in the right direction in terms of improvements on both ends of the floor as well as strategy from the bench. Let's see if we can build off that now.
