Smith played awful. Novak has been brutal this year. But carter was in the restricted area...AND still sliding into place, not to mention Kamen throwing his forearm.
Haven't ventured into this thread yet this season, but of course that loss spurred me. 1. I hate blaming the refs, but they take a lot of responsibility for this one. Very poorly called game. If Melo gets the calls any other player of his caliber gets, the Knicks win. I feel pretty strongly about this. 2. If the Knicks only lose the second game of back-to-backs on the road...Well, that wouldn't be the worst thing. 3. On that note, far be it from me to question Woodson after everything he's done as head coach, but a peculiar move to choose the end of a back-to-back against a decent team on the road to pare down the rotation to eight. The Knicks were clearly exhausted at times during the second quarter, and some fresh legs might have staved off all our issues in the third quarter, when the Knicks lost this one.
Woodson def had some poor decisions in this game. Heart breaking lost. Melo why didn't you go to the hoop. The lane was open.
What exactly is Novak's upside? He can make threes when open? This team already has enough three point shooters (Kidd, Felton, Melo, Smith, etc). And if Novak isnt shooting threes he's a liability. He cant play defense, he cant create his own shot. He cant drive, nor does he attempt jumpshots. I dont understand his value to the team.
Novak when he's good ie last year his value is enormous imo. I really like him. Watching him hit 3's so automatic is exciting. He's in a really bad slump right now. All I know is for his sake he better figure it out, because when guys get healthy his ass is gonna be on the bench. I really hope he turns it around, and fast.
You can't leave him. You cannot under any circumstance. The idea is, if you do, he will hit them at 1/2 rate and even higher out of the corners. What this does if throw Melo in the post, he can pass out of double. The ball can go to Kidd, Smith, Novak with Novak in the corner. With the defender not leaving Novak, Smith can drive on his closeout defender or take an open shot. If you place Novak on the same side as Melo in the post, the double has to come from elsehwere. That doubler is roaming a long way, giving Melo a long, but clearly visible pass. It leaves the defense lopsided and has them scrambling in a non rotation way to cover guys. That's idea once he breaks out of a slump. He can also be a key player with Amare off the bench. IF players go back to normal form, Kidd's 3pt % will drop, Brewer will drop, Smith will drop, and Novak will rise. He should become our most reliable 3 pt shooter. If he isn't and it remains Kidd or Smith, that would be amazing for this team
totally agree with this...Smith was horrible and thats why he is on the Knicks. By the end of the year, with his incredible upside, he will be in the running for 6th man award but you will have to struggle with games like this. Woodson had the look of kill first with him tonite. Leaving Carter on the corner 3 was brutally stupid. But thats Smith. That call on Melo was easy in regular motion..when the slowed it up it was horrible. Hate blaming refs too but its amazing the treatment Melo gets compared to other stars in the league. I believe its something that Woodson will continue to bark about behind the scenes and as long as Melo keeps his cool with the refs it will be straightened out. This team has so many weapons behind the 3 that Novak is useless with his play at both ends..he cant pass..he cant rebound...he was an average on the defensive side last year but thats gone too. Im sure he will light it up soon and perhaps change some minds but right now?....his play is indicative of the second unit in the second quarter..its killing this team and making it harder and harder to recover from. They should have had a much bigger lead going into halftime and Woody only used 8 players I believe tonite.
tough loss and Kaman smacked Melo in the face...No call there, I dont get it these refs never give him the calls that a lebron, wade, Dwight or Kobe gets
Officiating was inconsistent last night. Melo gets smacked in the face but no call, then they barely tap Carter and he gets the bailout foul call on a difficult forced shot. Such crap. Our 4th quarter defense was weak yesterday and our 3 point shooting went cold. We had good ball movement early on but it kinda fell off.
I watched the game a second time. As soon as they took Novak out they were able to play defense with pressure. Here are some bad rotations while Novak was on the floor: The Felton to Chandler Pick and Roll plays were competitive. We should use Chandler more often on offense especially when Knicks overmatch competition. Kaman couldnt guard him. Besides the poor defensive rotations I couldnt really be too mad (there were bad ref calls too). It's an 82 game season, as long as Knicks continue to be a defensive minded team they will move in the right direction. Moving forward Woodson gotta eliminate or limit weak defensive players like Novak and Amare, they ruin team chemistry.
Is it me or has Tyson looked bad this season? Felton is trying so hard to outplay Lin, but dude is failing. The Knicks look like they are playing under D'Antoni. I'm gonna need for Parsons to knock it off.
