New York Knicks: 10 Simple Ways to Improve the Knicks Next Season
One of the many points that Donnie Walsh and Jim Dolan disagreed on was that Dolan allowed his corporate sponsors access to the locker room and on team charter flights.
Charter flights and the locker room are places where teams come together, bond and talk basketball. Prior to the game, players should be worried about how to beat an opponent, not be talking to a sponsor about a possible commercial or any business opportunities.
If Dolan is really dedicated to giving the fans a winning product, he'll put an end to this. The sponsors will always be there, especially if the team is successful. Winning always brings sponsors and more money to your players and team. Let the players focus more on what they get paid to do, which is play basketball.
10. Bring in a Defensive Minded Assistant Coach
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The Knicks organization has already stated that they will look to add a defensive assistant to D'Antoni's coaching staff, and as of right now, D'Antoni is on board with it. Ideally, the Knicks want a high-profile coach like Lawrence Frank, but that most likely won't happen.
They don't need to make a big splash here. They were second in the NBA in scoring this season. All the Knicks need is someone who can implement a good system, so there will be less confusion out there. They don't have to be an elite defensive team and probably won't be with the current personnel anyway. If they can finish in the top 15 defensively, they would be a 50-win team easily with such a high-octane offense.
Now having a good system is one thing, but it won't improve the overall defense if we don't....
9. Practice, Practice, Practice
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Yes Iverson, I'm talking about practice. One of the problems with the lack of cohesiveness on both ends of the floor, was the lack of practice time required of the team. The Knicks hardly practiced after making the trade for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, and it showed on the court.
There were injuries and Mike D'Antoni wanted his top guys to rest, but as you saw in the playoffs, resting guys doesn't always keep players healthy.
The top teams and coaches make their players practice and treat practices just as important as the real games. Practice keeps players focused, builds confidence within the team and helps everyone understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. It wasn't until the end of the season that D'Antoni did what every other head coach does by holding shootarounds the day of home games.
Which brings me to my next point....
8. Become a Dominant Home Team
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Out of all the teams in the playoffs, guess who had the least amount of wins at home?
If you guessed the Knicks, then you were correct. The Knicks have the most loyal and passionate fan base in the NBA. They always are in the top five in attendance every year, even during those seven miserable seasons of futility. The Knicks actually had the same home record as the Los Angeles Clippers, which is unacceptable. They were a pretty good road team with 19 wins there, which shows that if they could win 30-plus games at home, they have a good shot at getting home court in the first round next year.
It's more than coincidence that once D'Antoni started having shootarounds before home games, they became a more successful home team. Another way to help increase the production on the home floor is by...
7. Keeping Distractions Away from Locker Room
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One of the many points that Donnie Walsh and Jim Dolan disagreed on was that Dolan allowed his corporate sponsors access to the locker room and on team charter flights.
Charter flights and the locker room are places where teams come together, bond and talk basketball. Prior to the game, players should be worried about how to beat an opponent, not be talking to a sponsor about a possible commercial or any business opportunities.
If Dolan is really dedicated to giving the fans a winning product, he'll put an end to this. The sponsors will always be there, especially if the team is successful. Winning always brings sponsors and more money to your players and team. Let the players focus more on what they get paid to do, which is play basketball.
6. Buy Up Some Draft Picks
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If the Miami Heat laid the blueprint the Knicks are trying to follow, then the Knicks should know by now that minimum salary veterans are not going to cut it come playoff time. Out of all the cheap veterans Miami signed this past offseason, only Juwan Howard is getting minutes, and he'd be lucky to be out there for 10 minutes in a given game.
The best way for the Knicks to get some solid role players at an affordable price is through the draft. However, they only have one draft pick this year. With Dolan's deep pockets, they'd be wise to buy up some draft picks like they did with Toney Douglas. This draft class isn't big on star power, but it's full of young, skilled, prospects who can add depth and become quality role players to a playoff team.
Perhaps the Knicks can find another steal in the draft like they did with Landry Fields. If the Knicks can get some picks and draft some quality players, they'd either have a good supporting cast for the future, or have some young assets they can trade for the third star they are looking for.
Having a good supporting cast is vital to a teams' success, which is why D'Antoni must...
5. Develop Consistent Rotation and Depth
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Mike D'Antoni coached teams all have this thing in common besides the obvious high-octane offense and lack of defensive urgency. They all lacked a deep bench. Part of it is personnel, but it's mostly because D'Antoni doesn't show the necessary patience to let players develop.
Part of developing a good, solid, rotation and bench is by letting those players make mistakes and learn while they are on the court. Role players have to be given consistent minutes to better understand their role, and how they fit in with a team, which gives them more confidence. Too often would you see a guy have a bad stretch of five to 10 minutes on the court, to not be seen again for the next five games (Bill Walker, Roger Mason Jr., Anthony Randolph to name a few).
