Knicks · Guarding the 3 point line and losing guys back door (page 1)

I singled out Holiday in the first Boston game... in the second Boston game it was Lance Thomas.

Guys are not seeing the ball and their man. They are more focused on being where they should be structurally and too focused on yelling out commands aka "talking on defense".

Too often guys get caught not guarding anyone. I wish I was good at recording and editing videos. I'll try to post something later.

One play, Thomas was standing on the left end of the foul line while his man drifted out to the corner. His back was facing his man, while he was looking at the ball shouting commands. He blindly drifts back to where he thought his man was but his man was badly beating him back door already forcing Noah to slide in to make a play.

That's the hole in our defense. Holiday was guilty of allowing that same play. Teams are feasting from 3 or backdoor uncontested. The Knicks absolutely need to show guys what they are doing wrong on tape.

Boston is very good at what they do. They were perfect opponents to go against this preseason. This last game was well played basketball on the offensive end for the most part by both teams.

KP has been dreadful closing out on shooters. He's given up a ton of open looks this preseason. Seems they have mostly been focused on the interior D and that's OK, but this is an adjustment that needs to happen sooner or later, else we see JR shoot 10-22 from 3 next week

The backdoor will close sooner than later, that is something more Noah will fix. The perimeter issues are slow rotations and guys simply using poor judgment in how much they can sag off the player they are guarding. Good thing is at all seems fixable to me, I don't see any personnel gaps that will keep us from making the needed adjustments.

fishmike wrote:KP has been dreadful closing out on shooters. He's given up a ton of open looks this preseason. Seems they have mostly been focused on the interior D and that's OK, but this is an adjustment that needs to happen sooner or later, else we see JR shoot 10-22 from 3 next week

The backdoor will close sooner than later, that is something more Noah will fix. The perimeter issues are slow rotations and guys simply using poor judgment in how much they can sag off the player they are guarding. Good thing is at all seems fixable to me, I don't see any personnel gaps that will keep us from making the needed adjustments.

Absolutely on all accounts. When the adjustments are made (and you pointed out the professionalism of our players)... man oh man

EnySpree wrote:

fishmike wrote:KP has been dreadful closing out on shooters. He's given up a ton of open looks this preseason. Seems they have mostly been focused on the interior D and that's OK, but this is an adjustment that needs to happen sooner or later, else we see JR shoot 10-22 from 3 next week

The backdoor will close sooner than later, that is something more Noah will fix. The perimeter issues are slow rotations and guys simply using poor judgment in how much they can sag off the player they are guarding. Good thing is at all seems fixable to me, I don't see any personnel gaps that will keep us from making the needed adjustments.

Absolutely on all accounts. When the adjustments are made (and you pointed out the professionalism of our players)... man oh man

I love the coach... I love his verbiage and how he challenges and engages with these guys. I love his body language. I love that he said he wants to give his rotation guys 30 mins or so tonight "and see if they putter out." I think tonight is really telling. The ball also moved wonderfully last night, and the one guy who has held the ball for 1-1 play this preseason has been Melo, so I am very curious to see if he's a mover or a stopper.

I also think Lee really showed off his skill set last night. While he's not a "scorer" its clear that he certainly can in a variety of ways. With Noah and 4 guys who can really score, so long as we continue to move the ball this starting line up should be very good on both ends.

fishmike wrote:

EnySpree wrote:

fishmike wrote:KP has been dreadful closing out on shooters. He's given up a ton of open looks this preseason. Seems they have mostly been focused on the interior D and that's OK, but this is an adjustment that needs to happen sooner or later, else we see JR shoot 10-22 from 3 next week

The backdoor will close sooner than later, that is something more Noah will fix. The perimeter issues are slow rotations and guys simply using poor judgment in how much they can sag off the player they are guarding. Good thing is at all seems fixable to me, I don't see any personnel gaps that will keep us from making the needed adjustments.

Absolutely on all accounts. When the adjustments are made (and you pointed out the professionalism of our players)... man oh man

I love the coach... I love his verbiage and how he challenges and engages with these guys. I love his body language. I love that he said he wants to give his rotation guys 30 mins or so tonight "and see if they putter out." I think tonight is really telling. The ball also moved wonderfully last night, and the one guy who has held the ball for 1-1 play this preseason has been Melo, so I am very curious to see if he's a mover or a stopper.

