No defense for this defense

[Knick4Knack]

-No communication
-No pride in keeping their man in front of them
-Lack of help defense

What the hell has happened to this team? The Knicks epitomized these things over the first month of the season. In truth, we all saw some slippage, but now we have bottomed out.

For those that would blame Amare, I would state that he is not blameless; however, the defense is just as atrocious with him off the court.

Here are some problems:

1. Steve Novak. That's right. Frequently, he leaves his man wide open so that he can double, and his man easily scores. There seems to be genuine confusion on when he should or should not double.

2. Kidd overworked. He is almost forty and is being asked to do too much. I said this before, let J.R. run the point until Felton returns. At least he can break down the defense.

3. Chandler??? Don't know if he is just exhausted, but he often allows enemy players to fly by him. He stays with his man, who is not a threat. It's almost like he is trying to prove a point. Rim protection is not consistent with him. He usually pours it on at the end of games, but by then the deficit is insurmountable. One thing for sure, throw him a lob and you will see plenty of effort and spring in those legs.

4. Bizarre schemes. It is my theory that Woody has adjusted the defensive scheme to accommodate Kidd and Prigioni. Both players have trouble keeping opposing guards in front of them. Thus, Woody has the team switching without even attempting to get over the top. Seth Rosenthal of P&T offers examples- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Glu6Y5JAtGY

-Keep his comments at 3:21 in mind.

I'm not going to even touch offense, because without defense, this team is going nowhere.

I would also say, that in a game like this, with the way the team has been playing, there were times when Novak, Chandler, Melo and Amare should have been sat as a message for poor D. Popovich would have benched them all. I'm not seeing the accountability that was promised.

[PlezPlayDKnicks]

Bingo . But defensive chemistry struggles with constant change so I Wong judge until we have a full deck .

[KingsOfQueens]

Its frustrating as **** to watch, no doubt. But we've seen what we can do and hopefully what we will do in playoff games. Remember we're playing without or starting PG and best perimeter defender.

But I wish we played with the intensity the Bulls play with every night.

The main thing is Woodson needs to stop with these offensive anemic starting lineups. Melo is the only one who can put the ball in the basket when the game starts. No wonder why we have such putrid starts.

[thenyknicks]

my observation on the defense is, the knicks are playing way too tight on their man. melo, amare, jr, chandler, etc... way too tight, and when you play that way against good smart teams, they pick it apart. as we saw bellineli go around jr a couple of times because he was way too tight on him on the perimeter, winding up having to chase him, when its too late. the help defense is decent as I see it, but its all a bit helter skelter without a set scheme in particular situations.
I want to see of a trapping style of defense from us instead of just continuously over playing your man and hoping hes dumb enough to force the shot, (on the bulls defense) which was exactly what jr, and melo were doing but unfortunately they were missing.
not having a guy who could actually bring the ball up the court is a big time disadvantage for us right now. as we can see, Pablo and kidd are not it. they are pretty much 10-15 min guys. shump may help at point, but hes going to need some time. maybe shump and felton will come back together, idk, but i'm hoping felton retuns soon.
we miss Wallace's savvy on the court. amare looks like a shell of his old self, he may improve if woody, melo, jr, felton make a conscious effort to get him going in open space. but as we can see, its jr's contract year, melo is himself looking to score every time so we may not see amare's best or even average.

for these few games though, I think woody has them wound up so tight to play defense, and they are just trying to execute the best they know, without good results for now. we played so really savvy teams though, and we got plenty of excuses too, but I expected better from us because we still had our star and his shot has been off the past two games he played. and woody rode him tonight even though game was out of hand, to me that means, woody is telling melo, I have given you all the shots and the power you wanted, now show me the great play, and get me more wins; I hope melo wakes up and realizes that this team is indeed on him. if he doesn't get to atleast the conf. finals this year, its a terrible year for him and the team. he has to wake up, and I think he wil.

[bofakop]

Its frustrating as **** to watch, no doubt. But we've seen what we can do and hopefully what we will do in playoff games. Remember we're playing without or starting PG and best perimeter defender.

But I wish we played with the intensity the Bulls play with every night.

The main thing is Woodson needs to stop with these offensive anemic starting lineups. Melo is the only one who can put the ball in the basket when the game starts. No wonder why we have such putrid starts.

Yeah I agree with this .... and the Bold statement ... even Melo did not show up to start tonight... hate these lineups:cry:

[Missing56&33]

For those that would blame Amare,

*

Technically we didnt really start playing bad defense until he started practicing. Now we are losing.

[bofakop]

*

Technically we didnt really start playing bad defense until he started practicing. Now we are losing.

We had Denfensive problems well before Amare even thought about practicing

[Missing56&33]

Im telling you Amar'e and Novak gonna kill somebody on D out there....those two will definately not make the all defensive team this year.

[bofakop]

Im telling you Amar'e and Novak gonna kill somebody on D out there....those two will definately not make the all defensive team this year.

[Crackadalic]

Haven't posted in a while but I'm still happy to be 10 games over 500 at this point of the season. However there are some issues.