Role Players are just as important as starters because you never know when one of your key starters may get hurt. The better your bench plays, the more rest your starters can get, so that they can finish games effectively and not break down over the course of an 82 game regular season.
Most of the time these players don't step right in and give you 15 great minutes every night. It takes patience and consistency with their playing time to get them playing at a high level for you down the line.
4. Utilize Landry Fields Better
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Landry Fields was the steal of the 2010 NBA draft. A second round pick and 39th overall, went on to lead all NBA guards in rebounding, average just under 10 points, just under 50 percent field-goal shooting and just under 40 percent from downtown. He did all of this without having any plays called for him.
He did most of this damage before the trade deadline, since he became relegated to spotting up in the corner once Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups came, and the offense became more isolation-oriented.
Fields is most comfortable moving without the ball, slashing to the basket and crashing the offensive glass. With those shooting numbers, Fields definitely has the ability to be a 15-point scorer in the NBA. More plays should be run for him to utilize his abilities.
I'd like to see Fields come off some curls for some easy mid-range jumpers or slashing opportunities or used in the post more since he is one of the bigger shooting guards in the league and has shown a nice jump hook and turnaround jumper.
Playoff teams are good at taking away your first and second option on a play, so running some plays to get Fields free might actually free up the guys you want to score, like STAT and Melo.
3. Unleash Carmelo
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During the postseason, Carmelo Anthony showed an aspect of his game that most people, including myself, were unaware of.
He is a very underrated passer. In fact he might even be the best passer on the current roster. This skill was brought to light when the injury to Chauncey Billups, and the ineffectiveness of Toney Douglas forced Melo to initiate the offense and find the open man.
Time and time again, he executed the pick and roll with Ronny Turiaf beautifully, resulting in easy buckets for Turiaf. He continuously beat the Boston defense with his court vision, though his teammates weren't able to convert most of the time.
Carmelo showed that not only is he capable, but he should be handling the ball more often to facilitate offense for himself and others, rather than be constantly put in isolations with his teammates watching, waiting for him to make something happen. Keeping the ball in his hands would keep the defense honest, and open up opportunities for other guys to get open.
Melo showed that he's more than just a scorer, and with the current roster, he might be the best playmaker the Knicks have.
2. Move Toney Douglas off Ball
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It became painfully obvious when he was forced into the starting lineup during the postseason, but it was a problem all season. Toney Douglas is not a point guard, and the offense struggled when he was the primary ball-handler.
Douglas is an effective shooter and pretty good defender, but when you have guys like STAT and Melo on your team, you want a guard that can get them the ball. Toney was most successful last season playing alongside Raymond Felton and Chauncey Billups, where he can run off screens and look to score rather than be a distributor.
Toney should be taken off the ball completely and be used as a finisher to a play and not a playmaker. Playing him with Chauncey Billups, or using him with Carmelo Anthony running the offense would be best for Douglas and the team.
While the Knicks will be looking for a pure point guard to back up Billups and for the future, they can still be successful now as long as they don't try to take Douglas out of his element. Douglas can still be a valuable contributor but more in the mold of a Jason Terry, whose primary job is to put the ball in the hoop.
1. Adjust System to Personnel
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All great teams and coaches are great at making adjustments. Those coaches are great at adding wrinkles to their playbook or changing certain philosophies based on the strengths and weaknesses of their roster. Doc Rivers ran a completely different offense in Orlando than he does now in Boston. Greg Popavich saw that his team is better at pushing the ball and penetrating the defense, that he went to a more uptempo style.
When you take guys out of their element and force them into a position or role they aren't comfortable with, you get situations like Ron Artest in Los Angeles, Chris Duhon in New York or Raymond Felton in Charlotte.
D'Antoni needs to spend this offseason looking at his team and seeing how can he put his players in the best position to succeed. Chauncey Billups has never been in a pick n roll offense, and has never been an elite distributor, so forcing him to do so might not be the best move for him or the team. Bill Walker has stated that he isn't used to being used as a spot up shooter or in screen and roll situations, that he played in the post and close to the basket his whole college career.
The job of a head coach is to put his players in the best position to succeed. D'Antoni is constantly looking for personnel who fit his system, when it will be easier to develop a system around your personnel. It is rare and takes far too much time to find players who fit exactly what you are looking for.
You go for and play the best players and put them in spots where they can be effective.
Change Is Always Good
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The Knicks have some obvious personnel issues that need to be straightened out, but these things are far more important, as they would help maximize the potential of this roster. The culture of the team needs to be changed and that has more to do with the coaching staff and the front office than it does with the players.
Players follow the direction of their coach and organization. It's not a guarantee that Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Dwight Howard will be joining the Knicks next year so if they are looking to improve; it has to start from within.
With these changes in the coaching and front office philosophies that I have listed, the Knicks should be hosting Game 1 of a playoff series next April. A winning culture would make top flight free agents consider taking a discount if they know they can bring home some championship hardware.
