OT: Woodson gets the axe in NY

[NBKLee]

Was it his fault the GM signed an overpaid A'mare, and Chandler got hurt? SMH

 

[msgkings322]

No, but it's his fault that he sucks as a basketball coach. And that he couldn't get a team with decent talent into the playoffs out of the East (all those easy games) over the 37 win Hawks.

You bring in a new GM to a situation like that, the coach is definitely gone. Be interesting to see if Steve Kerr does a better job.

 

[NBKLee]

Not sure Kerr is the best option for NYK, 1st time head coach, Aging Melo, A'mare, Chandler, wild out of control Smith off the bench.


My money is on George Karl, or a Mo Cheeks type with more experience.

 

[CitySushi]

Maybe a cop out answer, but its probably a combination of both fault of the head coach and the GM.

When the GM/Owner go out and spend big money on certain players, there's a caveat that the coach has to give him minutes worthy of his contract. With the Knicks essentially overpaying everyone, it gets a bit dicey.

Melo was the only one out there doing work for the team. Chandler has been hit and miss all year. Amare is a shell of himself (although the last month or so he played really well). JR is JR. Bargnani was terrible. And when you're pretty much stuck having to play a guy like Raymond Felton big minutes, you don't have a whole lot going for you.

However as a coach, you have to draw the line somewhere. I think Woodson coached the team just to try to save his job, rather than serve the best course of the organization. He needed to instill more discipline in the team, whether by benching, or reducing minutes for players playing out of control. He's to blame a lot for the team's shortcomings.

 

[NBKLee]

Maybe a cop out answer, but its probably a combination of both fault of the head coach and the GM........ He's to blame a lot for the team's shortcomings.

I suppose, thing is, Woodson didn't exactly have a "stacked roster"

He was able to develop Tim Hardaway Jr. a bit, Prigioni seems like a good role player, Shumpert could probably play a bigger role without Melo on the team.

On to the bad, Cole Aldrich, J. Tyler, JR, I will shoot 30 3pt shots in a game Smith, A'mare the aging wonder.

Even in a bad EAST CONF, you need some better players to compete.

 

[CitySushi]

I suppose, thing is, Woodson didn't exactly have a "stacked roster"

He was able to develop Tim Hardaway Jr. a bit, Prigioni seems like a good role player, Shumpert could probably play a bigger role without Melo on the team.

On to the bad, Cole Aldrich, J. Tyler, JR, I will shoot 30 3pt shots in a game Smith, A'mare the aging wonder.

Even in a bad EAST CONF, you need some better players to compete.

100% agree from a talent stand point. I even pointed out they had players that were probably hurting the team more than helping. My argument in that Woodson is culpable is that as a team, the Knicks never looked like a cohesive unit. That's the head coach's job. The offensive sets were terrible. Their defense wasn't much better. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, but he was just as responsible for the team not performing as the GM for not putting together a more formative roster.

Woodson put guys out on the court who he felt could help him best secure his job instead of putting the guys out on the court who could execute a game plan. He rode guys like JR, Bargnani, Felton, etc., when they were not reliable. He was simply trying to get another win, instead of making points to his team that he was going to put the guys out there that compete the hardest. It's no coincidence that the Knicks actually started playing better after Bargnani got injured. The team made far too many mental mistakes and that is a reflection of the coaching staff.

Either way, Woodson had to go. The hiring of Phil Jackson is paving the way for the Knicks to basically just clean house. I expect that there will be a high turnover in player and front office personnel in the next year. I think even if the Knicks somehow made it in to the post-season this year, he would have still been let go. At some point you need a new voice at the top.