ShellTopAdidas wrote:

eViL wrote:

s3231 wrote:To me it's actually pretty simple what the problem is....another way to say what crzy posted as his title.

MDA is trying to get us to play championship basketball (e.g. sharing the ball on offense and getting open shots) while Melo is trying to play 1st round playoff basketball (going iso and taking a significant % of his shots with someone guarding him).

The latter option (Melo's way of playing) never wins championships because guys that do that (e.g. look at Pierce pre and post title) are not efficient and they hurt their respective teams because they are taking the most shots. When a team cannot score efficiently, they are 99.9% of the time not going to win a title.

Melo needs to adapt. D'Antoni is trying to give him some leeway with the iso but Melo has to determine when he can/can't go that route. It really shouldn't be that difficult as the first priority should be team basketball and if the shot clock is winding down or we need a last second bucket to win/tie, then Melo should get the ball to make a play (just like Kobe's Lakers and Jordan's Bulls would have done).

But when you see the guy try to force it on a # of possessions by running up the court and taking a contested shot within the first 12 seconds of the shot clock....I mean seriously. He is still like old Pierce, old Kobe, old Jordan (pre Phil Jax) and until he figures out how to be efficient and how to use his individual talent to make other guys better, then this team won't be a contender. That is what great players do and hell, Lin even showed that ability when he was running the offense for those 7 games (picking his spots).

If MDA can't get Melo to realize this, I don't know why we would chase him out of town for another coach (unless it's Phil Jax b/c he has specific experience getting stars to do this). Plus, even if we got Phil, you would have the opportunity cost of not getting the most out of Lin....

This is why I laugh when 90% of the fans think getting rid of is the answer.

pretty much how i feel.

Me too!

Aye.

SupremeCommander wrote:to me, the problem is that Melo, Amar'e, Pringles, and now even Lin all insist on doing it their way. The band is not playing off the same sheet of music

Who do you think is right tho? IMO MDA and Lin are at least trying to play TEAM BALL. STAT is fine on offense, but doesn't give nearly the same effort on D and the Boards. If he actually help defended, blocked out and rebounded this team would've won more games. STAT was far more active help defending last year.

Melo is just not really looking to get his points in the flow of the offense. The same way STAT, Novak, Tyson, Fields etc. all take most of their shots with not much defensive pressure, Melo seems to want to always shoot against an entrenched defender, which is low %. Melo is performing below his career numbers and even tho he wasn't very efficient before, he's even WORSE now:

	GP   MPG  FGM-FGA	 FG%	3PM-3PA	3P%	FTM-FTA	FT%	RPG	APG	BLKPG	STLPG	PFPG	TOPG	PPG
2011-12	32  34.3  7.3-18.3	.400	1.1-3.7	.308	5.5-6.8	.812	5.9	3.8	0.4	1.0	2.7	2.7	21.3
Career	623 36.3  8.8-19.3	.456	0.8-2.5	.319	6.3-7.8	.806	6.3	3.1	0.5	1.1	3.0	3.0	24.7

If Melo would let himself be coached by MDA, he could become a much better player than he has been. He could become a very efficient scorer. Look at P. Pierce. He doesn't try to dominate the ball anymore. He picks his spots and kills teams within the offense. Of course there will always be times when you need to go ISO, but you want to limit them.

Also it's different when a PG dominates the ball and attacks a defense because a PG is always a threat to pass the ball and has the ability to actually do both. So teams are at a greater disadvantage when a skilled PG is attacking them. The PG is quicker and more agile. The PG usually has greater court vision and passing skills. I can fully understand the idea of wanting the PG to be the focus of the offense. UNLESS you have a player that also has similar skills, like Lebron or a big like Duncan or Dirk. Melo could easily be that kind of player if he worked at it. That's not really what he wants to do.

nixluva wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:to me, the problem is that Melo, Amar'e, Pringles, and now even Lin all insist on doing it their way. The band is not playing off the same sheet of music

Who do you think is right tho? IMO MDA and Lin are at least trying to play TEAM BALL. STAT is fine on offense, but doesn't give nearly the same effort on D and the Boards. If he actually help defended, blocked out and rebounded this team would've won more games. STAT was far more active help defending last year.

