Keys to the second half of the season and the playoffs?..

[EnWhyKay]

Prior to the start of the season none of the major NBA experts had the New York Knicks winning 50 plus games. In fact they had us finishing anywhere from 5 to 8 in the standings. Behind Boston, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. Then we came out to that red hot 18-5 start then we went 14-13 to close out the second half and doubt is starting to creep back in. If I was coach Mike Woodson these would be the keys for me going into the second half of the season..

Rotation
It's now time for Coach Mike Woodson to change up the rotation and put his best foot forward to start games. The guys he goes with are the guys he should be relying on not only to start games but also to close them out. Enough with the excuses. If they do not play well they he reserves every right to bench them. He needs to go with a starting lineup of

Raymond Felton
Iman Shumpert
Carmelo Anthony
Amar'e Stoudemire
Tyson Chandler

With this lineup you have a more traditional lineup that can get an edge on the glass. That has an interior presence with Stoudemire and the second scorer we desperately need on the floor. You also have a perimeter defender in Iman Shumpert to step up and guard the likes of Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, and company since we know Raymond Felton simply cannot do so.

In order for this to be successful Carmelo Anthony is going to have to defend. We can only hide one guy on defense every night and thats Amar'e. We cannot hide both Amar'e and Carmelo. So Melo is going to have to give extra on D if this is going to work. Or Woody is going to have to implement some zone defense for stretches. Melo knows the zone he played it in Syracuse.

Melo is also going to have to be more distributive to start games. Instead of coming out firing he should move the ball around and let the other guys get comfortable on the floor so that he can trust them and lean on them as the game wanes.. This is going to be important for when teams start to throw double and triple teams at him in the fourth. Just in 2 years ago Amar'e Stoudemire lead the league in fourth quarter scoring. Melo is going to have to use Amar'e as an assets instead of viewing him as a hinderance if we wants to win a ring this season.

Woody is going to have to stagger the minutes a bit so that throughout the game 1 of Melo and Stoudemire is always on the floor. Both guys should never be on the bench at the same time. We lose entirely too much scoring when they are both out of the game. So around the 7 minute mark he can sub JR in for Amar'e and around the 5 minute mark he can bring Kidd in for Shump.. And Prigs in for Felton. Then when its times for Melo to sit he can bring Stat back in for Melo and so on and so forth.

Raymond Felton need to force the issue
Felton needs to get into the lane and create some havoc. He has been settling for a lot of jumpers lately and that is letting defenses off the hook.. He doesnt need to let the defense dictate how he plays the game. He needs to be aggresive and force defenses to guard him. When Felton is getting into the paint good things happen.

JR Smith needs to scale it back a little bit
JR has played great this season. But over the last few weeks there has been too much one on one ending in long jumpers.. He needs to take it to the bucket. And try to get to the line more instead of settling for long 2's. Off the catch he is a marksmen. If it isnt there pass the ball and wait for it. When he catches and is able to set he can make defenses pay. Too much off the dribble jumpshots are killing us.

Ronnie Brewer needs more minutes
There has been major slippage for us on the defensive end. We need to get brewer back in the rotation to slow teams down. Maybe he should be the 2nd guy off the bench coming in for shump. So that we can maintain the defensive intensity. Defense is what is going to get us to where we need to go.

Amare Stoudemire needs to be featured more in the offense
The man has been back about 20 games. And in that time he has played fairly well. All this with him not really being featured. He can get the ball 1 time make a good move and they dont come back to him. He has also had some stinkers as well. But I believe we rely entirely too much on Carmelo Anthony to score. And in the end that is going to be our Achilles heel come playoff time because teams are simply not going to allow Melo to go crazy on them. It will look like the Clipper game all over again. Get Amare the ball early and often to keep defeses honest. Get Melo the ball off of screens and movement so he can be a catch and shooter as well.

Thats all I have for now. Feel free to add on....

[Yankeefan213]

Brewer does not need more minutes. He got his chance when we had all the injuries and he was horrendous. Also, I think Melo has been fine defensively this season, so I am not sure why you mentioned him having to step up his D.

