Woodson thinks Knicks have shot at NBA title. This year.

Mike Woodson is nothing if not optimistic.

While his team prepares for a big game Wednesday night that may determine if they can even get out of the first round of the NBA playoffs — by avoiding Chicago and Miami as the opener — he is not shying away from talking about his team going deep in the postseason. Very deep.

Think 1973 deep.

This is what Woodson said about the Knicks in the playoffs at the end of an interesting Q&A with the New York Post.

(The Knicks) have a legitimate shot to win the title. When the playoffs come around, it’s open season. Who’s playing the hardest, the best … who believes that they can really get it done. Homecourt and all that goes out the door. It’s great to have homecourt, but hey, we (2004 Pistons) didn’t have it in the Eastern Conference Final that year, and we ended up beating the Pacers. We didn’t have it in the Finals that year, and we beat the Lakers …and if these guys are honest with themselves, and hold each other accountable, their credibility is rollin’ high, man, anything can happen in a playoff series. Anything.

In theory, yes, anything can happen. Even the Mavericks winning it all last year was a bit of a surprise. But remember that the 2004 Pistons were the aberration — teams don’t normally come from out of the blue to win (and those Pistons were not really that out of the blue). Besides, those Pistons played defense much more like the Bulls than these Knicks (who have been better but not THAT good).

Basically, you want to beat the 76ers and find a way out of the 7 or 8 seed. That is the best route to advancing in the East.

You should read the entire interview with Woodson, where he talks about Bobby Knight, his introduction to Rucker Park and much more. Interesting stuff.