A look at the current team shows a bunch of good players who are playing at a high level together as a team over Woodson's 3 game win streak. Also in that make up are the two so called "all stars". Woodson has in the past relied on Isolation play designed for his start players (ATL). But in NY he has team that is energized by playing tem basketball and winning on defense 9as strange as that may sound!). Along with all the challenges he inherited he also got that most fragile component on a team which is practically a bunch of strangers playing together - he inherited Chemistry from the Linsanity days. The difference is that chemistry was obtained without and almost at the cost of the teams two resident superstars. Woodson's job is to make sure they feel comfortable in the game while keeping the chemistry untarnished. That's not an easy job by any means. Winning helps!!
Woodson has to find a balance between isolation type basketball that will make his stars happy and the winning formula of team basketball. And with every win he notches he earns a few more chips and little more leverage over his superstars to show them that this hybrid approach can and will work. So what is the problem?

Woodson and his Knicks will not win every game, this much can be said without prejudice. Linsanity was bound to hit a wall at some point so is the fragile chemistry of the current roster with everyone healthy. So what happens when the Knicks lose 2-3 games in a row? This is NY stupid. Every "journalist", analyst, blogger and fan will start looking for reasons and people to blame. Now in the current culture and in N Y's glorified fan base intellect the star players are not to blame becuase they can take on a game at any time and win. So obviously the coach will get the blame.

Melo is averaging 12-15 pts in the Woodson era and playing good defense. Hope this goes on forever, but again I don't think it will, WHY? Because once we lose some games Melo will feel he could have won those games for us by playing Iso ball and he will start sulking about why the offense is not flowing through him (We scored 115 points with him getting 10) against the Pacers at home or something close to that. He has done this sulking over and over again throughout his career. Then Woodson will be faced with his dilemma.

Should he pander to Melo and change the style of the basketball at the cost of killing team chemistry or should he try to hold Melo accountable for being selfish. Now Woodson’s a tough dude and I think he will try his best to hold Melo accountable – I don’t doubt that for a second. But how does he hold him accountable?

Option 1 – Bench Melo for a game or two –Then Melo come back and drops 60 on some poor unsuspecting team. BAM!! Has Melo changed? No – he has learned that he needs to show up Woodson.

Option 2 – Don’t bench Melo but get in his face and yell at him on the sideline when he blows plays. Melo will at first try to understand and play according to what Woodson wants that much we have seen. But if the team is on that 3 game losing streak and the media is trying to rip Woodson a new one, Melo will automatically distance himself from Woody. Melo wants to win but it’s a distant second to his NEED to be the media darling. So Melo tunes Woodson out and the eventual power struggle ensues. We all know who wins this one.

Other options? – I don’t know maybe Woodson is able to reach Melo the way others have not been able to. I will root him to do that but I have no hope for this to happen. I think it will take a coach with the undeniable credibility of PJax to get there.

To complicate things further there is Amar’e who is a good dude but is clueless on defense. Maybe Woodson will have more success with him using Tyson’s help. And there is the political weight bearing down on the decision on whether he can bench Lin or not.

I want this guy to succeed but I am too cynical to believe he will. He is doing and saying the right things, but this is NY stupid! We fire coaches if for nothing else then the pure entertainment value of it. It will be interesting to watch how he pulls off this balancing act or falls trying. He has few advantages and some points of leverage he also has lots of constraints. Time will tell and I wish him well.

NOTE - Please don't turn this into a MDA vs. Woodson thread. This is about Woodson, the position he is in and the constraints he has to overcome if he wants to succeed in NY.

I want Jackson here and agree that if he wants it, he can have it. Barring Jax coming which there is a very good chance that he's not, this is Woody's job to lose so there IS alot on the line for him.

