Yeah it was a thrill to watch those shots go down and to beat the bulls. I agree that Melo is playing well and the team defense has been really good under Woodson. No issues with that. But I am not sure we can beat the Bulls in a 7 game series.
The Bulls cut down a 21 point deficit to take the lead. They can do that seven out of seven games. It's not like we can suddenly take our defense up by another three or four notches. But for us to win it took two three point shots by Melo to end regulation and then OT. This isn't about Melo but that is not repeatable 7 out 7 games.
Woodson's excessive reliance on Melo and STAT when he was in, is rendering the rest of our offense useless. It's not like Melo is being selfish, but Woody is not calling any plays to get anyone other than Melo involved in any offense. Melo can't beat defenses like Bulls/ Heat every game in a playoff series, and what we saw late Q3 and early Q4 yesterday will bite us in the butt. None of our other scoters have any flow or rhythm of any kind.
MDA was all ball movement and sharing Woody has been all stagnation and isolation. We need to find a balance between the two otherwise we won't get out of te first round. I am just not seeing any signs of Woody doing that. And that's concerning to me.
I agree man. This team will be as good or as bad as Melo is at playing at a given time.
Now, no shit, given Melo's history, you can't fault me for not being goo goo ga ga over this recent run. I'm taking it with some salt.
We all knew he can drop buckets, this and that, he's always done that. And the Nuggies won some games. But they still breathed a sigh of relief when he left. Real talk.
Perhaps it was over the top, but so was the Pringles love fest, and then the subsequent Pringles backlash, Linsanity, then the subsequent start Davis argument, and the Melo/Amar'e hate. Everything is and will be over the top here
MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:I agree man. This team will be as good or as bad as Melo is at playing at a given time. Now, no shit, given Melo's history, you can't fault me for not being goo goo ga ga over this recent run. I'm taking it with some salt.
We all knew he can drop buckets, this and that, he's always done that. And the Nuggies won some games. But they still breathed a sigh of relief when he left. Real talk.
The Nuggets are barely the 8th seed in the West right now. Real talk.
I'm taking it with some salt.Dude, just in case you hadn't heard - salt is bad for your health.
By definition euphoria IS over the top.
You can always change the channel.
Not me.
Having too much fun enjoying the best ride in years.
We apologize if The Garden too loud for you yesterday.
We promise to tone it down.
Yeah right.
ChuckBuck wrote:MarburyAnd1Crossover wrote:I agree man. This team will be as good or as bad as Melo is at playing at a given time. Now, no shit, given Melo's history, you can't fault me for not being goo goo ga ga over this recent run. I'm taking it with some salt.
We all knew he can drop buckets, this and that, he's always done that. And the Nuggies won some games. But they still breathed a sigh of relief when he left. Real talk.
The Nuggets are barely the 8th seed in the West right now. Real talk.
That doesn't account for his middle school girl type crush though
SupremeCommander wrote:Perhaps it was over the top, but so was the Pringles love fest, and then the subsequent Pringles backlash, Linsanity, then the subsequent start Davis argument, and the Melo/Amar'e hate. Everything is and will be over the top here
Linsanity was definitely over the top, deservedly so. It was a Conderella story, it's what makes sports exciting. Must have missed on start Davis being OTT, though I thought it was a ridiculous idea. Melo and Amare were criticized, yes. And they deserved every ounce of it. But I don't think anybody here hates them. Pringles was defended by some of us but not loved or worshipped - it's just plain irritating to see people repeat the same untruths day in day out - that leads to arguments, and then to this type of language: Lovefest.
But this thread is about whether we can be good consistently agains Bulls, Heat and other elite teams. I don't think we are there yet.
misterearl wrote: I'm taking it with some salt.Dude, just in case you hadn't heard - salt is bad for your health.
By definition euphoria IS over the top.
You can always change the channel.
Not me.
Having too much fun enjoying the best ride in years.
We apologize if The Garden too loud for you yesterday.
We promise to tone it down.
Yeah right.
Why don't you respond to whether we can or can't really beat the Bulls/Heat etc instead of heaping empty sarcasm.
loweyecue wrote:misterearl wrote: I'm taking it with some salt.Dude, just in case you hadn't heard - salt is bad for your health.
By definition euphoria IS over the top.
You can always change the channel.
Not me.
Having too much fun enjoying the best ride in years.
We apologize if The Garden too loud for you yesterday.
We promise to tone it down.
Yeah right.
Why don't you respond to whether we can or can't really beat the Bulls/Heat etc instead of heaping empty sarcasm.
With Woodson/Melo there's always a chance to beat these teams. With MDA/Linsanity no chance. Heat already showed the league the blueprint. With Woodson/Melo/Lin now that's a great chance to win a series or 2.
