The system is ugly in a way, with several players not moving at all on most offensive sets. And it's certainly unorthodox, with it's reliance on 3's. But it's simple to teach and to run (at least compared to the vaunted triangle). And it works. And for the right players, it raises their level.

Enough quibbling with his rotation, with his supposedly short leash for certain players. He's bringing it and deserves the benefit of the doubt.

But the offense is clicking, no doubt.

martin wrote:

BlueSeats wrote:He's a very good regular season coach where his teams often have a shock-and-awe advantage. Not sure about the playoffs where half-court execution and stops become critical. Great blitzkrieg, not so sure about a war of attrition.

what you mean to say is that his system right now has only proven out until the Western Conference Finals, right? Not yet Finals worthy.

Something like that.

I've seen smothering defenses leave Nash running around in circles till he turns it over, and I've seen the Spurs out run them. I'm not saying that the Suns were ever the best team in the league or the favorites to win it all, but you wouldn't necessarily know that by their regular season records or performance.

I think we see this with the Knicks now too, wherein he has them over-achieving which sets up expectations that maybe we're better than we actually are, or need less to take it to a higher level. Then reality lets us down in post-season and maybe we don't ever get as far as we could.

That said, I think we could easily be around the .500 mark with a lesser coach, with no better post-season prospects, and with worse placement too (IWO 8th seed going against 1st) so it's an advantage none the less. He's a big part of our resurgence. But what of following years? Do you keep small, light and fleet of foot, or go bigger, heavier and stronger? I don't think you can do both - you can't just throw a Shaq into the system and expect it to work out. So how heavily do you want to invest in small ball?

martin wrote:

BlueSeats wrote:

martin wrote:

BlueSeats wrote:He's a very good regular season coach where his teams often have a shock-and-awe advantage. Not sure about the playoffs where half-court execution and stops become critical. Great blitzkrieg, not so sure about a war of attrition.

what you mean to say is that his system right now has only proven out until the Western Conference Finals, right? Not yet Finals worthy.

Something like that.

I've seen smothering defenses leave Nash running around in circles till he turns it over, and I've seen the Spurs out run them. I'm not saying that the Suns were ever the best team in the league or the favorites to win it all, but you wouldn't necessarily know that by their regular season records or performance.

I think we see this with the Knicks now too, wherein he has them over-achieving which sets up expectations that maybe we're better than we actually are, or need less to take it to a higher level. Then reality lets us down in post-season and maybe we don't ever get as far as we could.

That said, I think we could easily be around the .500 mark with a lesser coach, with no better post-season prospects, and with worse placement too (IWO 8th seed going against 1st) so it's an advantage none the less. He's a big part of our resurgence. But what of following years? Do you keep small, light and fleet of foot, or go bigger, heavier and stronger? I don't think you can do both - you can't just throw a Shaq into the system and expect it to work out. So how heavily do you want to invest in small ball?

Oh I agree with you. The system is good enough for me but I also think we still need a significant upgrade in talent/players to get past second round.

yeah... I think the upgrade needs to be offensive too. Add a guy like Kevin Love to the mix and all of sudden the Knicks will be able to force their pace on everyone. When the Knicks are balling other teams get sucked into their style and turn the ball over while the Knicks take care of it and shoot a higher percentage. Better turnover differential , better FG%... I know that's not the standard definition of "defense" but that's effectively it. If the Knicks can control the glass better, it's definitely not traditional, but I would like their June chances