Schmeelk's Stance: A Tale Of Two Nights

By John Schmeelk
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Could Friday and Sunday night for the Knicks been any different? It's the beauty of basketball that the same group of players can give such contrasting performances only two days apart. On Friday, the Knicks were embarrassed by the worst team in the NBA, and showed little regard for defense, and even less for rebounding. On Sunday they played one of their best defensive games of the year against the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Forming chemistry on defense has something to do with it, but most of it is effort.

Most people like to point to Mike D'Antoni and blame him for the Knicks lack of defense, and on the surface they have a point. He runs an up-tempo system and is known as an offensive guru. His teams in Phoenix gave up a ton of points and that's normally the reason given for his system never winning a championship there. Though it should be noted his system got the Suns to two Western Conference finals, and he might have gotten to a third of not for an Amar'e Stoudemire suspension against the Spurs in the 2007 playoffs. In 2007, the Suns were also a middle of the league defensive team. This year they are 17th in points allowed per 100 possessions, one of the best metrics of measuring defensive performance.

Listening to D'Antoni talk to the media before and after every game, he talks about his team's effort and defense a lot more than he does their offense. Over the course of the season, even before the trade, he constantly made the point that his team needed to improve on the defensive end to become a true contender. If he's saying it to the media, it's logical to think that's the message he's sending to the team as well. And despite what people might think, there is a team defensive strategy and philosophy in place.

The question remains as to whether or not the players will buy in. Can D'Antoni motivate the players enough to care as much about defense as they do offense? Will the two superstars on the team, Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, who are also two of the team's most inconsistent defenders, lead in those areas? If those two guys go out and play hard on defense every night, the rest of the team will follow. There's nothing D'Antoni can do that would have more of an impact than those two players setting an example by dedicating themselves to defense every night. With neither having to carry the load completely on their own, both should be able to give more on defense, especially Stoudemire. Man to man defense isn't the biggest problem either, it's team defense on pick and rolls and weakside rotations. Both Stoudemire and Anthony have talked a good game about playing defense, but now they need to walk the walk.

The Knicks can do it. Everyone saw it on Sunday night. Carmelo and Stoudemire did it. When they buy into the principles of D'Antoni's system and put the effort, focus and intensity in, it works. When the team doesn't try on defense, the Knicks can lose to the Cavaliers, give up 115 points and get outrebounded by 20. It's on the coach for sending the right message, but it's even more important for the players to buy in. If winning is important enough, they will play defense. We'll find out whether or not it is soon enough.

SCHMEELK'S SNIPPETS

- I like how D'Antoni is resting Chauncey Billups and Stoudemire together, while leaving Carmelo on the floor. D'Antoni uses those situations to put Anthony into the isolation situations he likes so much. The Knicks get to take advantage of his offensive repertoire without ruining the flow of the offense with Billups and Stoudemire. Most other times, Anthony is getting his shots in the flow of the offense, which runs through Billups.

- I'd like to see more pick and roll with Billups and Stoudemire. Billups' shooting forces guards to go over the screen, making it a lot easier for Stoudemire to get open going towards the basket and for Billups to find a passing angle. Billups has already shown more aptitude for sticking passes into small space to cutting teammates on the pick and roll than Raymond Felton did.

- I never thought the Knicks could beat a decent team, let alone the Heat, shooting under 40% from the field and under 30% from downtown. It's important not to get carried away but it's a taste of how dangerous the Knicks can be in the playoffs.

- Give Bill Walker credit for playing good defense on LeBron James for much of the game. Tip your cap to Stoudemire for yet another game saving defensive play. He has made a couple this year. And finally, give most of the credit to Billups who was phenomenal in the 4th quarter for the 2nd consecutive game. Knicks fans are forgetting Felton fast, and some perhaps, are no longer dreaming of Chris Paul.

- Don't give too much credit to Carmelo for his defense on LeBron. James took him to the hole, and Anthony was only bailed out because Stoudemire came over to help with the block (plus the refs missed a foul when Anthony hit LeBron on the wrist/arm before the block). Plus, on the final possession, LeBron had WAY too good of a look at a three. In that scenario down three, LeBron cannot get open from downtown. If anything, Carmelo should overplay him and make him take it to the hoop or take an ultra-contested three. Give Anthony credit for one thing though, he's had a lot of success against LeBron offensively and in terms of victories, something that could be important as these teams battle for Eastern Conference supremacy for years to come.

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