Why Don't You Take a Nap?
loweyecue wrote:Why don't you respond to whether we can or can't really beat the Bulls/Heat etc instead of heaping empty sarcasm.
loweyecue - who died and made you the freakin' thread police?
The title describes euphoria being over the top. Did you read any mention of the Bulls/Heat in the heading?
I certainly did not.
I got your "empty sarcasm" (grabbing crotch) right here.
"We're defending much better and offensively we're making shots. We're averaging right at 100 point per game... and our defense is holding opposing teams to 88, 87 points per game. Anytime you do that you're going to put yourself in position to win a lot of games. So that's how we've been playing and I expect us to continue to play that way if we're going to make the playoffs."
- Mike Woodson
You nay sayers...
Beat the bulls, Indiana back to back, Orlando...
um, this team might be for real.
Been so long since we had a winner around here no one know what one looks like.
We got a Championship center, undefendable closer, lock down rookie defender, a nutty johns starks like streak-shooter, a dead-eye sharpshooter, 3 all-stars, playoff seeding, defensive minded coach...
TRU wrote:You nay sayers...Beat the bulls, Indiana back to back, Orlando...
um, this team might be for real.
Been so long since we had a winner around here no one know what one looks like.
We got a Championship center, undefendable closer, lock down rookie defender, a nutty johns starks like streak-shooter, a dead-eye sharpshooter, 3 all-stars, playoff seeding, defensive minded coach...
And we 2 games over .500..........
That is the sobering fact that should taper the euphoria just a bit.
Nice win.
fans a bit manic on both directions.
When your live by the 3, you'll die by it more often.
Yesterday we lived by it.
misterearl wrote:Why Don't You Take a Nap?loweyecue wrote:Why don't you respond to whether we can or can't really beat the Bulls/Heat etc instead of heaping empty sarcasm.
loweyecue - who died and made you the freakin' thread police?
The title describes euphoria being over the top. Did you read any mention of the Bulls/Heat in the heading?
I certainly did not.
I got your "empty sarcasm" (grabbing crotch) right here.
"We're defending much better and offensively we're making shots. We're averaging right at 100 point per game... and our defense is holding opposing teams to 88, 87 points per game. Anytime you do that you're going to put yourself in position to win a lot of games. So that's how we've been playing and I expect us to continue to play that way if we're going to make the playoffs."
- Mike Woodson
Geesh, not sure why you need to be vulgar as well as sarcastic. I had hoped you were responding to the post and not the thread title. My bad.
Nalod wrote:TRU wrote:You nay sayers...Beat the bulls, Indiana back to back, Orlando...
um, this team might be for real.
Been so long since we had a winner around here no one know what one looks like.
We got a Championship center, undefendable closer, lock down rookie defender, a nutty johns starks like streak-shooter, a dead-eye sharpshooter, 3 all-stars, playoff seeding, defensive minded coach...
And we 2 games over .500..........
That is the sobering fact that should taper the euphoria just a bit.
Nice win.
fans a bit manic on both directions.
When your live by the 3, you'll die by it more often.
Yesterday we lived by it.
You keep mentioning live by the 3, die by the 3...didn't a certain Coach previously employ that tactic to disastrous results? 
Now only if he had mixed in a little post up here and there, he'd probably still be around...who am I kidding, thank God he's gone!
Nalod wrote:TRU wrote:You nay sayers...Beat the bulls, Indiana back to back, Orlando...
um, this team might be for real.
Been so long since we had a winner around here no one know what one looks like.
We got a Championship center, undefendable closer, lock down rookie defender, a nutty johns starks like streak-shooter, a dead-eye sharpshooter, 3 all-stars, playoff seeding, defensive minded coach...
And we 2 games over .500..........
That is the sobering fact that should taper the euphoria just a bit.
Nice win.
fans a bit manic on both directions.
When your live by the 3, you'll die by it more often.
Yesterday we lived by it.
I'll take 2 games over a 8-15 start..(11-3) the last 14 games (trending)
Threes were cool when the other guy was on the side lines...
holfresh wrote:Nalod wrote:TRU wrote:You nay sayers...Beat the bulls, Indiana back to back, Orlando...
um, this team might be for real.
Been so long since we had a winner around here no one know what one looks like.
We got a Championship center, undefendable closer, lock down rookie defender, a nutty johns starks like streak-shooter, a dead-eye sharpshooter, 3 all-stars, playoff seeding, defensive minded coach...
And we 2 games over .500..........
That is the sobering fact that should taper the euphoria just a bit.
Nice win.
fans a bit manic on both directions.
When your live by the 3, you'll die by it more often.
Yesterday we lived by it.
I'll take 2 games over a 8-15 start..(11-3) the last 14 games (trending)
Threes were cool when the other guy was on the side lines...
Yea wonder why he keeps regurgitating 3s, when the last guy lived exclusively off them. I remember when he tried to make Melo, Steve Kerr, and just let him sit in the corner until he received the ball from Lin. 
