UPDATE 2:40 pm: As should have been expected, Mike Woodson denied that these talks are going on. From ESPNNewYork.com:
“That’s not true, not at all,” he said after practice Tuesday.
As we have discussed before, what has been officially discussed and what has been actually discussed via second and third parties to smooth the way for a deal are very different things. That is just how deals get done in the NBA. This one may or may not come together, but the idea of there being talks through back channels should not be shocking.
And, of course, Carmelo Anthony again gave a ringing endorsement to Woodson as coach. Also just as shocking. ‘Melo likes the guy who runs 75 percent of the offense through him? Who saw that coming?
10:19 am: Phil Jackson who?
Apparently one playoff win — plus how the Knicks closed out the season playing defense and going 18-6 to make the playoffs — was enough to convince New York Knick owner James Dolan and the Knicks front office to take the interim tag off Mike Woodson and keep him as coach.
So reports Frank Isola at the New York Daily News.
The Knicks have initiated talks that would keep Woodson as the team’s head coach for the foreseeable future, the Daily News has learned. The talks are only in the preliminary stages but it is clear that Madison Square Garden management is convinced Woodson is the right man for the job and will not pursue either Phil Jackson or Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
It was expected that Dolan wanted the big, splashy name to swoop in as head coach. However, on the court the team has responded well to Woodson — well, at least Carmelo Anthony has and plays hard for him in a way he wouldn’t for Mike D’Antoni — particularly on the defensive end.
Woodson got the team to close out the season playing well. In the playoffs the Knicks have struggled with the Heat, something that would have happened regardless of coach considering this injury-riddled roster — but they did end their 13-game playoff losing streak with a win Sunday.
In fact, Garden chairman James Dolan met with Woodson in the head coach’s office for 45 minutes prior to the Knicks’ emotional Game 4 victory over the Heat… Woodson has the support of several key players, most notably Carmelo Anthony. He also has a strong ally in GM Glen Grunwald, his former college teammate at Indiana. Both Grunwald and Woodson are long-time friends of former Knicks president Isiah Thomas, who serves as a de facto adviser to Dolan.
Ironically, it’s not the ties to Isiah that worries Dolan (although it does Knicks fans) rather it’s his ties to Larry Brown. Dolan and Brown clashed plenty in the year Brown coached the Knicks and Woodson both worked under Brown as an assistant for years and adopted some things from Brown’s style.
Keeping Woodson is a solid move. But now GM Grunwald needs to work in concert with him to reshape the roster. Right now, even when healthy, this Knicks team is not going to beat the Heat or Bulls, regardless of who is coach. They have questions to answer this summer, like should they try to trade Amare Stoudemire or go after free agent point guard Steve Nash (certainly a point guard upgrade but he would take the ball out of Carmelo’s hands and make him work off the ball).
But clearly the team they have has responded to Woodson.
