Woodson = Knicks Next Head Coach?

[Diesel]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2011/08/24/2011-08-24_knicks_ready_to_add_former_hawks_head_coach_mike_woodson_as_defensive_coach_on_m.html?r=sports%2Fbasketball%2Fknicks&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+

I would have never guessed that Woody would be Knicks Quality? But Woody could be the next coach of the Knicks probably sometime midseason if D'Antoni doesn't get his act together? Wow!

[NineOhTheRino]

This move is taking forever. This story was being talked about a months ago.

Hiring Woody would make sense. Once 'Antoni is fired that team will need Woody to get them over the hump.

[MaceCase]

With all of the other name defensive coaches getting actual head coaching gigs Woody was pretty much the Knicks last bet to fill up their defensive assistant spot. He's likely to take over in an interim basis due to D'Antoni never being the type to suffer suggestions being forced upon him from on high but It's highly unlikely he's maintained on a permanent basis. Woody just doesn't have the makeup or the charisma to handle NY media and much much bigger personalities than the mercurial Smoove of which he struggled with. Knicks will also be looking to make a splash in the 2012 free agency so a bigger name than Woody will be necessary to attract the likes of Paul/Dwight/Deron.

Edited August 25, 2011 by CrawfulToCrawesome

[Diesel]

<p>I dont know if a bigger name is needed. Thom Thibbideau in Chicago has proven that defensive minded coaches can be successful. Just like him, Woody got his Hawks team to &quot;overacheive&quot; and win many games.</p>

<p>You just don't know. Woody could be the man in NY?</p>

<p> </p>

[MaceCase]

Thib's was a highly sought after assistant that teams were bidding over and far exceeded all expectations by winning COY in his rookie year as the head man.

Woody was a former head coach after a long and mostly unproductive tenure that has been out of work the past year and saw all of his contemporaries (Brown, Casey, Frank even McHale and Vogel of all people) fill up every other head vacancy there is with one still being open (Minny) before having to settle for the assistants chair of a guy who doesn't even dedicate time in practice to defense.

To say the least, GMs and owners know what they are getting with Woodrow and they aren't too enamored.

[capstone21]

The defensive coach is perfect situation for Woody. He is not expected to do the x and o's during the game but he can help D'Antoni who knows offense but has never had his teams play defense

[Wretch]

The defensive coach is perfect situation for Woody. He is not expected to do the x and o's during the game but he can help D'Antoni who knows offense but has never had his teams play defense

For all the Woody hate, and I am a HUGE Woody hater, the one thing I will not hate on is his defensive resume. He's not a good head coach, but he's a very good defensive coach.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Melo is one of the best ISO players in the league with Amare being a very capable #2 option. He'd love Landry Fields and is already familiar with Chauncey Billups.

It's a perfect fit for Woody. At least he'd play to the Knick's strengths as a team, instead of trying to run a system to get non effective offensive players involved in the offense.

[Dsinner]

For all the Woody hate, and I am a HUGE Woody hater, the one thing I will not hate on is his defensive resume. He's not a good head coach, but he's a very good defensive coach.

Despite having one of the youngest and most athletic teams at his disposal, we were never that good on D. In fact, it's arguable that our switching D was an actual negative. Never mind, it's not really arguable.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

I'd be surprised if any teams hire Woodson after witnessing the abomination vs the Magics. A big market team like NY would presumably want a coach with a pedigree.

[Diesel]

Despite having one of the youngest and most athletic teams at his disposal, we were never that good on D. In fact, it's arguable that our switching D was an actual negative. Never mind, it's not really arguable.

The problem wasn't our young players. The problem is you have to make up for the weak defensive players Bibby. And you have Smoove who doesn't play on-ball very well and Horf who doesn't play strong against big bigs. The matchup was his way of dealing with all those holes. I like LD's big lineup better. And Captain Kirk...

[lethalweapon3]

http://www.nba.com/knicks/news/woodson_assistant_coach.html

Yeah, that looks nice.

~lw3

[Swatguy]

Woody played with D'Antoni. Also Drew.

[Dsinner]

The problem wasn't our young players. The problem is you have to make up for the weak defensive players Bibby. And you have Smoove who doesn't play on-ball very well and Horf who doesn't play strong against big bigs. The matchup was his way of dealing with all those holes. I like LD's big lineup better. And Captain Kirk...

Too bad we ran that switching D no matter if Bibby was on the court or not. Or no matter if that put Al guarding a PG or not. Our D was well below what it should have been and that had everything to do with a coach that couldn't or wouldn't make defensive adjustments based on situations. He wanted it done his way and was going to coach that way no matter who was on the court. Well, his way got himself a demotion that he was lucky to get.

