Bonn1997 wrote:fishmike wrote:Bonn1997 wrote:fishmike wrote:Bonn1997 wrote:meloshouldgo wrote:Bonn1997 wrote:Knickoftime wrote:BRIGGS wrote:What's wrong with keeping Melo as a 28 minute 6th man?
How long are you and 1248 going to keep pretending you don't grasp the premise that 25 wins is better than 35 wins?
You think Melo adds 10 wins? Virtually every lineup was worse with him last year. He helped the tanking.
I agree that he made us worse. BUT he also helped KP become a jerk in front of our own eyes with his "leadership". I would take 10 extra wins to remove him from the locker room. We trade him or we buy him out, this notion of asking him to play hard on both sides of the ball is just ridiculous at this point. We have been there done that for six years. As did Karl in Denver before us
I didn't say ask him to play hard. We have to demand it. We have never made his playing time dependent on how he plays. He could screw around, nap when he wanted to, and still get 33 minutes before.
It just doesnt work. I dont want to be insulting but this is just not viable. This is completely ignoring the human, social, and status elements of this equation. Three things that are key in successful team building. Melo is not a rat on a wheel that only gets cheese if he runs really hard. This notion of making Melo play hard by reducing his role or threatening to has no basis in reality and really reflects the ignorance of anyone suggesting it. Briggs you really make yourself look foolish everything you suggest it. How does this play out in your mind? Melo just gets less minutes and waives his towel rooting for Kuz instead from the bench? You think this creates a good team culture? Please just wake up people. Maybe this works with 8 year olds playing soccer. Not so much with million dollar athletes.
No, that's not at all how you approach the situation. Admittedly, now that they've tried so hard to trade him, it would be hard to make this work. But what they needed to do earlier was talk to him about how great a player he is and how great a passer he is. He can be a gifted passer and defender and the team needs more of it. Explain (actually going through the shot charts) why those off-balance mid-range shots don't help the team as much as a great pass from him does. They need to look at the shot charts, look at the data by shot type, and discuss the things he does great as well as the things they want him to reduce. The tone of the meetings has to be - you're a gifted player but we want to use your gifts in a new way. You start that way, and if it doesn't work, eventually things have to start to become more punitive. Then you did everything you can to get him to play the right way, and there's a reasonable rationale for becoming punitive with playing time if it doesn't work out. If he is back on the team, there is no good option. Maybe Jeff can say that he had nothing to do with the trade rumors and can still talk to him about using his gifts differently. I don't know. There are no good options if he's back. The only other option is to just let him jack up bad shots and take naps on defense. Some people think having him come off the bench for 28 mpg solves the issues. It doesn't. He'll just jack up bad shots and sleep on defense for 28 instead of 33 minutes.
And did you call me, Briggs?! You said Briggs makes himself look foolish with all the things he suggests. LOL. If you did mean me and not Briggs, the issue was just that you made a ton of incorrect assumptions about how I would go about doing this.
I meant Briggs... he suggests this often. I replied to your comment regarding Melo has never had to earn his minutes. Suggesting that as a viable or realistic option is beyond silly. The bold is the reality only now he's pissed about having his minutes reduced in favor of inferior players.
Every option involving him coming back is silly. What's your plan if he's back here?
My approach was as a last resort, reducing his minutes in favor of player's with a superior approach to the game. That's only once it reaches a point where you've tried everything else and are almost ready to give up on Melo. At that point, you're trying to make sure his negative influence doesn't spread (but still giving him one last shot). The team was almost -300 with him on the court and was close to even with him off it last year. We can't just do nothing and allow that to happen again. What would you do if he's back on the roster?
Easy answer… play it straight. I think Scott Perry is capable of doing this, which would be a first for Knick management.
Melo is human. Treat him as such. Start with simply addressing the situation for what it is. Melo had issues with the prior team president and there was back and forth. Simply be honest. Say we do not agree with how any of the issue were dealt with, and a player of Melo’s stature in the league deserves better than the things that were said and done. So there is the first part.. apologize for Phil being a tool and blasting Melo publicly.
Tell Melo there is zero interest in making an example of him or pushing some agenda. Melo is an excellent basketball player and we value his skill set. There was a time we had hoped to surround you (Melo) with similar caliber talent, but we (Knick management) failed to do that. Many of us here never stopped valuing what you bring to this franchise.
There is no need to spell out expectations for Melo. He’s a pro, the expectation is he shows up in shape and plays his role on the team. Where he plays is up to the coach. I suspect Jeff would not be set in where Melo plays. Noah will miss the first month, Willy is still raw defensively so I suspect the first question would be is KOQ the opening day starting center with Melo at the 3 or is KP center with Melo at 4?
This puts everything on Melo. It’s not that the Knicks don’t want him, its simply they acknowledge their failure to build a winning roster around Melo’s talents, so they are taking steps backward to build for the future. If Melo wants to move on as that doesn’t suit him, he has the same options the Knicks have if they want to move on. Really none. Melo is under contract with the Knicks. He’s gotta show up and play. He can opt out at the end of the year if he wants to leave.
If I am Knick management and Melo tells me he wants to be traded to the Rockets that’s fine also. However the Knicks are under no obligation to do so, and as Knick management I would be more than comfortable sitting down with him and explaining I am more than happy to work with his agent to facilitate a trade, but I don’t do so at the expense of the Knicks.
Go from there. Transparency takes all the pressure away from the Knicks and puts it on Melo. Players appreciate knowing where they stand up front.
"winning is more fun... then fun is fun" -Thibs