Melo is just not really looking to get his points in the flow of the offense. The same way STAT, Novak, Tyson, Fields etc. all take most of their shots with not much defensive pressure, Melo seems to want to always shoot against an entrenched defender, which is low %. Melo is performing below his career numbers and even tho he wasn't very efficient before, he's even WORSE now:

	GP   MPG  FGM-FGA	 FG%	3PM-3PA	3P%	FTM-FTA	FT%	RPG	APG	BLKPG	STLPG	PFPG	TOPG	PPG
2011-12	32  34.3  7.3-18.3	.400	1.1-3.7	.308	5.5-6.8	.812	5.9	3.8	0.4	1.0	2.7	2.7	21.3
Career	623 36.3  8.8-19.3	.456	0.8-2.5	.319	6.3-7.8	.806	6.3	3.1	0.5	1.1	3.0	3.0	24.7

If Melo would let himself be coached by MDA, he could become a much better player than he has been. He could become a very efficient scorer. Look at P. Pierce. He doesn't try to dominate the ball anymore. He picks his spots and kills teams within the offense. Of course there will always be times when you need to go ISO, but you want to limit them.

Also it's different when a PG dominates the ball and attacks a defense because a PG is always a threat to pass the ball and has the ability to actually do both. So teams are at a greater disadvantage when a skilled PG is attacking them. The PG is quicker and more agile. The PG usually has greater court vision and passing skills. I can fully understand the idea of wanting the PG to be the focus of the offense. UNLESS you have a player that also has similar skills, like Lebron or a big like Duncan or Dirk. Melo could easily be that kind of player if he worked at it. That's not really what he wants to do.

I don't disagree with you. I do think it's counterproductive to assign right/wrong in this situation because it is hardly black or white. Melo is definitely the biggest piece in this because he's the most important to the Knicks success or lack thereof.

Pringles went into the year saying that Melo was talented enough to be the team's point forward. I understand that that decision was born of necessity, but life's all about choices, and Pringles chose that path.

Lin comes out of nowhere and gets to SI covers. He's kicking butt when no one has any tape on him. He's an international phenom and is the NBA's posterboy.

Now the Knicks ar eplaying better opponents, they know all about Lin's short comings, and Lin won't or can't get Amar'e the ball in the last couple of minutes. The system enourages Field sand Lin to get those looks. And when Melo gains position in the post Lin doesn't get him the ball.

Furthermore, all the pressure is with Melo. He's in a situation where he can't win. He wins the game, that's what he's supposed to do. If he loses?

Then you got Amar'e whose attitude seemingly is 'I was the man last year. you wan tme to do the dirty work? PUH-LEAZE'

Personally, I think the coach needs to tinker with his system so Landry Fields isn't expected to take big shots, Amar'e needs to be held accountable for not hitting the glass, Melo needs to get everyone else involved, and Lin needs to feature Amar'e and Melo in the 4th when the alternative is him shooting 5-18 with 6 TOs.

While I'm not saying that you're doing this, I think this pick a side and scream as loud as you can about it is insane. Frankly, the board hasn't been this bad since Isiah was at the forefront

nixluva wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:

nixluva wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:to me, the problem is that Melo, Amar'e, Pringles, and now even Lin all insist on doing it their way. The band is not playing off the same sheet of music

Melo is performing below his career numbers and even tho he wasn't very efficient before, he's even WORSE now:

	GP   MPG  FGM-FGA	 FG%	3PM-3PA	3P%	FTM-FTA	FT%	RPG	APG	BLKPG	STLPG	PFPG	TOPG	PPG
2011-12	32  34.3  7.3-18.3	.400	1.1-3.7	.308	5.5-6.8	.812	5.9	3.8	0.4	1.0	2.7	2.7	21.3
Career	623 36.3  8.8-19.3	.456	0.8-2.5	.319	6.3-7.8	.806	6.3	3.1	0.5	1.1	3.0	3.0	24.7

Is Kobe an efficient scorer? Check out the comparison and then say that Melo was never efficient. Or find a way to spin almost identical numbers.

Now granted he is having an off year in this system but don't say he was always inefficient unless you are ready to say the same thing about kobe.

Your premise is wrong. It's not just about being efficient. The other side is that if you're not going to be a good to great defensive team then efficiency is even more paramount. Lakers have not been a poor team on the other end of the floor when they were winning. I believe they had one year where they stunk on D but just killed teams offensively, but overall those teams could defend. That means that AS A TEAM they could withstand an inefficient SG. They likely got more easy buckets due to good defense. Here we can't afford for inefficient scoring and also have poor D and rebounding with STAT and Melo in there.

Besides why are you ignoring how much worse Melo is playing this year than his already low efficiency career numbers??? I posted them for a reason. THIS YEAR Melo has truly stunk!!! Can you explain a Star shooting 40% and 31% from 3???

This is spot on. Other STARS are allowed to gun shots up because they also play the other end of the floor. They are not one dimensional STARS, they are multi-dimensional. They will their teams to win by going all out in all facets of the game.