The cynical side of me thinks that of course Carmelo Anthony is going to say publicly that he loves Mike Woodson because he doesn’t want to be labeled a coach killer after already getting one coach fired earlier this season. The more understanding, and less judgemental, side of me thinks that maybe Mike Woodson is just a better fit for this Knicks team moving forward though too.
Afterall, Woodson is 16-6 after taking over for the battered, beaten, and subsequently fired Mike D’Antoni, and he didn’t even have the great Jeremy Lin to work with for most of that. He could end up sneaking his team into that 6th spot to open the first round with a playoff series against the 3-seeded Pacers too, which is something you didn’t see coming just over a month ago when the Knicks were battling the Bucks and Cavaliers for the 8-seed.
For whatever reason it may be, however, Melo’s recent endorsement of Woodson ran in the New York Post earlier today:
“Of course,” Anthony said as to whether he wants Woodson back as coach. “Just to see what he’s brought to our team, the confidence that he’s instilled into everybody, the belief that he has in everybody. Just his coaching style and the way he coached. Kind of a hard-nosed coach. Hold everybody accountable. I’ve been saying that. Everybody is responsible for their own actions.
“I would love to see him around here.”
Asked if he would tell management that, Anthony replied, “I’m pretty sure they’re hearing it right now,” then laughed. He added, “Like I said, I would love to see him around here. That’s all I can say.”
In other words: when I speak they listen, ya heard me?
Kidding aside, it is important that Carmelo Anthony does like, and want to listen too, the coach he plays for. You can talk all you want about the Bobby Knight’s and John Thompson’s of coaching world, but today’s NBA needs the endorsement that Carmelo just gave Woodson for a team to be successful.
Although NY could also go another route and dumps obscene amounts of gold on Phil Jackson in attempt to lure the former player back home to lead the begotten franchise back to the promise land too, but I’m going guess Melo doesn’t want any part of the Zen Master at this point.
Maybe the Knicks do though, we’ll see. If they don’t, or they can’t get Jackson, it seems to me that Mike Woodson is the best play from there moving forward.