[Beltrans Mole]

I believe this team is better off with Amare coming off the bench. He seems to be shining in this role and he's committed to doing what it takes to win...not letting his ego get in the way because he's not starting. I've said this before and I'll say it again, the NBA is all about taking advantage of mismatches. Having Amare and JR coming fresh off the bench against second units is a huge plus for us. Not many teams besides maybe the Clippers, Nuggets, etc. can boast that kind of offensive firepower off of the bench. I think you keep Iman/Kidd/Felton in there with Melo and Chandler for now. I still think Shumpert will get better as time goes on, and as long as Kidd doesn't play large minutes he should be fine for the stretch run.

[og knick]

#1 ... Melo needs to get his **** straight.. He came out of the olympics humble and realizing that it takes a team to win. Melo needs to take between 15 - 18 shots a game max. .. Woodson needs to keep him ..Melow as far as shots goes.. That thing with Garnett getting in his head made me so emberassed and realized he is not a great leader and not as mature as I wish he was.

#2 We need to use shump right. I don't know about starting or not... But he needs to guard the top scoring guy on the other team from ( pg, g or sf) and do very little on offense other wise.

#3 Jr needs to be more lockdown on defense.. which he can do and switch of with shump to not let the high scoring small on the opposing team breath... when he's flowing it on offense turn it on but when he's not put all the energy into his defense.

#4 Stat needs more plays and needs to anchor second unit scoring wise.

#5 Make 4 plays a game with screens for novak. also work a pick and roll with him as the guy waiting for a kick out.

#6 work on a few Melo/ Stat pick your poison plays on offense ... esp with Novak waiting like I said above ....
This will be great for the playoffs.

#7 Get in the teams head that they need to outwork everybody and out hustle and light a fire under those ***** Woody.

#8 .. Make Sheed a player coach even when He's not playing for the above esp..

Thats my 2 cents..

[thenyknicks]

melo needs to lead. woody needs to stop with the isos. felton needs to be a pg.

the true test for this team is the playoffs. the reg season is boring for some of these guys it seems.

[D-Leethal]

play with a set of balls

[Jesse2272]

donkey punch our opponents in the 4th

[Captain Moroni]

Crazy thought that goes against what i have been saying. Start JR Smith.

Felton, Kidd, Smith, Melo, Chandler. Not the biggest lineup, but im sick of being down 22-9 every game.

Then Shumpert can excell at the 2 where he wants to be, Amare will dominate as the number one option, and with Sheed back, defense will reign.

[Backstabber]

Crazy thought that goes against what i have been saying. Start JR Smith.

Felton, Kidd, Smith, Melo, Chandler. Not the biggest lineup, but im sick of being down 22-9 every game.

Then Shumpert can excell at the 2 where he wants to be, Amare will dominate as the number one option, and with Sheed back, defense will reign.

I don't think that thought is crazy if we are keeping Amare on the bench, might be much better to put Shump at the 2 coming off the bench. Or even more traditional, slide JKidd to the back up PG - Start Brewer at the 3:

Felton-Smith-Brewer-Melo-Chandler

Kidd-Shump (where Shump gets more development by handling the ball)-Novak- Sheed (hopefully he's back)- Amare

[Dmagic87]

We need Kidd to play like Kidd, we need to figure out why his game has changed so much.

We need Chandler to play defense like he did last year, he is soft this year.

We need to knock down 3s and create space for Melo.

With all those factors Melo theoretically should go back to playing MVP ball instead of the stupid hero **** he is doing now.

[PJAF]

Prior to the start of the season none of the major NBA experts had the New York Knicks winning 50 plus games. In fact they had us finishing anywhere from 5 to 8 in the standings. Behind Boston, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. Then we came out to that red hot 18-5 start then we went 14-13 to close out the second half and doubt is starting to creep back in. If I was coach Mike Woodson these would be the keys for me going into the second half of the season..