Number 1 injuries. Say what you want but I believe the number of games our rotation players have miss games(be in injuries or suspension) is well over 100 games combine. Tell me what other team can survive that and still be a game back from the number one seed.

Number 2 defensive schemes haven't been good. Since December we haven't had any real practice time and get better on defending different offenses and it shows on late rotation and confusion on the floor at times. The defensive intensity has to be better also.

Number 3 chemistry. No it's not just amare. Having different Lineups due to injury has hurt the chemistry a lot so it's going to take a while for us to get back to top form.

Number 4 age. Yes we're not old were experience which is why we have the record we have but understand until we are back at full strength we have to pace ourselves with this older team even if it cost us games. Going 110% will hurt us long term come playoff time so though its a struggle to watch we have to look at the big picture

All in all after all star break is when it's time to turn it up and go on a year. I'm just like everyone else and it's very frustrating but I want a chance to win a title so if sacrificing a few meaningless games gives us a better shot come playoff time then so be it

[KniCks4LiFe]

The problem isn't Novak. Even though he is exposed.

The problem is the backcourt D has crumbled and it started awhile back when Ronnie Brewer stopped being effective. JKidd and Felton became the combo, Melo and Tyson Chandler aren't rotating fast enough on D b/c they are only human and playing alot of mins. Tyson Chandler is not the same Tyson Chandler he was early in the season. He's tapping balls back and having to do PnR lobs which are now defended harder than early in the season. The depth is tiring out before our eyes.

Did anyone see Melo out there? he got picked off, picked on offensively like no one's business tonight. Tyson is slow on the rotation, it's a freeway to the basket, like a domino effect. We need Shump badly and even if we get him, that doesn't solve our forwards not rotating w/ the energy they had early in the season. We started playing at a high level and right now our endurance is catching up and affecting the on court D, the ball rotation, there's so much iso b/c they don't have enough energy to run off screens late in the game, its concerning.

[yankstheknicks]

oh my freakin god!!!! if i see one more post about jr starting at the PG!!!!!:cry:........... jr is too dam sloppy and dribbles too dam much...our turnover ratio will skyrocket!!!!!!
i mean what did you think was gona happen when we started losing players???
you start losing games....simple and plain...you can point fingers at anyone and any ref or any ( defensive scheme ) you want...but the truth is when you start losing identity you start losing poise and drive...
and when you come in a game shooting 1 for 8 and 2 for 11...and dont have a third or forth option and barely have a second option then you stop believing what the ( team ) is capable of ........
look my knicks fans...this is what NBA teams and coaches call BEING EXPOSED,,, AND THATS EXACTLY WHATS HAPPENING TO US...we got away with a lota stuff the first 15 games..... in the beginning of the season teams started to believe what these beat writers were saying about us... oh,,, the knicks are contenders...oh ..oh there one of the best defensive teams in the NBA ..umm oh... carmello anthony is the league mvp.....
but now teams have figured us out...and the truth is look at our roster...... with all the injuries were the same ny knicks of 2011 2012......we are not the same team that started 18 and 5 ......but instead of adjusting and sticking with what got us here in the first place its just been a jr smith and mello show... now do i think its panic time?? no....... but i definitely think its accountability time and that's what coaches are paid to do......this is all in woodys hands now..... and to me...


tyson ........novak........ not earning their pay..
mello........... not acting like a leader..
jr smith.......... playing too much iso...
amare..........looks like a lost sheep out there and is playing too careful ...
camby..... needs to get that dam butter off his hands and grab some dam rebounds..seen too many slip out his hands..
and woody.....learn when to take a player out the game when hes just hurting the team... even if it means mello...
KMART is not the answer..... the answer is within this teams heart...and right now were soft....

[Knick4Knack]

oh my freakin god!!!! if i see one more post about jr starting at the PG!!!!!:cry:........... jr is too dam sloppy and dribbles too dam much...our turnover ratio will skyrocket!!!!!!

I do not particularly like the idea either, but there has been NO dribble penetration. Kidd looks like he is ready for the glue factory lately and Pablo is too hesitant to shoot. What else are we going to do?

Ironically, if you have noticed, J.R. plays point 15-20 min a game already to take pressure off Pablo and Kidd. The problem is that he is still geared on scoring. We all know that he is an improved passer this year.

Patch Adams time, Yanks. We have to do what we gotta do until Felton gets back. This current backcourt is not working, and we will be .500 by that time if we don't tweak things. That, or expect a trade.

[6deep]

SMH...

"...even the simplest of defensive concepts seems to elude him: guard your man, play help defense when another defender gets beat, box out. Pretty simple stuff."

Chronicling The Defensive And Rebounding Woes Of Amar’e Stoudemire

[PJAF]

Its frustrating as **** to watch, no doubt. But we've seen what we can do and hopefully what we will do in playoff games. Remember we're playing without or starting PG and best perimeter defender.

But I wish we played with the intensity the Bulls play with every night.

The main thing is Woodson needs to stop with these offensive anemic starting lineups. Melo is the only one who can put the ball in the basket when the game starts. No wonder why we have such putrid starts.

I've watched Bull games and they don't bring it every night. They bring it when they play the Knicks but I've seen them look terrible.