Mike

Woodson

The setup of the franchise, led by team president Leon Rose, is beginning to take shape. Tom Thibodeau was announced as the new head coach on Thursday, and Woodson is expected to be headed back to the Big Apple as well. Woodson, who was a member of Doc Rivers’ staff in his most recent NBA job, led the Knicks to 54 wins during the 2012-13 season.

It’s a little early to be talking about Woodson on the hot seat, so we’re not going to go there. The source told the New York Post that the final year of Woodson’s deal (2014/15) is not guaranteed, but this report appears to be much ado about nothing. Woodson’s job is not currently in jeopardy.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone who saw the Knicks’ serious lack of youth at point guard and in the front court. New York loaded up on veterans like Jason Kidd, Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby prior to the season, but none of them were a factor after February. With Kidd retiring and Pablo Prigioni a free agent, the Knicks would be wise to try to find a future backcourt mate for Iman Shumpert who can learn under Raymond Felton’s tutelage. While the Knicks have been linked to Miami PG Shane Larkin, he’ll likely be gone by the time New York picks. The Knicks also need someone up front to back up Tyson Chandler and the eternally-injured Amare Stoudemire.

Due to the blizzard that has captivated the Northeast, the Knicks will not fly home following Friday night’s game in Minnesota. If they can’t get a flight back on Saturday morning, they’ll stay in town and hold a practice. However, the Sunday game will be nationally televised on ABC and the snow is expected to slow down by Saturday night. We’d be surprised if the NBA let the game get postponed.

Forward Kenyon Martin reportedly told his teammates to wear all black to simulate a funeral for what could have been an elimination game for the Celtics. Of course, Boston stunned New York, won their second straight game in the series and forced Game 6, leaving the Knicks looking just a tad foolish. Woodson said he addressed it with the team told them to leave those kinds of things “outside the game.” Game 6 in Boston on Friday should be pretty interesting.

He’ll replace Glen Grunwald, who will remain with the team as “an advisor,” and as far as we can tell, did nothing to lose his job. “We look forward to his leadership and believe he is the right person to help us reach our ultimate goal of winning an NBA Championship” said owner James Dolan. Mills once hired Isiah Thomas for the Knicks, but we’re not expecting a repeat performance.

The Knicks won 54 games last season and locked down the two seed even with a litany of injuries to key players. Woodson will have a similar group for the 2013-14 season along with Andrea Bargnani, giving his team a decent chance to be a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference.

He wasn’t happy about a no-call on Carmelo Anthony on a radio interview. Woodson’s Knicks aren’t having a great year and bright lights of Manhattan could put him on the hot seat. They will take on the Wizards on Saturday.

This is good news for Mike Woodson and his staff, but the Knicks are likely going to be a mess all season, unless they get healthy and the rest of the East stays as bad as advertised.

“I mean, yeah, we’re worried about that,” Anthony said. “But then again, we’ve got to worry about playing basketball, man. I think that’s been a problem in New York all this time. Everybody worries about what’s being said on the outside.” The New York Post recently speculated that a lopsided loss to the Nets on Thursday could be the last straw for Woodson, adding intrigue to an otherwise lackluster matchup.