The Knicks won convincingly over the Nuggets tonight, but it will take a prolonged convincing stretch of winning basketball to silence all the chatter surrounding the team in the middle of a hugely disappointing season. Here’s the latest from tonight:
- Coach Mike Woodson spoke to reporters before tonight’s win against the Nuggets, saying, “I am still the head coach of the Knicks and I proudly say that,” per Al Iannazzone of Newsday. This comes on the heels of mounting reports that he will be, and expects to be, fired. Woodson added: “Do I think I’m the guy for the job? Absolutely I do.”
- Carmelo Anthony turned in a great performance in the win, and confirmed that he had met with Knicks owner James Dolan, though he claims the conversation didn’t involve Woodson’s fate as speculated, per Frank Isola of New York Daily News (via Twitter). “Just talking. I had tea. We had tea. That’s it. We didn’t get into details about anything.”
- Melo also gave his support to Woodson, saying the Knicks players need to “help” the coach get off the hot seat with improved play, per a tweet from ESPN New York’s Ian Begley.
- Metta World Peace isn’t worried about being traded, according to The New York Post’s Marc Berman. “That’s up to my agent. I don’t worry about it. I’m optimistic about my future. I don’t want to rush anything and I’m not going to complain.” A person close to the veteran tells Berman that he wouldn’t mind getting moved, citing his frustration with a lack of playing time in coach Mike Woodson’s rotation. His agent, Marc Cornstein, told Berman that he hasn’t been given an answer as to why his client has seen such limited time on the floor: “Usually, I’ll get an answer, not always the one I want to hear. But I don’t have an answer for you on this.’’