Gsus wrote:

misterearl wrote:Woodson has always been worth rooting for, didn't become some to root for because the Knicks shocked everybody by going to Texas and beating the Spurs and nearly getting themselves a three-game sweep. Whatever Dolan's reasons for keeping him, Dolan did the right thing and not the easy thing for a team going sideways. He kept a coach who is not just the right coach for his team but the best basketball man in the entire operation.

This doesn't mean the Knicks are in the clear, doesn't mean they're going to win the Atlantic again, end up with even a .500 record, beat out the Nets, who have started to play for Jason Kidd in 2014 the way the Knicks have started to play for Woody. The Knicks are still just a .500 team since that Washington game and the non-timeout that shook the world.

But they have beaten the Spurs, beaten the Heat, played hard, passed better lately, defended better. Woodson didn't become a good coach because he'd finally had enough of Smith, a player he needed last season when the Knicks were winning the Atlantic. He's not a good coach because Iman Shumpert found his game, after the false narrative that somehow Woodson was the one who made him lose

- Mike Lupica

Given their recent performance, despite the numerous injuries and rumors, does any coach patch a rotation together better than Mike Woodson?

Refusing to comment on the status of JRSmith is appropriate for the situation.

So they won a few games, and this proves that Woodson doesn't suck? Please. They won last night despite him. He has no idea wtf to do on offense. The run a set, waste 16 seconds on every possession before they dump it to somebody to chuck a shot. He has no idea how to MANAGE a game. The last 4 times down, the Knicks chucked shots..why not call a time out, settle them down, run a play? Because he CAN'T. It would be a waste of a time out because they would do the same **** had they had just walked up the floor and chucked a three.

He's also full of ****. He says that he doesn't tell them to switch, and that he is going to enforce this. They kept switching at the end of the game last night!!!! Dragic constantly had Dre on him. The unfathomable thing is, they do it on soft screens. If this isn't something Woodson wanted, he would've been banging his head on a wall...I know I would have. How can you let your team do something constantly that you admittedly don't approve of?????????????????????

Yup, in the beginning of the season when we sucked folks said it was the roster and not at all on Woody, but now that we're winning captain Woodson is steering the ship? I thought this was a "players league" and all that.

Bottom line is as long as we're winning at a good clip I couldn't care less who the coach is, it's just a lot easier to find fault with Woodson for our many issues this season than to really see what he's done right, and that's on him. We start winning at .650+ percentage and Woodson can be the coach forever as far as I'm concerned.

"An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise." - Red Auerbach

Numbah six tonight.

GustavBahler wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

misterearl wrote:
Coaches do not suddenly get smarter or dumber.

The bold is a very good way of putting it.

I wouldn't characterize it that way. Coaches go through slumps just like players do. They have to make decisions on the fly, when to substitute, when to call a timeout, when to push the tempo, what plays to draw up in certain situations. Who to cut some slack, who to bench.

Sometimes coaches go through stretches when the other coach is doing a better job than they are. Some things are out of a coaches control like shooting pct, injuries, but there are some things that they can control which I just listed.

I don't believe anyone here believes our record is all Woodson's doing but I wouldn't say that he always made the right decisions either. That's fanboy talk.

Fanboy talk is all anyone has to offer. No one here has any credential, unless there is some award/ certificate, citation or degree you are willing to share.

Other than trial and error, how does any coach leatn about a roster that has been significantly altered?

Every season is different.

franco12 wrote:

holfresh wrote:Coaching has it's nuances as well...How a coach fit is a very important thing..Pitino, a great coach failed miserably with the Knicks then Boston..Chuck Daly couldn't get it done with the Nets..Calipari couldn't do it with the Nets..I can go on..Woodson is doing ok, not great, but is getting results..Lets see, last year and a half he has outperformed...

I don't think Pitino failed with the Knicks - 549 winning percentage and I liked the style of play - press & 3 pt bombs.

Now- he did with the Celtics- and I think that is your point.

His coaching style was unsustainable in the NBA..Think about it, pressing for a 82 game season...U can't press for 82 games...Then u play half court ball in the playoffs, a style u didn't play all year...

GustavBahker - no one, and no coach, is perfect. The amount of second-guessing after the fact borders on the obsessive. Fanboy talk? No. Just reality.

Then after a pair of losses to Toronto in a year-ending home-and-home set without Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks had a four-day break. Players have credited Woodson for refocusing them during that time.

“We had three days to kind of reflect and start thinking about where we were going as a team after the new year,’’

- Head Coach Mike Woodson

GustavBahler wrote:

misterearl wrote:Credit

GustavBahker - no one, and no coach, is perfect. The amount of second-guessing after the fact borders on the obsessive. Fanboy talk? No. Just reality.

