In what sounds like the back door hitting fired Knicks coach Mike Woodson on the way out, new Knicks president Phil Jackson revealed that several players — during their exit interviews — told him the club didn’t play as a team this season and relied solely on its talent, reported the N.Y. Post.
The Knicks finished 37-45 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2009-10. During his 24-minute press conference Wednesday, Jackson didn’t mention Woodson’s name once but the Zen Master's comments put the team's failures pretty much on the former coach's shoulders.
“One of the messages from the players was that it was a very talented team,’’ Jackson said. “They had to have a lot of games where they forced their talent on opposing teams rather than playing with freedom to make things easy. All the wins were hard to get. They were winning with talent and not with team play, which I thought was an accurate statement.
“I think the talent’s there,’’ Jackson added. “How to blend it together is a coaching decision and a personnel decision.’’
That last sound you heard was the door slamming shut.
That last sound you heard was the door slamming shut.
I thought Jackson had more class than that? I guess twelve million a year will do that to a person. He wants to keep Dolan happy in his choices, so he basically saying see the players agree with me.
ReplyDeleteThose who looked at the Knicks game from the start of last season should have seen that the team was not cohesive. How does a coach sit and allow an opposing player to run the whole court and dunk unimpeded to the basket? Woodson's substitution pattern left a lot that needed mending. How do you frequently take out Chandler, when the other big man is still on the court, and put in either Felton or Shumpert who is then posted up because of a lack of height. Woodson's fault was he gave Felton too much playing time to Felton who is mistake prone and slow. It would have been preferable to play Murr'y, Udrich or Pagioni, but then Woodson very rearly plays first year players.
ReplyDeleteUdrich would've been better if he was used. Murry was a rookie and Pablo was too old and slow to start. IMO.
DeleteJackson did what's always done when teams lose. However under Woodson the knicks accomplished more than they have in +15 years. What give them the right. The facts are the knick had back to back injuries, minute restrictions, drug problems, personal problems. you name it they had it. While I agree they have a talented team but with the exception of Anthony no other knick was consistent with how they played. Chandler hasn't played well and consistent since he won the title at Dallas. He was hurt this year and never rebounded in my opinion. Shumpert ( The10M dollar man) was a disaster this year. JR didn't start playing well until the second half of the season after he was benched (I guess he detoxed). They made some bad trades that resulted in injuries. The most improved player was Imari. When he got healthy and he's minutes was unrestricted they were able to make a run. You can only play your first year players when your ahead. They're not experience enough to pull you out the hole. These guys sign contracts for a lot of money they need to earn it win or lose. I believe Woodson was good for these guys because he didn't take their crap. They're throwing him under the bus to save their ass because they don't know what Phil will do. I've been a knick fan for a long time. None of this impresses me.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone surprised about this situation? Has Mike Woodson ever accomplished anything as a coach? He is a proven loser, the only time he wasn't a loser he was riding Larry Browns tail. Hire someone who can coach!
ReplyDeleteWow,Phil get some class you already fired the guy.
ReplyDeleteHow many 3 point shots did Woodson miss? What do you expect, it is never the players fault. Maybe they were not paid enough, or could not move fast enough
ReplyDeletebecause of their money belts.
Yeah at least 1/3 of that roster is overpaid, but those errant 3 point shots would not be put up (mostly by J.R.) if he tooks those people out and established a game plan. If the plan was to chuck up threes then they did a great job, but clearly Woodson did not have a plan or the players did not have his back because they were not there to rebound all those missed triples
DeleteMike Woodson lost the team when J.R. s brother made the roster. His coaching abilities were suspect anyway (without J Kidd they would've lost last year). There is no "I" as in iso in TEAM. Check out that guy Udrich on Memphis, He never utilized his bench & ran those old guys in the dirt. I've been a long, long time Knick Fan..
ReplyDeleteJackson and the team is right about the assessment of this year.... sure it does not all fall on woodson but anybody who watched this year knows knicks had no identity on offense and pretty much ran street ball out there..... woodson biggest flaw were his rotations and his auto sub mentality along with his love for jr smith.... and woodsons " system" didnt benefit anyone else on the team except the ball dominators...u cannot win that way..maybe in street ball but not the nba..... im excited to see how this team rolls with a system in place next year
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