smokes
Huge Member
I like Woodson, he's obviously doing a great job with our team at the moment.
Prior to yesterday I was on the fence about his coaching (I can't say I'm an expert on Woodson), but vs the Sixers he appeared to make pretty much all the right decisions down the stretch to help us eek out the win. I was really worried about the non-use of Chandler but it worked so what can I say?
A lot of people have been saying that the main difference then and now, is that the players are actually giving 100% now and weren't for MDA. Obviously some of that is true. But it's not only that. Woodson's accountability stance has clearly made the difference if not for getting Melo to play a better all around game, then most definitely for getting STAT to actually play defense.
And in regards to how the players should have been giving their all for MDA I think people are seeing things very black and white.
Of course on one hand, when you're getting paid $100 million you should give it your all. However if we consider that Melo and STAT DO actually want to win in the NBA (something people have doubted of late), it was clear to most people that it was not going to happen while our roster was hamstrung by an incompatible coach.
I called it down the stretch last year and specifically during the playoffs that MDA had lost the players. He may have got most of them back for this year but it was never going to end well. I'm honestly not surprised that a couple of our players were not playing up to scratch when there was a clear rift there.
So in summary, yes the players actually giving 100% is a big part of our recent success but without doubt Woodson is an improvement in terms of:
- Running plays (especially out of dead balls)
- Substitution patterns
- Demanding defense
- Calling timeouts (was probably the reason we called better timeouts under MDA this season)
Prior to yesterday I was on the fence about his coaching (I can't say I'm an expert on Woodson), but vs the Sixers he appeared to make pretty much all the right decisions down the stretch to help us eek out the win. I was really worried about the non-use of Chandler but it worked so what can I say?
A lot of people have been saying that the main difference then and now, is that the players are actually giving 100% now and weren't for MDA. Obviously some of that is true. But it's not only that. Woodson's accountability stance has clearly made the difference if not for getting Melo to play a better all around game, then most definitely for getting STAT to actually play defense.
And in regards to how the players should have been giving their all for MDA I think people are seeing things very black and white.
Of course on one hand, when you're getting paid $100 million you should give it your all. However if we consider that Melo and STAT DO actually want to win in the NBA (something people have doubted of late), it was clear to most people that it was not going to happen while our roster was hamstrung by an incompatible coach.
I called it down the stretch last year and specifically during the playoffs that MDA had lost the players. He may have got most of them back for this year but it was never going to end well. I'm honestly not surprised that a couple of our players were not playing up to scratch when there was a clear rift there.
So in summary, yes the players actually giving 100% is a big part of our recent success but without doubt Woodson is an improvement in terms of:
- Running plays (especially out of dead balls)
- Substitution patterns
- Demanding defense
- Calling timeouts (was probably the reason we called better timeouts under MDA this season)