Hey guys,
From my observation I see a few things wrong.
We have no interior defense. Chandler is hurt, Kmart is still hurting and Bargs/ Amare are tasked to play that role when they were never defensive players in their career. Woody can?t seem to settle on a rotation?which in return offers instability. Mello is an above average player but doesn?t really have that champion spirit (drive, resilience, leadership). Lebron, Durant, Jordan, Magic, Bird, etc?All could score but they all knew how to get their team mates involved. Mello, has the will to win but lacks in bringing his team mates level of play up. Most of this comes from his inability to share the ball, getting his teammates touches, creating some sought of rhythm on the court for everyone.
Great players always look to get the supporting cast involved even if it meant that they take a hit in shot attempts. Shump wants to win but he?s on a team with players that chucks (JR/Mello). There were many times I?ve seen JR and Mello miss shots and instead of running back on defense they are bitching to the refs and/or dispirited because they feel they are responsible for most of the team?s offense. Any team will lose heart if mostly all the shots were meant to go through players that lack a desire to play both ends of the court. Imo, Coach Woody is to blame for this. He needs to implement a more team base approach that gets the whole team involved, and stop being predictable. Move the rock around and give others shots so the opposition isn?t triple teaming forced shots by Mello. Design plays that play to the strengths of Amare (pick and roll), Make JR drive to the basket more so he can pick up fouls (hurting the opposition) and get some free shots from the charity stripe (get his shooting warmed up a bit). Stop settling for the long ball. When you find a way to score in the paint the outside jumpers becomes much easier to make.
Everyone needs to play defense. I?m sure if the team constantly saw Mello/JR diving for loose balls, putting bodies on the other players trying to go to the hole, hard fouls, picking up charges, just trying your best to be pesky?the rest of the team will follow and pick up their game, no doubt about that. But if players are regulated?as in saying certain players do the scoring, and certain players play defense? the whole team will fail. When ?the offensive player ?haves a bad game/start/finish?those regulated to defensive duties will feel underused, under-appreciated, insipid and defeated. The whole team needs to be playing at both ends of the floor in order to be playing at a high level. I never saw a championship team where the star/s didn?t get their whole team into the game?.every man counts, no matter how menial their skill set is, use their strength to their fullest. Fans shouldn?t have to pay big money to see players (who make bigger money) sit on the pine wood with discouraging looks on their faces.
I also question Woodson?s timing in substitutions; he has a weird tendency of sitting his hot players in favor of veterans?even when the veterans are having a bad game. Imo, Woodson is playing too conservative, his predictability shows me that he?s scared to take the blame for losing and would rather have it all fall on his star players. Gelling will always be an issue because Woody doesn?t let a set group of players play together for a decent amount of time. How can they figure out their identity when the roster is always jumbled around? No one can get used to playing with each other if the line ups are always in experimentation mode. Set rotations/starters should have been figured out in the off season. It?s better to go down with a set group than to go down with different lineups every night, that just shows the coaches lack of confidence in his players and his game plan?which I?m starting to doubt he has.
This team can be a whole lot better when playing with confidence, you can?t get confidence when the whole team isn?t involved and the coach don?t have balls to place the ball in other teammate?s hands. Let the Knicks lose by playing team ball, not by playing half ass team ball. The coach is supposed to play the roster to their strengths. This is not a card game where you can bluff your way to victory. Figure it out already, use what you have to your advantage; don?t just showcase the shiniest pieces. Puts some Armor-all on everyone and let the individuals tarnish themselves by way of their own display?don?t just leave them on the bench so every fan has to guess and question where the fault/weaknesses lies.
The whole team doesn?t need to score but they do need to feel like they are a part of a team...
