smackeddog wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

Uptown wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

martin wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/SNYtv/status/1271464977522720768

Impressive PR job by Thibs if we end up going for Atkinson (I just don't see it!)- if him being first choice is just a complete invention by him, he's been very successful at getting all the press to parrot it

I'm hoping for Kenny

Me too, though the idea of Calipari is interesting. I just want someone who is great at developing young players

Not a big fan of Coach Cal...great recruiter but not a very good bench coach.

I loved Cal in NJ. The lockout, losing Cassell and Sherm ended his time there too soon.

I don't really remember much about his NJ stint other than it was portrayed as a disaster by the end- is this article a fair account?

https://www.espn.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=broussard_chris&page=calnbadays-090402

I think that is fair. I didn’t know or don’t remember the internal conflicts with front office personnel.

BillTheButcher wrote:As a Knicks fan who grew up on the 90s Knicks, I might just lose faith and that is saying something since we have not really won since then if we go with Thibs. The guy had his moments but the game as it is played today has passed him by, I am sick of hiring all these damn retreads.Go with Atkinson for god sake or just keep Miller.

A man that says it like it is. I’d go with Atkinson, with a view to developing our younger guys. Thibs is done.

https://www.sny.tv/knicks/news/mike-woodson-qa-knicks-coaching-candidate-on-why-hes-right-for-the-job/313530744

How has the game changed since you coached in New York and can your philosophy work today?

That's a great question because when I was in New York, I felt we were ahead of the curve. When we assembled that team (in 2012-13), the one thing Glen and I talked about was, 'Who can shoot the three ball?' And Jim (Dolan) supported everything we wanted to do. Now let me go down that roster. Carmelo (Anthony), J.R. (Smith), Rasheed (Wallace), Jason Kidd, Raymond (Felton), (Steve) Novak, (Chris) Copeland, Iman (Shumpert), Pablo (Prigioni). When Pablo shot it, he made it. So we had nine guys on the floor that could all make the three ball.

So it wasn't luck or coincidence (that we thrived that season). We assembled a team based on how the style of play is today. It wasn't luck that we led the league in threes taken and threes made and fifth in 3-point percentage. The beauty in all of that is that we were No. 1 in not turning it over. We were on to something. Now you look at the league, if you don't shoot threes, you don't have a shot at it. So we were right where we needed to be as a ballclub that year.

Defensively, we talked about assembling a team that could switch (when defending pick and roll). And Tyson Chandler was the backbone of everything that we did. He was tremendous, won Defensive Player of the Year. Now, when you look at the league now, 90 percent of the teams switch everything. So I still think I can coach in the way that players are playing today.

Now that we're six years removed from it, what are your reflections on the 2013-14 season?

Coming off of the playoff run, we had high expectations heading into that offseason. Steve (Mills) came in (as team president prior to training camp) and he had his vision of what he wanted done with the team. I knew we had lost Jason Kidd, Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas - all strong leaders that were a part of the (2012-13) team. I wanted to add a few more veterans to that team. We just couldn't get that done.

And we went young. And when we got the injuries - Raymond missed 17 games, Tyson missed 27 games, (Andrea) Bargnani missed 42 games, Kenyon Martin missed 50 games - then we had to rely on the younger players. Jeremy Tyler, Toure' Murry. That's no knock against those guys. They're in the NBA for a reason - because they can play. I've raised young players, but it takes time. And those two players, they hadn't played in our league (extensively) and we struggled. (The Knicks finished the season with 37 wins, one game out of the eighth seed and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference).

As a coach, I take full responsibility for it. Same thing for the year before that. I put that on my shoulders. But the one thing I'll say is this: if you ask me the question of, 'What was your fondest year (in New York)?' That (2013-14) year was. You know why? Because when we got in a hole, they didn't quit. And when we got our players back, we won 16 of our last 20 games and made a strong push to make the playoffs and missed it by one game. That team could have easily quit and said, 'Let's go home for the summer.' They didn't do that. When we got Tyson and Raymond back, we made a mad push and we were back playing Knick basketball again. We got our players back and we won.

Had they gone the other way and we continued to lose, there's not a thing I can say. But that wasn't the case. From a coaching standpoint, that was my best year. Because we coached them up at the end and we made a big push to make that eighth spot. And had we gotten it, it would have put a lot of pressure on Phil Jackson to make the decision that he did (Jackson fired Woodson the day after the regular season ended).

I have no memory of Jeremy Tyler or Toure' Murry at all! In retrospect did Dolan panic unnecessarily to one sub-par season. First firing Glen, then hiring Phil- was that team salvageable if we hadn't done the Bargs trade?

And I'm coming out and saying it: Woody was the best coach we've had since JVG. He managed ego's and players perfectly (until JR self destructed over the issue with his brother), was ahead of his time with regards to offence and defensive schemes. Sure his iso-melo was maddening and so were his lack of adjustments, but he had several very impressive stretches- the year he replaced D'Antoni and the team went on a tear and made the playoffs, and the 2012-13 season. Plus a very likeable guy.