I've come to the conclusion that coaching matters much more than I previously thought.

Good grief Woodson, Kidd hasn't hit a shot in...8 games now? You can't run him with Chandler and Martin. Why do exactly what Vogel wants you to do? Play Copeland, play Prigioni, (I'll give you a pass on Novak since he was hurt). Give Stat more time. Do something to pull Hibbert from the damn paint. I mean damn, how can he not see that?

Woodson is getting outcoached, but the Knicks don't have many solid options. This is similar to Lebron's time in Cleveland. He's good, but his supporting cast is marginal and largely overrated. Carmelo is good, but who else does he have? Felton is a solid point, but not spectacular. Chandler, Martin, Stoudemire, and Kidd were all excellent once, but no longer play consistently at a high level. Shumpert is good, but he's hurt. Novak is a Kyle Korver type shooter, but he's hurt. Prigioni needs more experience and should be getting 15+ minutes a game off the bench.

And JR Smith. Sure he can shoot, sometimes. The problem there is that he shoots you out of just as many games as he wins. His volatility is a net zero and not good for the locker room in general. I was happy when he left the Nuggets.

So yeah, the Knicks are getting outcoached, but as they are, they've kind of peaked. Did they Amnesty anyone? If not, I'd love to see them amnesty Stoudemire.

But getting outcoached when your window is minimal is inexcusable. Honestly small tweaks are all that's needed to win here, and he's not making them. They're packing the paint, you have shooters stuck on the bench...play them so that they don't pack the paint. You're getting outrebounded anyway so play to your strength not theirs. Prigioni isn't a typical rookie though, he's played competitively overseas for years. Miami beat this team last year in no small part because they fully committed to small ball and stretched the floor, giving Wade and Lebron room to maneuver. If Hibbert can keep one foot in the paint at all times, the Knicks are fighting a battle they're not designed to win.

They amnestied Billups to get Chandler.

That's a shame, Stoudemire will hold them back for years.

I agree Woodson needs to make some tweaks, but I'm not sure he could do anything to get Hibbert out of the paint. Even if they went small, they'd need to score on a ton of possessions to make up for being outmuscled by Indiana's offense, particularly if they leave Hibbert and West in at the same time.

That's the issue with Indiana and Memphis. No matter what line-up you play on them, they can matchup reasonably well against you. New York needs to try something else though. If they can play small-ball and run up the score, then they force Indiana to take Hibbert out. Until they play small ball and play it successfully, Indiana will have them for lunch.

Simple tweak, Copeland at center. Cause Chandler looks unbelievably slow and stiff, I think his neck is still hurting.

Pick and Roll becomes pick and pop/roll depending.

Or Melo runs the pick and roll with some shooters on the floor.

Amar'e contract comes off in 2015. Most of the Knicks contracts come off in 2015, so barring an epic revival, I think that's the next rebuild target.

I just hope they don't trade away any more draft picks.

Break out the brooms fellas!

Go heat!

Yeah, enjoy it now. It's a shame these playoffs with the amount of injuries though. Westbrook, Kobe, Rose, Deng, Hinrich, Gallinari, Lee, Joe Johnson, Griffin, Paul, Wade, and those are just the top tier guys. I'd like to see Miami at least get challenged. So far it's Milwaukee(the least crappy lottery team) and a Chicago team missing half its starters.

Here's a question for you Silver. Assuming the Heat make the Finals(I give them an 80% chance, Indiana is no pushover), who would you most like to face of the teams left, and least like to face?

I'd like to see Miami play the Spurs just to see if Lebron get a little revenge on the sweep when he was in Cleveland and was playing them 1 on 5. Not that I want to see the Bulls getting worked, which I assumed would happen anyway. But if the Heat are going to win I'm going for story-line. I think Spurs is all that's left for a cool storyline.

But I think having to play Indiana followed by Memphis, I dunno, I don't know they could get thru that. Especially with Wade basically being a walking corpse.


As far as the Knicks, I'm shocked.................. not.

*coughcough*Game 1*coughcough*

Miami (or the League in general) do not want to see the grindhouse (Memphis).

But that is the most likely matchup.

For all my clamor, I still think the Knicks have a reasonable(not good mind you just reasonable) shot at winning the series. That would however require Woodson making good coaching decisions.

:sigh: :Goes to look at draft picks that Woodson won't play anyway:

I'm a grizzlies fan, so I'm cheering for those guys. Honestly I think all the west teams left look better than all the east teams except for the Heat.

Edit: and by Grizzlies fan I mean a Zebo & Gasol fan. Though there's a lot of good guys on that team.

The league in general wants, I think, GS v. Miami in the finals. They will get Spurs/Heat or Grizzlies/Heat.

Because frankly, the Indiana starters will all foul out in Game 7 of a Pacer/Heat series in the first 5 minutes of the game.