TelegraphedPass: Sorry to do this, but in the interest of accuracy: Mike Woodson is not and has never been a defensive-minded coach. He holds players accountable, for whatever that’s worth, but it should be noted. His Hawks teams were strong offensively and mediocre defensively.

I don’t think this is an entirely accurate way of looking at things. Yes, his Hawks teams were better offensively than defensively, but to say that he is not a defensive-minded coach seems silly to me. I mean he was brought in specifically as a defensive coaching specialist last year. That’s why he was on the staff. And he clearly has a reputation as a defense-first coach and that’s a reputation based on things he has said and done in the past.

There are a hundred reasons his Hawks might have been better offensively than defensively, but Woodson being an offensive-minded coach is not one of them.

RicanKnick: Thanks!! I forgot to mention the fact that we got a good if not great coach in “Son of Wood” that preaches Defense First! Can’t wait to see the impact that a healthy Shump, the DPY and the new additions will have in our collective D.

Sorry to do this, but in the interest of accuracy: Mike Woodson is not and has never been a defensive-minded coach. He holds players accountable, for whatever that’s worth, but it should be noted. His Hawks teams were strong offensively and mediocre defensively.

I’ll leave Shumpert alone this time.

I am interested to see how our defense is this season. I’d imagine it may slip without Shump forcing turnovers out there, but Lin is very good at forcing turnovers as well fortunately.

As long as we have a top 10 defense I’ll be satisfied. I’m far more interested in developing an above-average offense.

Knicks4Eva:
Welcome, RicanKnick!
Your English is great.

Thanks!! I forgot to mention the fact that we got a good if not great coach in “Son of Wood” that preaches Defense First! Can’t wait to see the impact that a healthy Shump, the DPY and the new additions will have in our collective D.

2FOR18: Good post, but I take exception with the core being in their physical primes.They all have about 9-10 years of NBA wear and tear.Amare tore up his knee and has back problems, and Chandler has had many injuries, which makes the aging process harder on the body.
OKC is an example of a contender with their core in their physical primes, with Miami having 2/3 of their core in their pp.

Disagree. OKC, I believe is unusual in that it’s core is pretty young. Durant is 23 and so is Westbrook.
They are actually going to get better, stronger, smarter.

James is 27 and Wade is 30. Boish is 28.
They too are in their prime, where body and mind are in that balance.
I agree Amare has had some problems, but I think he will have a huge year this year.

Frank O.:
I’d be more concerned about Kidd’s and Camby’s ages if they were starting. But they’re back ups, playing limited minutes.
If you ask me, this is a very balanced team. Our three core players are in their physical primes. Amare and Chandler are 29 and Carmelo is 28.
Then Lin is 23 and Shump is 22. Indeed, aside from Camby and Kidd, this is a pretty damn young team.
Most good to great teams have a few old warriors who are there to share wisdom and reliably fill shorter minutes.
Clearly Kidd and Camby are not the physical beings they were even five years ago, but they are still playing at a very high level and their smarts and experience offset their physical liabilities.
I just think this is irrelevant as an issue.
With our core guys, we’re not building to the future. This is a team that is built to win 50+ games and possibly compete for a championship.

Good post, but I take exception with the core being in their physical primes. They all have about 9-10 years of NBA wear and tear. Amare tore up his knee and has back problems, and Chandler has had many injuries, which makes the aging process harder on the body.
OKC is an example of a contender with their core in their physical primes, with Miami having 2/3 of their core in their pp.

Bruno Almeida:
We got older, but who cares? Guarding people in the nba is much more about positioning, intelligence and experience than being super duper athletic.

Lol at people with this so called star thing. Melo had a bad season and by the end of the season he was single handedly destroying teams. Stat had a real roller coaster season as he was dealing with personal issues injury issues and his first season without a real pg and it showed.

I expect bounce back years from both as well as improvement from Lin. Give this team a chance they have a chance to be really good

Kidd is one of the smartest guys in the nba, has seen everything, he’s the perfect mentor for Lin and he can still be very effective in short spurts on defense, like he was against Miami on the finals, where he guarded even Lebron for some time. Lin already knows how to score, but Kidd has been for decades one of the top 5 PGs in every other category pretty much.

I’m actually more confident in Kidd than on Lin on defense, if you ask me.

I have no question whatsoever about our role players, they’re more than good enough to be a championship team, my question is about our socalled stars

Kidd is one of the smartest guys in the nba, has seen everything, he’s the perfect mentor for Lin and he can still be very effective in short spurts on defense, like he was against Miami on the finals, where he guarded even Lebron for some time. Lin already knows how to score, but Kidd has been for decades one of the top 5 PGs in every other category pretty much.

I’m actually more confident in Kidd than on Lin on defense, if you ask me.

I have no question whatsoever about our role players, they’re more than good enough to be a championship team, my question is about our socalled stars

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