I wouldn't mind some ISO play for Lin, Melo, and Amare.

/end rant

"There needs to be more of a balance between pnr and isolation. The problem with Melo isolation is the fact that guys without the basketball stand there and watch. There are no cutters at all. Watch LaMarcus Aldridge isolate next Blazers' game and look at the movement of his players. Melo is willing to hit the cutter when the double happens. Remember when fourth quarter against the Nets, Humphries doubled him and he hit Amare for the AND-1 slam dunk?

D'Antoni is a fcking gimmick. No adjustments whatsoever. Outside of point guard pnr this fool can't generate any other offense. There is not a single play designed to give Melo good looks in this offense. It's either play off point guard pnr like Walker did, or become a bad guy and isolate, although every damn team in the league isolates.

Why does an iso have to be purely an iso this team? Melo gets the ball in his sweet spot and his teammates whip out popcorn and folding chairs. If there were cutters and other off-ball movement, Melo could facilitate the offense from the post and midpost, I'm talking consecutive possessions. Melo could find open shooters if the double happens. Melo could find the cutters when the double happens.

Clean wrote:The answer to that question is easy. Pre Linsanity the Knicks attempted the most ISO's out of every team in the NBA. The problem with that stat is that we finished dead last in the percentage that the ISO ended in a score. The reason why we began winning is because with Melo and Amare off the team we no longer used ISO's as part of our offense.

Ummm... Melo was injured. Douglas and Shumpert were our point guards. Fields was a no-show at the start of the season. Novak didn't get any playing time, so there were literally no shooters on the floor, which resulted in defenses packing the paint. Melo created a ton of wide open jumpshots, but Fields, Walker, Douglas, Bibby, etc. clanked all of them. So essentially, Melo was our first and only option, and despite being injured, he had to go 1 on 5, and defenses knew that.

There are a shtload of extenuating circumstances explaining why our FG% was low.

I think however that we do need to have flexibilities and not crowd ourselves into a box. If Melo is hitting the jumper and making good drives to the basket, we should utilize that as long as it keeps working during that game (or portion of the game). If Novak is hitting, then we need to work harder to free him up. If Lin is penetrating and playing well, we should use that. With all of the above, once the defense starts overplaying that because of the success the Knicks are having, then that will open up other plays. That's how we need to play.

ISO plays may work some, but it's a difficult way to score. When you play one-on-one, it's not that easy to score against a good defender. It's easier if they don't know wheter you'll pass (if there is a teammate) or drive it to the basket or take a jumper. Even Melo, as good as he is, will be more lethal if he can do ISO AND coordinate with others and remain unpredictable. Importantly however, he just has to start playing better (whether ISO or otherwise) so the defense will be more drawn to him -- that'll help the team.

Clean wrote:The answer to that question is easy. Pre Linsanity the Knicks attempted the most ISO's out of every team in the NBA. The problem with that stat is that we finished dead last in the percentage that the ISO ended in a score. The reason why we began winning is because with Melo and Amare off the team we no longer used ISO's as part of our offense.

Is it really that black and white? We started winning not because Melo and stat were off the team, but because we finally got a point guard. You do realize that before their arrival, Stat and Melo were a part of really good teams that won 50 games annually. Both of these players have played with really good point gaurds before, Andre Miller, Billups and Steve Nash. Dont tell me that therr presence will cause us to lose games now when history tells us that they can win big with good pg play....

Bippity10 wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:i the thing people who are ok with Melo Iso'ing is that fans have no problem watching Lin pound the ball for 12 seconds at times then drive the lane but are outraged when Melo posts up Wade. Also there needs to be movement from the other players. Melo is scanning the floor waiting for cutters like Amar'e down the lane. Does he take some bad shot at times sure he does every player does. The bottom line is there needs to be a happy medium and as we saw last night we need an ISO player and MDA always needed an ISO player it is one of the knocks with his system, defense and what happens in the playoffs when the game slows down.

The Knicks need both styles and can do both styles they just need to learn how to be more efficient runnning both styles.