Rotation
It's now time for Coach Mike Woodson to change up the rotation and put his best foot forward to start games. The guys he goes with are the guys he should be relying on not only to start games but also to close them out. Enough with the excuses. If they do not play well they he reserves every right to bench them. He needs to go with a starting lineup of

Raymond Felton
Iman Shumpert
Carmelo Anthony
Amar'e Stoudemire
Tyson Chandler

With this lineup you have a more traditional lineup that can get an edge on the glass. That has an interior presence with Stoudemire and the second scorer we desperately need on the floor. You also have a perimeter defender in Iman Shumpert to step up and guard the likes of Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, and company since we know Raymond Felton simply cannot do so.

In order for this to be successful Carmelo Anthony is going to have to defend. We can only hide one guy on defense every night and thats Amar'e. We cannot hide both Amar'e and Carmelo. So Melo is going to have to give extra on D if this is going to work. Or Woody is going to have to implement some zone defense for stretches. Melo knows the zone he played it in Syracuse.

Melo is also going to have to be more distributive to start games. Instead of coming out firing he should move the ball around and let the other guys get comfortable on the floor so that he can trust them and lean on them as the game wanes.. This is going to be important for when teams start to throw double and triple teams at him in the fourth. Just in 2 years ago Amar'e Stoudemire lead the league in fourth quarter scoring. Melo is going to have to use Amar'e as an assets instead of viewing him as a hinderance if we wants to win a ring this season.

Woody is going to have to stagger the minutes a bit so that throughout the game 1 of Melo and Stoudemire is always on the floor. Both guys should never be on the bench at the same time. We lose entirely too much scoring when they are both out of the game. So around the 7 minute mark he can sub JR in for Amar'e and around the 5 minute mark he can bring Kidd in for Shump.. And Prigs in for Felton. Then when its times for Melo to sit he can bring Stat back in for Melo and so on and so forth.

Raymond Felton need to force the issue
Felton needs to get into the lane and create some havoc. He has been settling for a lot of jumpers lately and that is letting defenses off the hook.. He doesnt need to let the defense dictate how he plays the game. He needs to be aggresive and force defenses to guard him. When Felton is getting into the paint good things happen.

JR Smith needs to scale it back a little bit
JR has played great this season. But over the last few weeks there has been too much one on one ending in long jumpers.. He needs to take it to the bucket. And try to get to the line more instead of settling for long 2's. Off the catch he is a marksmen. If it isnt there pass the ball and wait for it. When he catches and is able to set he can make defenses pay. Too much off the dribble jumpshots are killing us.

Ronnie Brewer needs more minutes
There has been major slippage for us on the defensive end. We need to get brewer back in the rotation to slow teams down. Maybe he should be the 2nd guy off the bench coming in for shump. So that we can maintain the defensive intensity. Defense is what is going to get us to where we need to go.

Amare Stoudemire needs to be featured more in the offense
The man has been back about 20 games. And in that time he has played fairly well. All this with him not really being featured. He can get the ball 1 time make a good move and they dont come back to him. He has also had some stinkers as well. But I believe we rely entirely too much on Carmelo Anthony to score. And in the end that is going to be our Achilles heel come playoff time because teams are simply not going to allow Melo to go crazy on them. It will look like the Clipper game all over again. Get Amare the ball early and often to keep defeses honest. Get Melo the ball off of screens and movement so he can be a catch and shooter as well.

Thats all I have for now. Feel free to add on....

Not much to add on as I see it the way you see it.

[Beltrans Mole]

We need Kidd to play like Kidd, we need to figure out why his game has changed so much.

We need Chandler to play defense like he did last year, he is soft this year.

We need to knock down 3s and create space for Melo.

With all those factors Melo theoretically should go back to playing MVP ball instead of the stupid hero **** he is doing now.

Kidd is not a young man anymore. He needs more rest and we played him a ton while Felton was hurt and Shumpert was rehabbing. I think they need to be cautious with him in the second half because if Kidd doesn't play like he did in the first month of the year, then we have no shot anyways. He was finding the open man seemingly on every possession, creating open shots. If we move the ball well, we are unstoppable.

