Melo needs the ball more...and iso.

nyk_nyk said:

Melo and Amare are being under utilized as a result of this system. Yes it looks good and is even efffective at times when you have so many different guys who have the green light to shoot. This is however not going to get you through a playoff series. The Novaks, Lins, Shumperts and Fields of a team CAN be contained when you have a coach who has a whole series to gameplan for the same players.

Novak does ONE thing well, so if you keep a defender on him at all times (no help D) he's useless.

Fields is good when he's moving without the ball but unless he gets a good pass going to the basket he's just your average utility role player. Not a good 1 on 1 player either.

Shumpert is good the way he is right now. A great defender who picks his spots well on offense. I prefer him to attack the basket over shoot as he's very inconsistent.

Lin has above average court vision but lacks superior ball handling skill for that position. MIA's defensive game plan against him was perfect and it seems other teams are slowly implementing the same thing against him. Trap him at half court forcing him pass out and he's not quite the same player when/if he gets it back.

My point is Melo is the type of guy that has the ability to go off unless he's constantly double or triple teamed. There is no one way to stop Melo. He's your go to player and should be featured more. I believe Amare is also in that category but he needs the assistance of a passer. Lin should not be shooting more than Amare. Sorry but he isn't Nash or D-Will or Rondo or CP3.

Imagine OKC if the ball was just free flowing and KD and Westbrook were just going with the flow. KD and RW not being able to do their thing would hurt them more than help, regardless if the role players started to look good in the process. There is an order of dominance on a team. Its always been that way. Great players will take you to the top or fail doing it. They can't do it all by themselves, so role players should be capable of supporting but still understanding who's your main guy(s).

I honestly think this is Antoni's last season unless they reach the conference finals. There is just too much money invested in Amare and Melo for them to look like role players out there. This system is great for guys on one year deals that need to show offensive production to prolong their careers. When Novak is on the court he's basically the go to player. I love the kid and think he's an amazing 3 pt shooter but he's over used and on the court too long at times. He should be situational ONLY and set up on the strong side wherever Amare is. The problem with this is Amare doesn't post up so i'd say Melo instead.

Ultimately there needs to be a coaching change. I see two alpha male players and a great supporting cast. I'd like to see a coach with traditional standards implement something to make this work. I've seen the "feature your stars approach" work waaay more than the "green light for everyone" approach.

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NYCLakerfan said:

This is a great post I especially agree on something that you brought up that no one has, this team needs Melo as the primary low post scorer. Every NBA champion has had atleast one player that was a dominant scorer down low whether it was the Lakers with Kobe/Gasol/Bynum or when we had Shaq down low in the early 2000's, TD in SA, MJ posting up for Chicago, Hakeem in Houston etc.

My point is this team really needs a guy with a good back to the basket game where everyone clears out the lane and lets him go to work. Amare never had a back to the basket game, Chandlers offensive game is very challenged, Jeffries is as well, and Novak can only shoot 3's. But the Knicks luckily have by far the best low post SF in the league in Melo and need to feature him down low way more imo this is where like 50% of his points should be coming from no SF can handle him down low. He can play make from down low hit a cutting Chandler or Amare, or hit shooters like Novak or JR because eventually teams have too honor his presence down low and it opens things up so much.

This is also the main reason I'd be extremely surprised if OKC wins a ring this year because they have literally no low post options, KD needs to develop that part of his game ASAP.

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Crazy⑧s;214890 said:

Nice post.

Echoes a lot of sentiments that I have divulged here on KO for the last year.

I believe Mike's system can work in unison with Melo, but I see no incentive to make changes.

Once the season comes to an end - wherever/whenever that will be - if there aren't any necessary adjustments to really get this team working with some added offensive versatility, it's the end of the D'Antoni era in NY.

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nyk_nyk said:

I think we should all be aware by now that Antoni is not well versed in the art of the post up. His coaching style has always been about shooting. He had years to develop Amare in the post but it wasn't important to him. Most likely because it would slow his speedball type game.

With that said, I don't forsee him intentionally running anything with Melo in the post. Melo would have to do it on his own.

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