Where do you see D'Antoni stopping Carmelo from going ISO. Your argument is baseless. They are trying to stop him from early contested shots and holding on to the ball with 20 seconds left and shooting with 5 while his teammates stand and watch. I'm pretty sure D'Antoni told Carmelo "Just be you" before the game(at least that's what TNT reported). Nobody is stopping Carmelo from one on one play, just do it in the flow of the offense(ie: late in the clock, mismatches). Any other way doesn't work. The only player that could make it work is Kobe. Micheal could do it in his day. No other perimeter players have the ability to lead their teams to a tile running pure ISO.

Miami, Dallas, Spurs all are amazing at moving the ball but also have ISO players. That is the model we are trying to achived. So far when Melo ISO's we have no ball movement. The coaching staff appers to be working with him to find ways to take advantage of the ISO within our offense. Haven't heard any of them criticize him or attempt to discourage. You appear to be taking fan opinion and throwing that on D'Antoni

where did I mention D'Antoni stopping Melo. I have no problem with D'Antoni. I said he needs a player like Melo and the offense needs to learn how to work the ISO efficiently. Melo can not make the other players move and cut they have to learn how to play together and not just spot up. Its something the whole team has to learn how to do better including Melo but players must move around to help the ISO.

Bonn1997 wrote:

Bippity10 wrote:There is no problem with iso play. The problem is when Carmelo catches the ball with 20 seconds on the clock. Holds the ball above his head. Stands there with his head down. Jab steps five times and then finally takes a shot with 8 seconds on the clock. Iso is reserved for mismatches and late in the clock situations. At least that's how Magic, Larry and Michael used to do it.

Excellent points.

Also, you rarely see ball movement due to the double team when he ISO's. Even if he passes, it's only when the shot closes up due to the double team. He does not just pass as the double team is coming which is the best time to pass.

yellowboy90 wrote:

Bippity10 wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:i the thing people who are ok with Melo Iso'ing is that fans have no problem watching Lin pound the ball for 12 seconds at times then drive the lane but are outraged when Melo posts up Wade. Also there needs to be movement from the other players. Melo is scanning the floor waiting for cutters like Amar'e down the lane. Does he take some bad shot at times sure he does every player does. The bottom line is there needs to be a happy medium and as we saw last night we need an ISO player and MDA always needed an ISO player it is one of the knocks with his system, defense and what happens in the playoffs when the game slows down.

The Knicks need both styles and can do both styles they just need to learn how to be more efficient runnning both styles.

Where do you see D'Antoni stopping Carmelo from going ISO. Your argument is baseless. They are trying to stop him from early contested shots and holding on to the ball with 20 seconds left and shooting with 5 while his teammates stand and watch. I'm pretty sure D'Antoni told Carmelo "Just be you" before the game(at least that's what TNT reported). Nobody is stopping Carmelo from one on one play, just do it in the flow of the offense(ie: late in the clock, mismatches). Any other way doesn't work. The only player that could make it work is Kobe. Micheal could do it in his day. No other perimeter players have the ability to lead their teams to a tile running pure ISO.

Miami, Dallas, Spurs all are amazing at moving the ball but also have ISO players. That is the model we are trying to achived. So far when Melo ISO's we have no ball movement. The coaching staff appers to be working with him to find ways to take advantage of the ISO within our offense. Haven't heard any of them criticize him or attempt to discourage. You appear to be taking fan opinion and throwing that on D'Antoni

where did I mention D'Antoni stopping Melo. I have no problem with D'Antoni. I said he needs a player like Melo and the offense needs to learn how to work the ISO efficiently. Melo can not make the other players move and cut they have to learn how to play together and not just spot up. Its something the whole team has to learn how to do better including Melo but players must move around to help the ISO.

That was my mistake, I responded to two posts at once

We preach MDA ball to the other 14 guys on the team while Melo gets to do his Iso thing.

Which is why I always say "pick one or the other, FAT DOLAN!".

I prefer MDA ball, it's more fun, it's high octane, STUPID-FRESH. Amar'e-Nash Suns WERE A MOVEMENT!

But if you go Iso, get rid of MDA, you don't hire MDA then bring Iso SUPERSTARS like Melo in.

You know what I prefer, but I'll get behind the team either way.

WHAT I AM DISGUSTED WITH SEEING IS THIS PSYCHOTIC MIX AND MASH OF STYLES THAT CAN'T WORK, NOT NOW, NOT NEVER!

YOU CHOOSE, DOLAN!