That can't be true if you believe Woodson's Statements. Woody can't be given credit for the good defense the Knicks played under MDA and at the same time BASH MDA for not coaching enough D!!! Which is it? Was MDA responsible for the team's D before Woody took over or not? If Woody was responsible then he also has to take the credit for when they weren't defending well during the 6 game losing streak just before MDA resigned. Cuz before that losing streak after Melo came back the Knicks had played some of the best defensive BB of the year. Just before the Season started last year when asked about the teams D, MDA stated that they would be running the same defense he's always run and if you think about it, some on this forum complained about the switching and so forth which just underscores that it was the same defense. The big diff was Tyson.
The Knicks D picked up tremendously when Melo and STAT went down. MDA started making use of Tyson, Shump and Jared as part of a defensive unit and it was working great.
New York’s markedly improved defense has been essential to their recent run.Long a sore spot for Mike D’Antoni, his team’s defensive consistency (or lack thereof) had previously been an impediment to their success. But recently, New York’s stingy defense has been essential to their winning ways.
When the Knicks knocked off the Kings at Madison Square Garden last Wednesday night, beating Sacramento 100-85 for their seventh straight victory, it was also the seventh straight game New York had held their opponent to below 100 points. This tied the organization’s longest streak of that kind over the past 18 seasons. The last time New York had matched that feat was back in 2001, which, coincidentally, was the last time the Knicks won a playoff game.
And despite losing to New Orleans on Friday, the Knicks defense kept an opponent under 90 points for the 10th time (they are 9-1 in such games). Prior to this season, the Knicks held their opponents under 90 points five times in their previous 95 games.
Coming into the 2011-2012 campaign, the Knicks had allowed over 110 points per 100 possessions in each of their previous four seasons, including all three under D’Antoni. This season, New York is allowing just 99.5 points per 100 possessions, which ranks sixth-best in the entire league. This is the first time New York has allowed under 100 per 100 possessions since… yes, 2001.
New York is currently holding its opponents to 93.9 points per game on 44.5% shooting after allowing 105.7 points on 47.2% shooting last season. This type of terrific turnaround is rarely seen in the NBA from one year to the next.
In early January, the Knicks actually held three straight opponents under 90 points. Prior to that stretch, the last time New York had held even two straight opponents under 90 points was all the way back in December of 2005. In fact, during that streak, the Knicks kept those teams under 88 points. As a point of comparison, in NY’s three previous seasons with D’Antoni at the helm, they held an opponent under 88 a TOTAL of nine times. That’s three games in a row, versus nine times total over the span of three complete seasons (246 games).
As these numbers illustrate, New York’s team defense hasn’t just been adequate, it’s been very good. And by just reading the headlines you might not know it, but there have actually been other players sharing the court with Jeremy Lin. The most important of these players has been big man Tyson Chandler.
Rarely is one player credited with turning around a team’s defensive aptitude, but Chandler is not your common defender.
Chandler finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, and is actually having a statistically better year in 2011-2012 – averaging more blocks, more steals and more rebounds. In fact, Chandler is one of just three players in the NBA averaging over 9 rebounds, at least 1 steal, and 1.4 blocks (the other two are Marc Gasol and Dwight Howard).
Prior to the Knicks thrilling win over the defending champion Mavericks on Sunday afternoon, Mavs owner Mark Cuban talked about how much his team missed Tyson (Dallas couldn’t afford to re-sign him due to the newly modified CBA), and how one player can absolutely impact the “culture” of a team, especially on the defensive end of the floor. It is impossible to watch the Knicks play this year and not recognize Tyson Chandler has done exactly that.
Mike D’Antoni echoed similar sentiments last week as well. “Tyson is probably the best teammate and the best player a coach could have on his team. You can’t measure what he gives just off the floor, which is off the charts,” said D’Antoni. “Now if you are talking about his play, I think he is improving and giving us more of what we want on the floor. He’s improving and understands where we want him on the floor… and of course his leadership is just always there.”
D’Antoni continued: “I can easily see what he won a championship. There are very good reasons why he won it.”
While Chandler has been the lynchpin and the engine that drives the Knicks defensively, he has certainly gotten significant help from his friends. Rookie Iman Shumpert has struggled to contribute consistently on offense, but his on-ball defense has been remarkable. Some pundits have already hailed him as one of the league’s better young perimeter defenders. When New York selected him with their first-round selection last June, they praised his defensive versatility. Well, just last week, he keyed the Knicks victory over the Raptors in Toronto by locking down a hot Jose Calderon in the fourth quarter, and was then assigned to cover Dirk Nowitzki to start the game on Sunday.
Shumpert ranks fourth in the NBA in steals, with 2.1 swipes per game. As a team, the Knicks rank second in the league in steals.
Jared Jefferies’ defensive contributions have also been integral to New York’s defensive turnaround. Jefferies filled in admirably at power forward with Amar’e out of the lineup last week. Jared currently ranks fifth in the NBA in charges drawn per game (0.75).
11/15/2012 11:10 AM