Knicks Go 6-1 Through Woodson’s First 7 Games as Coach

Added by Stephen Zimkouski on March 26, 2012.

With sizable wins against Portland, Indiana twice, Toronto and Detroit the Knicks look to be playing a different brand of basketball with Mike Woodson heading the ship.

Mike Woodson has seemed to been able to get a grasp of the team and veer them in the right direction. Despite a bad loss on the road against the Toronto Raptors this past Friday the Knicks have been playing some of the best basketball they have played all season. This recent success has also quieted the rumors of either Phil Jackson or Jerry Sloan coming in to coach the Knicks next season, for the moment.

The Knicks seem to have success because of Mike Woodson’s defensive mindset and emphasis on all that is defense. Woodson who was an assistant head coach on the world champion Detroit Pistons and more recently the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks has been known to get the maximum results from his players defensively. Whether Woodson deserves as much praise as he is getting is still up for debate, but there is no doubt that the team is playing freer and fired up under Woodson.

While Mike D’Antoni was known as an offensive genius it is interesting to note that the Knicks have scored over 100 points in five of the seven games coached by Woodson and have looked much more fluid in doing so. It’s hard to tell whether this is related purely to the coaching change or it’s because the team is beginning to mesh at this time.

I personally feel that the players are beginning to get more familiar with each others game and it’s definitely showing on the court. To give Woodson credit, he is putting lineups on the court that show decent team chemistry and ball movement. We must also realize that the wins have not come against the toughest of opponents.

In all reality it’s way too early to say if Woodson has changed the teams mindset, if he should stay or if he should go at the end of the season. However Knicks fans should just sit back and be happy that the Knicks are both playing well and have been piling up wins in the past week an a half.