maxwell_3g:
one playing time issue that I have….i may be in the monoirty, but why is Novak playing over copeland?
1)novak is abetter 3 point shooter, i concede, but not with people draped all over him
2)copeland has more diversity in his offense, allowing him to be open for 3 more often
3)copeland has at least shown some ability to create his own shot…novak has none
4)neither of them hit the boards
5)copeland is no defensive stopper, but he is not as completely awful on defnse as novak, who opposing teams actually hunt out and go after

Agreed. Ig Novak doesn’t hit at least 3 three’s , he is a net negative, and usually a big one, almost every time out there.

d-mar:
My question about all the switching (which drives me as crazy as everyone else) is whether it’s based on a directive from Woodson, or is it just players being too lazy to try and get around screens?

It’s sickening to think of opposing coaches during their pregame telling their players: “Look, the Knicks switch on every screen, so we’re going to set screens early in possessions and set up a mismatch between our best scorer and their PG or center” And then they go and do it.

There has to be a better way.

agree 1000%. at this point it has to be woody’s design, because if it wasnt, a) not all of the players would do it, and b) woody would have benched people for doing it by now. the question is…why??????

d-mar:
My question about all the switching (which drives me as crazy as everyone else) is whether it’s based on a directive from Woodson, or is it just players being too lazy to try and get around screens?

It’s sickening to think of opposing coaches during their pregame telling their players: “Look, the Knicks switch on every screen, so we’re going to set screens early in possessions and set up a mismatch between our best scorer and their PG or center” And then they go and do it.

There has to be a better way.

Nope, the switching is his thing. His Hawks teams used to switch ALL the time. The difference is that practically everyone on those teams was a capable defender between 6’8″ and 6″11. You didn’t get much of a mismatch when Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Al Horford etc. were switching on each other’s man.

I think, or at least hope, Woody is waiting to have one of the old farts back before tinkering with the starting line-up. But I absolutely, 100% agree that the best way to disguise the fact that your guard play is atrocious is to play big (to our strength, as it happens) and limit the minutes of the smaller players who are unproductive.

I’d be fine with Felton and JR starting and getting 36 mins at the 1 and 2, Melo getting all 36 of his minutes at the 3, Amar’e playing 30 minutes at the 4, and Tyson playing 36 minutes at the 5.

That leaves 12 minutes at each guard spot to give to Kidd/Prigs and Shump, respectively, and 12, 18 and 12 minutes at each frontcourt spot to be absorbed by the committee of Novak, K-Mart, Camby and Wallace, depending on match-ups and health.

If we only have one of the old farts available you can always give Kidd, Prigs or Shumpert a few more minutes and bump JR and Melo up once spot for a few minutes every game, but that should be the exception, not the rule, and some things should just never happen.

Novak at the 4? Never again.
Jason Kidd playing 36 minutes? Never again.
Amar’e on the court with no other defensive anchor (i.e. with Melo or Novak at the 4?) Never again.

As long as Woodson is convinced there is something magical about Melo at the 4 and Amar’e off the bench for 20 mpg (as if they hadn’t combined to make 11 all-star teams starting at the 3 and 4 respectively), we’re going to have problems.

I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt right now because there are no big men healthy on the bench, but once K-Mart is here things gotta change. K-Mart is an asshole, but if he can recapture his form from the last non-lockout season, and give us 20 mpg, 12 and 8 per 36 with good defense and only mediocre (rather than terrible) offense, that would be HUGE.

It’s sickening to think of opposing coaches during their pregame telling their players: “Look, the Knicks switch on every screen, so we’re going to set screens early in possessions and set up a mismatch between our best scorer and their PG or center” And then they go and do it.

There has to be a better way.

1. Love Kidd, but he’s our 2 guard. He CANNOT pass up wide open, 4q 3 pointers. Name me another 2 guard worth any playing time in the league who does this.
2. The next guy who talks back to the refs should lose his cable. All it does is show our frustration, which is a huge sign of weakness. How about getting back on D?
3. By the way….Melo…..start playing D again. We have a coach who will actually stand up to his stars. He needs to do that.
4. Shumpie is lost. Brewer was playing like shit, but trading him was wrong, unless he’s just a giant douche in practice or something like that. We are forced to let Shump play thru it, and God forbid a guard gets hurt….It’s James White time? he sucked last weekend with nobody guarding him.
5. What has happened to the pic and roll?
6. When Martin is ready, whose minutes does he take? I think it has to be Novak….not sure who else on the 2nd unit could sit to make room for him
7. Why not start Novak at the 3? let Shump come off the bench until he’s right.
8. Don’t panic!! One game at a time. We are going to make the playoffs. Seeding is relevant, but playing well together when it counts is more important.
9. Back to Shump….if the knee is healthy? what else has changed? That’s right. The fro has got to go. that thing has to be A LOT of work; he probably has to sleep standing up so it doesn’t cave in or simply smoosh. It has to go.

maxwell_3g: the switching has infuriated me at this point. i yell at the tv.

I, too, yell at my TV. Individual effort on defense is wasted when the opposing team knows they can keep screening to get the offensive matchup they want. I saw Gay shoot over Felton and Chandler on the perimeter against Lowry and DeRozan too many times.

One thing I noticed was that in the 4th quarter after Chandler picked up his 5th foul and went to the bench, guards STOPPED SWITCHING (or didn’t switch as much,) actually going over screens. The Knicks put the screws on their defense, made some shots, and pulled to within 2. Then… well, you know the rest.