Most game articles after the Philly win stressed the defense we put up. I'm not convinced. Philly has no consistent offense w/o AI. Let's hold a decent offensive team under 80 before we start feeling good about our defense.

Last 5 games, gave up:
111 to Memphis (L)
101 to Toronto (W)
91 to Portland (W)
109 to NJ (L)
75 to Philly (W)

That's pretty awful. Not really sure what, exactly, is wrong. Ideas? Looking player by player, don't think we should be so bad. Most of our guys are good or average defenders, IMO, with the exception of the center spot. Think the keys are too many missed assignments/breakdowns and the lack of a shot blocker to cover up mistakes (maybe Dikembe isn't through contributing this year?). The breakdowns certainly were the key in the Nets debacle, where we were giving up back door hoops all first half, and then, once they got in a rhythm, they started hitting all their jumpers too.

In any event, if we want to win more than 1 or 2 playoff games, we better find some defense fast.

The Knicks don't lack too much individual defensive skill. But the reality of the Association is that most NBA scorers cannot be guarded one-on-one.

Team Defense is the key to keeping good teams under 90 points. That only comes with familiarity and mutual confidence.

In the 90's, Riley and later VanGundy had Knick guards closing out every shooter, every posession. Even if it meant that a pump fake would send John Starks or Charles Oakley flying into the front row. Those players could always trust that if they we're beat off the dribble because of their aggressiveness, or faked out of position, their teammates were savvy enough to cover their mistakes. That sort of trust takes time. No one wants to look like a fool getting torched by an opposing player-- but until you can trust your teammates, you can't gamble. This is the what the Knicks face.

Beyond that, defense is also about intimidation. It's psychological-- you get a rep for being a tough team, and coaches and opposing players approach the game differently. Some players may even get scared to dribble into the lane. This team doesn't have the attitude necessary to intidimidate. At least not yet.

Lenny is the key. His teams were always known for being soft shooting teams, aka Atlanta. Thus they never did anything in the postseason. The era of ball that Lenny could dominate in has been over for a long time.

anyone notice that the good defensive teams have a core of players that have been playing together for an extended period of time? Hey wait... ALL the elite teams have a core of guys playing together for an extended amount of time.