Dantoni's O + Larry Brown's D + Bob Knights Discipline+some Red Holzman
Was just thinking about Woody as a coach and I realized who he has learned from as a player and assistant coach and he has gotten some great mentorship.
As a college player he was coached by Bob Knight. Say what you want about Bob Knight (and I would have a lot to say) he got the most out of his players and he was a good coach. He demanded hard work and commitment and that's what Woody is asking of our guys this season.
Woody gets to the Pro's and is coached as a Rookie by the same man who mentored Phil Jackson. Red preached understanding your roles and no one player being bigger than the team as a whole. Melo's willingness to compromise now is a reflection of that.
There have been few better coaches on the defensive end than Larry Brown and there have been few better Defensive clubs than The Pistons during their recent Championship and Finals runs. Dantoni loves floor General PG's over flashy ones. PG's like Felton (a Brown favorite) Kidd and Prigioni are all on our roster in large part to this influence.
Dantoni is one of the greatest offensive coaches in league history. We know about his limitations on preaching Defense, but if assembling a dream team of coaches he would be on it just for his offensive input alone. I believe Woody's time with Dantoni did help him as an offensive coach. The Knicks are going to utilize a lot of Dantoni's offensive schemes this year.
I love the guy's pedigree! He has learned from some great basketball minds. The one thing he has none of the other guys had was the ability to relate to his players on a personal level. Take JR Smith....Too selfish for Red Bob Knight wouldve never touched him, Larry Brown woudl've degraded him, Dantoni would not know how to tame him! Woody has shown both disipline and respect towards him.
Excited for this roster for a lot of reasons and Mike is for sure one of them