[cheetos185]

1. Stop blaming the refs for everything
2. Play the game for 4 quaters not just in second half.
3. Coach has to run more plays than just pick&roll and ISO melo
4. Use other players on the bench enough with the loyalty crap it's all about winning now.

[Anji]

Just win.

[WEBB]

prior to the start of the season none of the major nba experts had the new york knicks winning 50 plus games. In fact they had us finishing anywhere from 5 to 8 in the standings. Behind boston, brooklyn, and philadelphia. Then we came out to that red hot 18-5 start then we went 14-13 to close out the second half and doubt is starting to creep back in. If i was coach mike woodson these would be the keys for me going into the second half of the season..

rotation
it's now time for coach mike woodson to change up the rotation and put his best foot forward to start games. The guys he goes with are the guys he should be relying on not only to start games but also to close them out. Enough with the excuses. If they do not play well they he reserves every right to bench them. He needs to go with a starting lineup of

raymond felton
iman shumpert
carmelo anthony
amar'e stoudemire
tyson chandler

with this lineup you have a more traditional lineup that can get an edge on the glass. That has an interior presence with stoudemire and the second scorer we desperately need on the floor. You also have a perimeter defender in iman shumpert to step up and guard the likes of deron williams, kyrie irving, derrick rose, and company since we know raymond felton simply cannot do so.

In order for this to be successful carmelo anthony is going to have to defend. We can only hide one guy on defense every night and thats amar'e. We cannot hide both amar'e and carmelo. So melo is going to have to give extra on d if this is going to work. Or woody is going to have to implement some zone defense for stretches. Melo knows the zone he played it in syracuse.

Melo is also going to have to be more distributive to start games. Instead of coming out firing he should move the ball around and let the other guys get comfortable on the floor so that he can trust them and lean on them as the game wanes.. This is going to be important for when teams start to throw double and triple teams at him in the fourth. Just in 2 years ago amar'e stoudemire lead the league in fourth quarter scoring. Melo is going to have to use amar'e as an assets instead of viewing him as a hinderance if we wants to win a ring this season.

Woody is going to have to stagger the minutes a bit so that throughout the game 1 of melo and stoudemire is always on the floor. Both guys should never be on the bench at the same time. We lose entirely too much scoring when they are both out of the game. So around the 7 minute mark he can sub jr in for amar'e and around the 5 minute mark he can bring kidd in for shump.. And prigs in for felton. Then when its times for melo to sit he can bring stat back in for melo and so on and so forth.

raymond felton need to force the issue
felton needs to get into the lane and create some havoc. He has been settling for a lot of jumpers lately and that is letting defenses off the hook.. He doesnt need to let the defense dictate how he plays the game. He needs to be aggresive and force defenses to guard him. When felton is getting into the paint good things happen.

jr smith needs to scale it back a little bit
jr has played great this season. But over the last few weeks there has been too much one on one ending in long jumpers.. He needs to take it to the bucket. And try to get to the line more instead of settling for long 2's. Off the catch he is a marksmen. If it isnt there pass the ball and wait for it. When he catches and is able to set he can make defenses pay. Too much off the dribble jumpshots are killing us.

ronnie brewer needs more minutes
there has been major slippage for us on the defensive end. We need to get brewer back in the rotation to slow teams down. Maybe he should be the 2nd guy off the bench coming in for shump. So that we can maintain the defensive intensity. Defense is what is going to get us to where we need to go.

amare stoudemire needs to be featured more in the offense
the man has been back about 20 games. And in that time he has played fairly well. All this with him not really being featured. He can get the ball 1 time make a good move and they dont come back to him. He has also had some stinkers as well. But i believe we rely entirely too much on carmelo anthony to score. And in the end that is going to be our achilles heel come playoff time because teams are simply not going to allow melo to go crazy on them. It will look like the clipper game all over again. Get amare the ball early and often to keep defeses honest. Get melo the ball off of screens and movement so he can be a catch and shooter as well.

Thats all i have for now. Feel free to add on....

agree 100%