Knicks coach wines and dines Lin, Anthony in Hollywood
June 25, 2012 ι By MARC BERMAN

Hollywood Mike Woodson returned this weekend from a five-day trip to Los Angeles where he visited several Knicks players to meet and work out, , including free-agent-to-be Jeremy Lin, according to a source.

Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony are also working out in L.A. as they are training together for the Olympics where they will be teammates on Team USA starting July 5th with training camp in Vegas .

Woodson wined and dined Lin, Chandler and Anthony for a team-bonding dinner in Beverly Hills, according to a source. The dinner was caught on videotape by TMZ footage. Woodson was joined on his LA sojourn by his assistant coaches Darrell Walker and Jim Todd, according to a source. Woodson also went to Anaheim to work out Landry Fields, a free agent July 1st.

Lin, who lives in Palto, Alto, Calif., is a free agent July 1st and flew in to LA to see Woodson, who clearly wants Lin to feel how valuable he is to their future. Negotiations can't begin until July 1.

The Knicks expect to Lin re-sign him and they control his destiny, able to match any offer. Woodson made the trip partly to create more camraderie among his star players. Anthony and Lin did not jell particularly well on the court during their brief time together, with Melo complaining he was not used to a point guard having the ball so much. Lin’s most spectacular moments in February – known as Linsanity - occurred when Anthony was injured.

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This is the kind of thing you want to see from your coach. It just underscores the kind of spirit Woody wants to build on his team and it's a good sign.

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:I dunno if this will solve the problem we had against Miami with the whole "let's spend the first 12 seconds of the shot clock trying unsuccessfully to feed Melo on the elbow" issue. Maybe they'll work on that in camp.

The main problem I have with his game is after the catch. Melo needs to mix it up more as far as how long he holds on to the ball. I wish Melo would just catch it and take off more often. Either to the rim or a spot to put up a jumper.

I don't mind isolation plays, but there is something to be said for mixing things up. Helps in getting his teammates more involved and the defense guessing.

i also like that it seems like tyson and melo were there to sort of woo Lin into coming back... which may be a foregone conclusion, but still great to see.

crzymdups wrote:

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:I dunno if this will solve the problem we had against Miami with the whole "let's spend the first 12 seconds of the shot clock trying unsuccessfully to feed Melo on the elbow" issue. Maybe they'll work on that in camp.

i think Lin simply being back on the floor changes that drastically. lin/woodson/melo had 7 games together. in which they went 6-1.

let's hope so or it'll be another early 1st round exit for us