That is a lot of mileage to carry on a 100 game schedule with arthritic knees and a chronic hip problem.

loweyecue wrote:INTERIM LAME DUCK is not a position most people will audition for. Yet Woodson finds himself on the proverbial hot seat in a supercharged atmosphere with a near renegade superstar to boot. On one hand looms the specter of Dolan putting PJax on his short term wish list on the other hand are mounting fan expectations that get ratcheted up with every win.
The team is also in phase where it doesn't yet have an established identity and Woodson's own inclinations may lead him away from what his predecessor was trying to build. But the direction he wants to go may be a moot point because in the NBA the coaches are paid to pander to their stars more than any other sport. The culture of shamelessly blaming coaches for shortcomings of their personnel has reached all time highs in this league. So will Woodson be able to get around this? For his sake I hope he does, but I am yet to feel confident that he will.

A look at the current team shows a bunch of good players who are playing at a high level together as a team over Woodson's 3 game win streak. Also in that make up are the two so called "all stars". Woodson has in the past relied on Isolation play designed for his start players (ATL). But in NY he has team that is energized by playing tem basketball and winning on defense 9as strange as that may sound!). Along with all the challenges he inherited he also got that most fragile component on a team which is practically a bunch of strangers playing together - he inherited Chemistry from the Linsanity days. The difference is that chemistry was obtained without and almost at the cost of the teams two resident superstars. Woodson's job is to make sure they feel comfortable in the game while keeping the chemistry untarnished. That's not an easy job by any means. Winning helps!!
Woodson has to find a balance between isolation type basketball that will make his stars happy and the winning formula of team basketball. And with every win he notches he earns a few more chips and little more leverage over his superstars to show them that this hybrid approach can and will work. So what is the problem?

Woodson and his Knicks will not win every game, this much can be said without prejudice. Linsanity was bound to hit a wall at some point so is the fragile chemistry of the current roster with everyone healthy. So what happens when the Knicks lose 2-3 games in a row? This is NY stupid. Every "journalist", analyst, blogger and fan will start looking for reasons and people to blame. Now in the current culture and in N Y's glorified fan base intellect the star players are not to blame becuase they can take on a game at any time and win. So obviously the coach will get the blame.

Melo is averaging 12-15 pts in the Woodson era and playing good defense. Hope this goes on forever, but again I don't think it will, WHY? Because once we lose some games Melo will feel he could have won those games for us by playing Iso ball and he will start sulking about why the offense is not flowing through him (We scored 115 points with him getting 10) against the Pacers at home or something close to that. He has done this sulking over and over again throughout his career. Then Woodson will be faced with his dilemma.

Should he pander to Melo and change the style of the basketball at the cost of killing team chemistry or should he try to hold Melo accountable for being selfish. Now Woodson’s a tough dude and I think he will try his best to hold Melo accountable – I don’t doubt that for a second. But how does he hold him accountable?

Option 1 – Bench Melo for a game or two –Then Melo come back and drops 60 on some poor unsuspecting team. BAM!! Has Melo changed? No – he has learned that he needs to show up Woodson.

Option 2 – Don’t bench Melo but get in his face and yell at him on the sideline when he blows plays. Melo will at first try to understand and play according to what Woodson wants that much we have seen. But if the team is on that 3 game losing streak and the media is trying to rip Woodson a new one, Melo will automatically distance himself from Woody. Melo wants to win but it’s a distant second to his NEED to be the media darling. So Melo tunes Woodson out and the eventual power struggle ensues. We all know who wins this one.

Other options? – I don’t know maybe Woodson is able to reach Melo the way others have not been able to. I will root him to do that but I have no hope for this to happen. I think it will take a coach with the undeniable credibility of PJax to get there.

To complicate things further there is Amar’e who is a good dude but is clueless on defense. Maybe Woodson will have more success with him using Tyson’s help. And there is the political weight bearing down on the decision on whether he can bench Lin or not.

I want this guy to succeed but I am too cynical to believe he will. He is doing and saying the right things, but this is NY stupid! We fire coaches if for nothing else then the pure entertainment value of it. It will be interesting to watch how he pulls off this balancing act or falls trying. He has few advantages and some points of leverage he also has lots of constraints. Time will tell and I wish him well.

NOTE - Please don't turn this into a MDA vs. Woodson thread. This is about Woodson, the position he is in and the constraints he has to overcome if he wants to succeed in NY.

Papabear Says

Melo bashing again!!