I know, we all done with MDA and feeling good.
But against a tough Bull defense we went ISO one on one and it was ugly.
If you need bone head JR smith to pull you out then so be it.
I like how any bit of critique its "DUMP on MDA"!
Woodson has done a very good job. The record speaks for itself.
The circle jerk erection of loving on Melo is freaking funny as hell.
Maybe Loewreyque was just trying to bring some levity to the forum.
Jeez, its easter and no "Melo is the resurrection" type comparisons?
I had a similar observation about the offense in that I was saying you need more than just a great D when you get into the playoffs and have to face the other great defensive teams. That stuff will cancel each other out and then it DOES COME DOWN TO OFFENSE!!! If you can't execute or score efficiently then you will have problems. The reason a team like Boston is still winning is because of having 4 threats at all times. They put tremendous pressure on teams defensively but then they also can score effectively with a team oriented offense.
I think the best of both worlds would've been to have both MDA and Woody here and a committed Melo. That didn't happen and now over time the offense is devolving and sure not having Lin is a huge reason for some of it, it's not all of the reason things have devolved so much. Woody had to breakout some of the MDA sets in order to get some scoring. Aside from the great shot making of Melo to win the Bulls game, we really have to improve the efficiency of the offense before the playoffs. Early in the Bulls game Melo was actually coming off curls and playing catch and shoot. He wasn't holding the ball and going ISO. When things bogged down and the Bulls caught up it was due to the offense going into too much ISO and not enough ball and Player movement.
Just remember that the Bulls didn't lose in the playoffs last year cuz they couldn't defend. They lost cuz they couldn't score. Scoring is still half of the game no matter how much people only want to talk about Defense. The Bulls caught up and passed the Knicks because they weren't scoring. I was screaming at the TV for them to run a play for Novak and finally Woody ran our old play where we have Novak pop out behind the 3 off a pick. He missed but it was a great look.
nixluva wrote:I had a similar observation about the offense in that I was saying you need more than just a great D when you get into the playoffs and have to face the other great defensive teams. That stuff will cancel each other out and then it DOES COME DOWN TO OFFENSE!!! If you can't execute or score efficiently then you will have problems. The reason a team like Boston is still winning is because of having 4 threats at all times. They put tremendous pressure on teams defensively but then they also can score effectively with a team oriented offense.I think the best of both worlds would've been to have both MDA and Woody here and a committed Melo. That didn't happen and now over time the offense is devolving and sure not having Lin is a huge reason for some of it, it's not all of the reason things have devolved so much. Woody had to breakout some of the MDA sets in order to get some scoring. Aside from the great shot making of Melo to win the Bulls game, we really have to improve the efficiency of the offense before the playoffs. Early in the Bulls game Melo was actually coming off curls and playing catch and shoot. He wasn't holding the ball and going ISO. When things bogged down and the Bulls caught up it was due to the offense going into too much ISO and not enough ball and Player movement.
Just remember that the Bulls didn't lose in the playoffs last year cuz they couldn't defend. They lost cuz they couldn't score. Scoring is still half of the game no matter how much people only want to talk about Defense. The Bulls caught up and passed the Knicks because they weren't scoring. I was screaming at the TV for them to run a play for Novak and finally Woody ran our old play where we have Novak pop out behind the 3 off a pick. He missed but it was a great look.
You don't think the Bulls had anything to do with the Knicks stagnant offense?
"You've got to give them credit, too," Woodson said. "Defensively, they're one of the top defensive teams in the league and they started to pick their defense up tremendously and they made it tough to move the ball. I thought coming down the home stretch we had some great looks at the bucket, but they just weren't falling and their shots weren't falling as well because of our good defense, so it was just a battle until Melo was able to break loose and make the biggest play of the night."
ChuckBuck wrote:loweyecue wrote:misterearl wrote: I'm taking it with some salt.Dude, just in case you hadn't heard - salt is bad for your health.
By definition euphoria IS over the top.
You can always change the channel.
Not me.
Having too much fun enjoying the best ride in years.
We apologize if The Garden too loud for you yesterday.
We promise to tone it down.
Yeah right.
Why don't you respond to whether we can or can't really beat the Bulls/Heat etc instead of heaping empty sarcasm.
With Woodson/Melo there's always a chance to beat these teams. With MDA/Linsanity no chance. Heat already showed the league the blueprint. With Woodson/Melo/Lin now that's a great chance to win a series or 2.
Thank you for responding to the post. I agree to some extent that we can pull out one game against the very top teams. Bit can we do it repeatedly or predictably? That was my question. Bulls at home will be good test, plus a slumping Miami after that.
My criticism of Woodson is on offense and what he is doing. You have to see that it is completely stagnant at times. We can't beat the Bulls with defense alone they are every bit as good if not better. So are the Heat.
