Can Melo play D?

DieHardPassion

Benchwarmer
Melo jus got shitted on by Jamison and he shows no fire or desire... the cavs game made him look soft...
He doesn't seem like a leader as well, he needs to be more vocal

Do you think melo can defend against other star forwards?
 

iSaYughh

Starter
Yes. He has. And quite well.

As had Amare.

Thus, they both know defense, and their defense (and "ours") is more to do with the emotions and will of the players themselves, versus coaching.

We may need someone like Perkins, above all else, who will make them look and feel like punks and careless bitches if they don't step to on D.
 
Melo is a decent defender in the playoffs. He has shown it before.

He also showed glimpses of it in his debut against Milwaukee. Deflecting passes and getting 1-2 steals.

It's a myth that Melo can't defend, he just doesn't want to spend energy on defense against the 'ordinary' teams during the regular season. It's a mixture between conserving energy and a bit of arrogance imo.
 

tiger0330

Legend
It's a myth that Melo can't defend, he just doesn't want to spend energy on defense against the 'ordinary' teams during the regular season. It's a mixture between conserving energy and a bit of arrogance imo.
Maybe that's the source of George Karl's complaint that he's the greatest offensive player he's coached but his defense is a problem. That can drive a coach crazy when you take nights off and don't play D.

I agree that he gets up for the big games but I disagree it's a myth that he can't defend, if you only defend when you want to play defense that makes you defensive persona non grata in my book.
 

petescud

Starter
Well if Melo can defend, we'll see it tonight. LBJ is going to abuse whoever guards him. But if we can slow down Wade and not allow easy underneath BS, we should have a chance
 

MusketeerX

Rotation player
Yes. He has. And quite well.

As had Amare.

Thus, they both know defense, and their defense (and "ours") is more to do with the emotions and will of the players themselves, versus coaching.

We may need someone like Perkins, above all else, who will make them look and feel like punks and careless bitches if they don't step to on D.

This is not true at all. Melo doesn't and never has had the spirit to play on both sides of the court. Amar'e has the spirit, but not the know how. It is up to the coach to teach team defense.

MDA is 90% to blame for the team's lack of D. Look at what Tommy did with the Bulls. They win games because of great defensive rotations. They won games despite two of their best players only playing 9 games together because they play team defense. D-Rose is not a great defender Boozer is a horrible defender. Noah is average. Luol Deng is an incredible defender; but the rest of the team is nothing special on the defensive end.

Defense is coach driven. If the coach actually preaches and teaches, any team can play defense. MDA doesn't care, though.
 

carlhil2

Benchwarmer
I say, we should have kept David Lee, because he must have been a beast on "D", the best, compared to STAT and Melo, because he has never had a thread dedicated to his lack of defense, no?:cool:
 

MusketeerX

Rotation player
I say, we should have kept David Lee, because he must have been a beast on "D", the best, compared to STAT and Melo, because he has never had a thread dedicated to his lack of defense, no?:cool:

The difference is that we never thought we could win a ring with D. Lee as our best player.
 

DieHardPassion

Benchwarmer
lmfao im watching MDA show and MDA encourages the team by clapping his hands and saying lets play better defense, come on, you guys need to close out faster...
is he really the culprit?
 

carlhil2

Benchwarmer
lmfao im watching MDA show and MDA encourages the team by clapping his hands and saying lets play better defense, come on, you guys need to close out faster...
is he really the culprit?
let's just say, if he spent the same amount of time running defensive sets as he does on offense, we should, at least, be average, which, with our offense, should be good enough!
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
This is not true at all. Melo doesn't and never has had the spirit to play on both sides of the court. Amar'e has the spirit, but not the know how. It is up to the coach to teach team defense.

MDA is 90% to blame for the team's lack of D. Look at what Tommy did with the Bulls. They win games because of great defensive rotations. They won games despite two of their best players only playing 9 games together because they play team defense. D-Rose is not a great defender Boozer is a horrible defender. Noah is average. Luol Deng is an incredible defender; but the rest of the team is nothing special on the defensive end.

Defense is coach driven. If the coach actually preaches and teaches, any team can play defense. MDA doesn't care, though.

Noah is much more than an average defender, but I hear what you're saying.

Just look at how the Celtics get all sorts of praise for their defense when KG and Rondo are the only ones really known for being excellent defenders.

Paul Pierce is also known for occasionally not trying that hard on defense, Ray Allen has never been considered a good defensive player in his career either.

But they make it work by having GOOD ROLEPLAYERS like Kendrick Perkins and Tony Allen. We need to do that too...
 

DieHardPassion

Benchwarmer
i think defense is a collective effort so is rebounding
when yu see a team struggle in that it shows their lack of chemistry and leadership. You need all 5 players to play defense, if one doesn't hold up the whole team breaks down
as the Knicks start winning and becoming a team, we'll unconsciously improve on defense and rebounding...
o and I'm goin to put this out there - the knicks are not lucky
many loose balls and random bounces never go our way...
its just something i found but it's still not an excuse for our lack of a collective effort
 

MusketeerX

Rotation player
I was wrong about Melo. He can play D when he wants to. Also note how our guys, who had a 2 hour practice on defensive rotations the day before, can actually play D when there is an emphasis by the coach to do so, and were given a scheme to follow...
 
Top