Then after a pair of losses to Toronto in a year-ending home-and-home set without Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks had a four-day break. Players have credited Woodson for refocusing them during that time.

“We had three days to kind of reflect and start thinking about where we were going as a team after the new year,’’

- Head Coach Mike Woodson

One could call your relentless defense of Woodson "obsessive". As for second guessing, you've second guessed the last coach, players, mgmt, other posters, but not Woodson. You might call all the second guessing on this board "obsessive" but thats pretty much all that happens on an internet sports forum. If we didn't it would be very boring around here. Would be nothing but a lot of rar ra sis boom ba, even when its clear the team and the coach deserve some criticism.

Most of the time I enjoy reading what posters think of the team and what they would do differently even if I disagree with them and enjoy the back and forth. Its what keeps me coming here, it sure isn't the salad bar.

As for the Woodson quote, it shows that the team and the coach took the time to reflect on what they were doing right and what they were doing wrong. That's what we do here. That's all we do here.

Its very hard to reasonably judge any coach in this MSG environment. Dont folks see that? Chaney, Wilkins, Larry Brown, Isiah and MDA all had some level of success before becoming NY Knick fodder. Whats sad is he's clearly had to coach effort this year and thats always going to set you back.

1) the front office
2) the players on the floor
3) the coach

To me NBA coaching is 80% connecting with your players on some level and 20% Xs and Os. Judge on the big picture and what you see. Did Woody perform well after taking over for MDA? I would say yes. Did he perform well last year? 54 wins I would say he gets an A. Was it his fault we got beat by the Pacers? It would be if he was outcoached, but was he? He got a career year from JR who simply didnt show up in the postseason. Tyson destroyed Hibbert all year until the playoffs and he totally layed down. Was that bad coaching?

Time outs, subs.. unless you can clearly see that some pattern has failed you just cant nit-pick for perfection over 82 games.

I think Woody is OK. Big control freak ego guys arent going to work here. Pop, Sloan, Phil... these guys cant function in the MSG environment, they just cant. You have to factor that into the equation when you judge these guy's performances no?

Mike Woodson has done one thing so far. He has survived. That is a big deal.

“We need to continue what we’ve been doing — play tough defense each and every night. “I think that’s what our statement should be. I’ve been preaching that since day one. I think we realize that."

- Assistant Coach Kenyon Martin

Coaches cannot walk on the court.

That is important to remember.

Woodson won't surblvive getting out coached a 3rd time in the playoffs

Melo is the head coach on the court and we should be thankful for 3 things

1. His new Nike TV spot

2. All of a sudden he thinks he is Magic Johnson

3. He is rebounding with authority

This season
==================

1- What did Woodson expect when he put Udrih on the last play for DEFENSE on Brady Beal?
2- Why didn't Murry play instead?

3- What was Felton doing on the last play when he was getting eaten up all game yesterday for his inability to defend?
4- Why was Murry not used instead?
Yes we won yesterday in OT but that is not the point, he puts in the same players that show the inability to do what they need to do EVEN on the FINAL POSSESSION, HOPING FOR A DIFFERENT RESULT....

Last season, especially in play offs
========================================

1- Enabling Melo and JR to go 1v1 time after time and especially in the playoffs instead of correcting their poor shot selection...
Yes Melo is moving the ball right now and we hitting shots and playing better but will we see the same thing in the playoffs we saw last summer before we were sent home on early vacation?

2- Yes, we were unable to get in the paint vs the Pacer's tough DEF, especially with Hibbert protecting the paint but why didn't we make adjustments to take advantage of that?

3- Melo and JR were playing "INJURED" but they could shoot 20-30 shots each a game....

4- Tyson loss 20+ pounds from Strep Throat and was largely ineffective vs Hibbert, why didn't we try Earl Barron or Copeland more when we had proven success?

He constantly starts many players instead of letting them get back in game shape off the bench, regardless if we are playing well and on a winning streak without them
Amare vs Pacers in playoffs over Copeland who was killing it at C in the end of the season at C vs Hibbert as he opened the lane up for us to penetrate or hitting a wide open 3pter

He started JR this season when he was clearly not ready and was NOT in NBA shape and blasted Iman at the time....

he repeats these kinds of poor decisions time after time but it is in the play offs that I fear most, the reason why he has rarely advanced when it counts most...

I hold him accountable, I don't blame EVERYTHING on him though, however, I believe he deserves the most blame....
It is his job to make these decisions and he consistently makes the wrong one, time after time
Constantly favoring players and it shows