nykshaknbake wrote:Waiting for Phil to tell the Lakes he can fix this and save the season. And then waiting for Phil to get that team humming and playing great ball within 2 weeks.

CashMoney wrote:

fishmike wrote:NBA is all about the players, and then fitting a coach to them. The one talented team MDA got to coach here was playing pretty damn well before the MElo trade. After the slow start they were 21-9 over the next 30 games, and had beaten several elite teams like Chi, OKC, Dallas, Spurs and Melo's Nuggets. Felton/Amare where a great P&R combo, and every night either Gallo or Chandler went off for 20 as the 2nd scorer. That was a young team and a good team. Knicks traded away the PG that ran his system and brought in 2 slow ball ISO guys who were terrible fits for what MDA had in place. Melo didnt buy in and the rest was history.

Woodson is not only the perfect fit for this group, he seems to combine the best traits of the last 3 coaches we had.

He runs whats clearly a version of MDA's offense
He runs a swarming defense like Larry's Pistons
He's connected with some of these guys like Isiah was able to do and really get the most of them.

There isnt an NBA coach that isnt good. Doc Rivers was run out of Orlando and TMac quit on him but he won a ring in Boston. MDA's coaching in PHo and Larry's in Detroit was some of the best in NBA but those guys obviously were not able to duplicate much of that success here. Woody's ATL teams were always middle of the road (they are playing better now with less talent) and his ISO-Joe offense was brutally predictable yet he's clearly the perfect fit for this group of players. We could kinda do this all day.. I guess my point is the right fit is great and yields results, but usually its just a chemistry thing. Look at how well Doug Collin's 76ers played last year and how hard they played, but most would agree Collins is a bit of a dinosaur, yet Hubie Brown was great. Mix and match, but it starts and ends with the players. Rick Carlisle ran out of Det, and Larry immediatly wins a chip with them, but obviously Carlisle knew some things also as the Mavs won a title with him... you get the idea

21-9 over 30 games? When did this happen? After the slow start they were 19-11 over the next 30.

It never happened. But the Knicks are about to out do that from the gate with a SOS in the top ten, so the point is moot.

That's a crazy man boy

http://www.msg.com/videos/wired-coach-woodson-puts-an-emphasis-on-defense.html
This what defensive practice looks like phony.

IronWillGiroud wrote:It's a tough call. I think Woodson walked into a perfect situation, so now he looks much better, and I think D'Antoni was coming off the worst possible situation for him

18-6 last year with the same roster post resignation.

What was so perfect about the situation?

D'Antoni had a great run in Phoenix - and we saw a bit of his magic here in NYC before the Melo trade when Amar'e had 8 games of 30 and we had a good streak, and then with Linsanity.

But, the criticism I have had of MDA is he can't work with certain kind of players- and clearly, Woodson has worked magic with Carmelo- and he isn't flexible- and I think Woodson has shown that this year.

In his post game comments last night, he blamed himself for not adjusting soon enough to have Tyson double Kyrie at the end of the game.

I don't know if I ever heard MDA blame himself for something like this, except maybe when he resigned.

Oh- and Woody actually coaches both sides of the ball, and his defensive philosophy isn't switch on everything- so yea, he is much better!

Anji wrote:

Hallelujah MDA is gone!!!!!

Haha nice! Love the big boy courtside nodding in approval.

It's so difficult to say, so much depends on the fit of the team, Woddy is great fit for this particular Knicks team, so he looks really good now

That's not to say D'Antoni is bad coach, we see what he does with Nash, I think he has potentially great fit there in a few weeks

Verdict: both quality coaches and this is why they are coaching at the highest level of basketball on the planet.

Former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips once said of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula,

"He could take his'n and beat your'n, or take your'n and beat his'n."

Ergo, give Mike Woodson the Dwight Lakers and he would beat the 2012-13 D'Antoni Felton/Kidd Knicks

knicks1248 wrote:imo woodson can be just like jerry sloan...a regular season elite coach but lack the creativeness to make adjustment the playoffs

Or he could be like his mentor, Red Holzman and rock the house with the young ladies.

What exactly about Woodson's regular season decisions with the Knicks make you think that he would regress and become single-minded during the playoffs?... or lack creativity?

Mr. Woodson has played everyone on the roster in unexpected roles. From jump-starting Carmelo, pushing Tyson, badgering JR Smith and starting Copeland ... to inserting James White in key situations and playing Sheed early... to slotting Jason Kidd at the two and giving Pablo Prigioni quality minutes... those moves were all intuitive and effective. Who saw the Knicks as the best ball handling team in the league or the most worthy of the World B Free Memorial Trophy for hoisting without conscience?

Nobody.

No one predicted 37-12.

No one.