I wanted to point out this clip from last season because it's another way, to me, to discuss what I expect to see the knicks do this season. The Hawks were literally attempting to force "iso calderon" basically. Fight over every screen or pick because Calderon was never a threat to attack the rim. We couldn't get Melo the ball in part due to the fact that Calderon was not a threat, it was easy to double Melo, Jose would stay on the perimeter anyway. Typically, Rolo also is not a severe threat to score, but more importantly, he wasn't a threat to find cutters because we didn't have guys who cut Hard and fast so for most of this play, the hawks are playing great defense. The knicks do something, pretty much by accident, which is execute a give and go between rolo and calderon. Schroeder relaxed because as most would think "calderon aint cuttin" and then for whatever reason, he did and rolo recognized and made the pass. That play was an ANOMALY for the knicks. We rarely did it because we didn't have the personnel. Replace Calderon with Rose and Rolo with Noah and that becomes a regular occurrence. Noah is elite at passing and finding cutters and rose is always cutting, and doing so with purpose and force.
What guys here need to recognize is that from this simple action, a ton of offense will open up, much of it within the framework and spacing of the triangle. More importantly, ISO Melo becomes a stronger and more effective part of this offense. The ISO wasn't the problem, it was the reliance on it because it was essentially our most effective way to get penetration that was the problem. Melo absolutely needs to continue to post up, call for the ball and do what he does because it keeps the defense honest. What needs to happen in reality is you need players out there strong and confident enough to understand when to look him off. Noah being the elite passer he is, will find Melo. Rose will find Melo. It's just significantly easier if some of those finds, come from action taking place away from Melo. You run that same play above and instead of running over every screen, you're running under to keep rose in front. You're also likely sending 2 guys at him which, if Melo is on the wing as he was above, prevents the cheating double team they employed to deny the pass calderon initially wanted to make. With Rose, Noah, KP, Melo and Lee, the defense is instantly compromised and put in uncomfortable situations. If you focus on stopping the 2 man game between Noah and Rose (which every team in the league already knows is a must to stop due to their time in chicago) or KP and Rose (which you'll want to stop by virtue of KP's game), you're basically choosing to take a chance that Melo won't beat you. As fans, we may be comfortable with that but in the NBA, teams won't be. The same reason teams still send 2 guys to stop rose despite us all believing his knee injury cooked him, is the same reason teams won't just LET Melo have a one-one-one matchup w/o a fight: They're too good.
I say all this because through all the examination of the 1st PRESEASON game, many of us don't actually know the difference between good offense (regardless of whether the shot was made) and bad offense. It's def fair to critique the players and the game but we need to keep in mind what these guys are actually attempting to figure out. They're not looking to give Melo less opportunities to ISO, they're looking to get him EASIER iso opportunities which I saw plenty of in that first game. They're not looking to rely on MVP rose, to score 25ppg, they're looking for him to cut hard and fast, play with speed. We're not asking Noah to score 12ppg, we want him to facilitate from the post or free throw line , screen and roll. The ball doesn't stick because it went to Melo in an iso, it sticks because we're tryin so hard to get him the ball that no one else is moving. I didn't see much of that in that 1st game. Guys were moving, cutting and spacing the floor, we weren't hitting shots and playing 0 defense. We'll look much different later, and if we don't, thats when I'll be willing to write off this team as a non playoff team and this offseason as failure.