I also think Lee really showed off his skill set last night. While he's not a "scorer" its clear that he certainly can in a variety of ways. With Noah and 4 guys who can really score, so long as we continue to move the ball this starting line up should be very good on both ends.

Same, I can't articulate it with specifics but seems like team is playing like team. Could be the mix of guys and Jeff's management, whatever it is, it's working!

This roster has more ball movers and guys with a higher BB IQ. Mix that with a high IQ coach and you can really see the difference with this team. This team should continue to get tighter execution as the season moves along and they develop more chemistry and really pick up all the nuances of the D and O.

martin wrote:

fishmike wrote:

EnySpree wrote:

fishmike wrote:KP has been dreadful closing out on shooters. He's given up a ton of open looks this preseason. Seems they have mostly been focused on the interior D and that's OK, but this is an adjustment that needs to happen sooner or later, else we see JR shoot 10-22 from 3 next week

The backdoor will close sooner than later, that is something more Noah will fix. The perimeter issues are slow rotations and guys simply using poor judgment in how much they can sag off the player they are guarding. Good thing is at all seems fixable to me, I don't see any personnel gaps that will keep us from making the needed adjustments.

Absolutely on all accounts. When the adjustments are made (and you pointed out the professionalism of our players)... man oh man

I love the coach... I love his verbiage and how he challenges and engages with these guys. I love his body language. I love that he said he wants to give his rotation guys 30 mins or so tonight "and see if they putter out." I think tonight is really telling. The ball also moved wonderfully last night, and the one guy who has held the ball for 1-1 play this preseason has been Melo, so I am very curious to see if he's a mover or a stopper.

I also think Lee really showed off his skill set last night. While he's not a "scorer" its clear that he certainly can in a variety of ways. With Noah and 4 guys who can really score, so long as we continue to move the ball this starting line up should be very good on both ends.

Same, I can't articulate it with specifics but seems like team is playing like team. Could be the mix of guys and Jeff's management, whatever it is, it's working!

totally Martin... the body language of the team mirrors that of Jeff, both as a coach and when he played and that is very positive. The appear to care about the mistakes on the floor, but don't seem to hang their heads or show frustration. Most of all the play is really coming along. Its very early but what really impresses me and gives me confidence is we really seem to have a nice feel of when to pass and when to attack. Guys aren't hesitating to find their own shot and be aggressive, but at the same time the same guys are moving the ball. Noah's per/36mins last night was 18boards and 10assists. He was such a positive tone setter IMO. My hope is a Jason Kidd like performance to start the season where he really sets the tone early and often enough where if/when he gets banged up the other guys work to maintain that successful style of play. Willy and KOQ are both good passers, so I like our backups.

Bottom line is I think we really improved on the squad that went 20-20 over the first half last year.

martin wrote:

fishmike wrote:

EnySpree wrote:

fishmike wrote:KP has been dreadful closing out on shooters. He's given up a ton of open looks this preseason. Seems they have mostly been focused on the interior D and that's OK, but this is an adjustment that needs to happen sooner or later, else we see JR shoot 10-22 from 3 next week

The backdoor will close sooner than later, that is something more Noah will fix. The perimeter issues are slow rotations and guys simply using poor judgment in how much they can sag off the player they are guarding. Good thing is at all seems fixable to me, I don't see any personnel gaps that will keep us from making the needed adjustments.

Absolutely on all accounts. When the adjustments are made (and you pointed out the professionalism of our players)... man oh man

I love the coach... I love his verbiage and how he challenges and engages with these guys. I love his body language. I love that he said he wants to give his rotation guys 30 mins or so tonight "and see if they putter out." I think tonight is really telling. The ball also moved wonderfully last night, and the one guy who has held the ball for 1-1 play this preseason has been Melo, so I am very curious to see if he's a mover or a stopper.

I also think Lee really showed off his skill set last night. While he's not a "scorer" its clear that he certainly can in a variety of ways. With Noah and 4 guys who can really score, so long as we continue to move the ball this starting line up should be very good on both ends.

Same, I can't articulate it with specifics but seems like team is playing like team. Could be the mix of guys and Jeff's management, whatever it is, it's working!

For instance, Jennings passed to Noah who practically handed it off to Courtney Lee for an open 12 ft look. Lee broke toward the hoop on the pass into Noah rather than just hanging back at the 3. Real efforts to attach the basket. I hope we see an increase in FT attempts.

They're doing this again tonight against Brooklyn.