Like you said he could have easily put a legit C in to guard legit C's. He could have also used Teague to guard PGs. Did he do that when a PG started abusing Bibby? No, he let Al guard him. Like I said, He's simply not the "defensive guru" that some make him out to be.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Too bad we ran that switching D no matter if Bibby was on the court or not. Or no matter if that put Al guarding a PG or not. Our D was well below what it should have been and that had everything to do with a coach that couldn't or wouldn't make defensive adjustments based on situations. He wanted it done his way and was going to coach that way no matter who was on the court. Well, his way got himself a demotion that he was lucky to get.

Like you said he could have easily put a legit C in to guard legit C's. He could have also used Teague to guard PGs. Did he do that when a PG started abusing Bibby? No, he let Al guard him. Like I said, He's simply not the "defensive guru" that some make him out to be.

The past season proved that these guys were NOT a better defensive team when they didn't do all of that switching. The defense didn't get better until we got Kirk on the team, a guy who could acutally guard and stay in front of most PGs. Before that time, Bibby and Jamal were defensive liabilities, and Teague hadn't proved that he could come in and be a defensive stopper.

Woody did what he had to do to try to maximize what this team could do defensively. Player personnel had a lot to do with how Woody coached defensively. Even a guy like Jason Collins is only effective against centers who play with their backs to the basket. In today's NBA, he can't be your full time starting center, because of his lack of mobility.

Give Woody a defensive minded center like a Marcus Camby or a Joakim Noah to team with Al, Josh, and JJ, and the Hawks would've been a much better defensive team. I mean, unless people believe that a guy like Thibs can even make Acie and Jamal much better defensive players?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I mean, unless people believe that a guy like Thibs can even make Acie and Jamal much better defensive players?

I meant Bibby and Jamal . . Acie too for that matter.

[Dsinner]

The past season proved that these guys were NOT a better defensive team when they didn't do all of that switching. The defense didn't get better until we got Kirk on the team, a guy who could acutally guard and stay in front of most PGs. Before that time, Bibby and Jamal were defensive liabilities, and Teague hadn't proved that he could come in and be a defensive stopper.

Woody did what he had to do to try to maximize what this team could do defensively. Player personnel had a lot to do with how Woody coached defensively. Even a guy like Jason Collins is only effective against centers who play with their backs to the basket. In today's NBA, he can't be your full time starting center, because of his lack of mobility.

Give Woody a defensive minded center like a Marcus Camby or a Joakim Noah to team with Al, Josh, and JJ, and the Hawks would've been a much better defensive team. I mean, unless people believe that a guy like Thibs can even make Acie and Jamal much better defensive players?

Complete BS. So what you're saying is coaches need good defensive players to be good defensive coaches? These were all young guys that Woody helped draft. They were young athletic guys who should have been able to be coached how to play D. You're giving players way too much credit for defensive schemes/philosophies. Even then those were the players Woody wanted.

[Swatguy]

Complete BS. So what you're saying is coaches need good defensive players to be good defensive coaches? These were all young guys that Woody helped draft. They were young athletic guys who should have been able to be coached how to play D. You're giving players way too much credit for defensive schemes/philosophies. Even then those were the players Woody wanted.

Woody did not draft Jamal, Bibs or Zaza. Did Woody help draft anyone? Players definitely have to impliment "schemes". Not like the 2K game.

[AHF]

The past season proved that these guys were NOT a better defensive team when they didn't do all of that switching. The defense didn't get better until we got Kirk on the team, a guy who could acutally guard and stay in front of most PGs. Before that time, Bibby and Jamal were defensive liabilities, and Teague hadn't proved that he could come in and be a defensive stopper.

Woody did what he had to do to try to maximize what this team could do defensively. Player personnel had a lot to do with how Woody coached defensively. Even a guy like Jason Collins is only effective against centers who play with their backs to the basket. In today's NBA, he can't be your full time starting center, because of his lack of mobility.

Give Woody a defensive minded center like a Marcus Camby or a Joakim Noah to team with Al, Josh, and JJ, and the Hawks would've been a much better defensive team. I mean, unless people believe that a guy like Thibs can even make Acie and Jamal much better defensive players?

The problem with the switching system was never in the regular season. It was in the post-season when teams gameplan to exploit holes and where it was regularly abused. Was there an easier defense in the entire league to exploit than the "auto-switch" D that let teams pick their matchups? Pierce v. Bibby? Sure. Horford v. Jennings? Why not.

It wasn't a switching D so much as a "mix and match" D for opponents.

[rascurrein]

Woody has not a clue about D or anything about basketball, when you work on D you says the team i have to play with can't score more than xxx points, and working on that i'll try to maximize my offense to make long offensive plays (about 19-23 seconds), with woody with the hawks we could see interesting D moves but wasn't enough. Woody is not even a good coach.