Knicks Initiate Extension Talks With Woodson?
4:03pm: According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks' Game Four win over Miami helped solidify Woodson's chances of returning for next season. Berman hears from a source that there's "nothing going on" between the Knicks and Jackson.
11:59am: Woodson denied having talked to the Knicks about an extension, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (via Twitter).
8:24am: The Knicks appear headed for a first-round exit from the postseason, but according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the team has seen enough from Mike Woodson to believe he's the right man for the head coach position. Isola reports that the Knicks are in preliminary talks with Woodson about removing the interim label and making him the club's coach for the forseeable future.
Woodson has been publicly endorsed by Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, as well as by new permanent general manager Glen Grunwald. However, there has been speculation the Knicks would pursue a high-profile candidate such as Phil Jackson or John Calipari. Still, Jackson reportedly "isn't enthralled" with the Knicks' roster and Calipari and his staff recently signed multiyear extensions to remain at Kentucky.
After taking over for Mike D'Antoni as Knicks' head coach, Woodson led the team to an 18-6 record to close out the regular season.
Atlantic Notes: Lin, Nash, DeRozan, Celtics
As the Celtics and Sixers look to close out their respective first round series tonight, let's round up a few odds and ends out of the Atlantic Division:
- Speaking to reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post, Knicks coach Mike Woodson ruled out Jeremy Lin for the rest of the team's series against the Heat, even if it goes seven games.
- Steve Nash was officially named the general manager of Canada's national team today, and talked to ESPN.com's Marc Stein about his new role. During the press conference in Toronto, Nash said he hasn't made any decisions about free agency yet, but that he wouldn't rule out signing with the Raptors (Twitter link via Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun).
- Raptors swingman DeMar DeRozan has been named to the Team USA select team, Jerry Colangelo announced today (link via Jay Satur of Raptors.com). DeRozan will join Kyrie Irving, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and others on the squad, which will scrimmage against the U.S. Olympic team this summer.
- Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe thinks it would be premature for the Celtics to break up their Big Three this summer.
Baron Davis Likely Out For Next Season
The knee injury Baron Davis suffered Sunday against the Heat is worse than initially believed. The Knicks announced today that an MRI revealed a partially torn patella tendon and a completely torn ACL and MCL. Davis will undergo surgery, with a recovery period of 12 months. That would mean the veteran guard would miss the entire 2012/13 regular season.
Davis is not under contract for next year, so if he signs another NBA deal it's unlikely to happen until at least the 2013/14 season. At that point, he'll be 34 years old, and would need to recover not only from this surgery, but from a herniated disk as well — it will be a long and challenging road back to NBA action for the former third overall pick.
With Davis out and Jeremy Lin also expected to miss Game Five vs. the Heat, Mike Bibby will likely be the Knicks' starting point guard Wednesday as the team tries to extend its season. We rounded up the rest of today's Knicks updates here.
Knicks Notes: Lin, Stoudemire, Woodson
Amare Stoudemire looked great in his return to the New York lineup yesterday, but another Knicks' starter, Jeremy Lin, may not make it back before the end of the first round. Coach Mike Woodson told reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post, that Lin isn't in great shape and that he's not counting on the point guard to return for Game Five. Here are few more of the latest Knicks items:
- Even if Lin doesn't return this season, Iman Shumpert is confident his teammate will be back in New York next season, as Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com writes. "Oh yeah, oh yeah," Shumpert said. "We all miss him. But if he's not able to come back this year, next year I'll be back with him, so we'll all be back together again."
- In his latest column for Bulls.com, Sam Smith tries to find potential trade partners for the Knicks and Stoudemire. Meanwhile, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post says Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony showed in Game Four that they can thrive playing alongside one another in New York.
- TNT's David Aldridge gives his opinion on 10 up-in-the-air offseason situations, including the Knicks' head coaching job. According to Aldridge, the Knicks should give Woodson a contract extension rather than pursuing Phil Jackson.
Coach/GM Notes: McMillan, Petrie, Woodson, SVG
As teams continue to play their final games of the 2011/12 season, jobs on NBA benches and in NBA front offices will begin to open up. Already, rumors are swirling about who could be on the hot seat and who could be in line for a new position, so let's round up a few Monday morning coach and GM updates….
- It seems likely that Nate McMillan will return to an NBA bench soon, and the former Trail Blazers coach isn't necessarily interested in a win-now position, as he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. "Coaching is coaching," McMillan said. "It would be a new beginning for me. Young team or a veteran team….If you're saying, 'I'm just looking for a veteran team,' that's not true." There has been some speculation that McMillan could be a fit for the Bobcats.
- McMillan's old team in Portland is seeking a GM, and Kings president Geoff Petrie has been cited as a possible candidate. Victor Contreras of the Sacramento Bee says that if the Blazers are interested, Petrie should listen, given Sacramento's uncertain future.
- On a conference call with reporters this morning, Knicks coach Mike Woodson dismissed questions about his future with the team: "Right now, it's not about Mike Woodson and my contract… I'm still coaching this team and the job is not done."
- Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel doesn't believe Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy have "kissed and made up" and says it would be impossible for both to return to the Magic next season.
Best Second-Round Picks Of 2011
There's a bold line between the first and second rounds in the NBA draft. First-rounders get guaranteed contracts that last two years with team options for third and fourth seasons. Nothing's certain for second-rounders, who often fail to make the team out of training camp and find themselves scrambling for a job. Still, plenty of quality players emerge after pick No. 30, like Carlos Boozer, Marc Gasol and Monta Ellis. Here's a look at the top performers picked in last year's second round:
- The last player picked in the second round (and the entire draft) might be the best of them. Former University of Washington point guard Isaiah Thomas was impressive enough for the Kings to move Tyreke Evans to small forward to accomodate him in the starting lineup. He improved his PPG and APG each month, and wound up averaging 14.8 points and 5.4 assists in 37 games as a starter. He's on a three-year unguaranteed minimum-salary deal.
- The Rockets didn't treat Florida product Chandler Parsons much like a player picked 38th overall for the Rockets this year. They gave him a four-year deal worth more than $3.6MM that's guaranteed for his first two seasons, and he started all but nine of the team's games, averaging 9.5 PPG and 4.8 RPG. The 6'9" forward was particularly effective in March, when he shot 52.6% and put up 12.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG.
- Stephen Curry's creaky ankles opened up a spot in the Warriors starting lineup for Charles Jenkins, and the 44th overall pick out of Hofstra took advantage. He averaged 9.4 PPG and 6.3 APG in 16 April games, all as a starter. He has one more season left on his contract, which is an unguaranteed minimum-salary deal.
- Few expected much of a pro career from Josh Harrellson when he was at Kentucky, but the 6'10", 275-pound center is a playoff contributor for the Knicks. He started four games but has been primarily a bench option, though his 13.7 PER and 9.6 rebounds per 36 minutes show he's been productive when called upon. The last season of his two-year minimum-salary contract is not guaranteed.
- Lavoy Allen got the start in Game 1 of the playoffs for the Sixers, an unlikely fate when the team drafted him 50th overall out of Temple. He also started 15 games in the regular season, but saw only 18.9 minutes per game in those starts. Still, like Harrellson, he displayed a knack for rebounding in his limited floor time, collecting 9.9 boards per 36 minutes. He has no deal for next season yet, and will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
Woodson’s Future Not So Bright In New York
To say Knicks interim head coach Mike Woodson's squad has struggled during the first round of the playoffs against the Heat would surely be an understatement. From injuries on the court (Iman Shumpert) to injuries off the court (Amare Stoudemire), the Knicks have been playing with a battered roster that was already depleted during the regular season when Linsanity came to an abrupt end in early April. While the injuries are arguably beyond Woodson's control, the former Hawks head coach has repeatedly failed to field a competitive team in each of the Knicks' three contests against the Heat, making a return to the bench in October highly unlikely.
There's no denying the fact that the Heat have more superstars on their roster than the Knicks with the likes of the Big Three dominating the court on a nightly basis. However, that does not mean the Knicks are excused for putting together a perfunctory approach where they are letting up points in bunches and failing to execute any semblance of an offensive game plan. The responsibility of motivating players and getting the most out of their talents falls upon the shoulders of the team's coaching staff and most importantly, Woodson. Simply put, Woodson has been unable to fulfill this obligation each night the Knicks have gone to battle with the Heat.
Woodson did a tremendous job of re-establishing a defensive-minded culture at MSG upon taking over for Mike D'Antoni in March and in turn, leading the team to an 18-6 record to finish the regular season. Tyson Chandler's Defensive Player of the Year award should be partially credited to how Woodson maximized his talents when there were so many defensive liabilities surrounding him in the starting lineup. Woodson helped Carmelo Anthony once again become an offensive threat by moving him to the power forward position when Stoudemire was hurt, which helped make a terrible trade look a little bit more palatable.
Look back at Woodson's tenure in Atlanta and you'll find a head coach who went from a 13-69 record in his first season to 53-29 in his sixth. He improved the team's record each season in which he was the head coach, taking the Hawks to the playoffs in each of his final three seasons with the franchise. But that wasn't enough for the team's front office as they focused more on his inability to convert regular season success into a sustained run in the playoffs. Sure, 50+ wins pre-April 30 is great, but going 11-18 in the playoffs is the easiest way to find oneself working at the four-letter network come October.
Woodson's track record dictates that he can build a winner and get the most from his team during the months of October through April, but he has failed to show the creativity, wherewithal and poise to enjoy success when it counts most. Many franchises would be fortunate to have Woodson as a head coach and a team or two will surely come calling to express interest in his services when the season comes to an end in June. That team, however, will not be the New York Knicks.
Knicks Notes: Stoudemire, Carmelo, Novak
The Knicks look to avoid being swept in their second straight postseason appearance as they take on the Heat tomorrow in Game Four. The last time the team facing elimination was able to produce a three-game winning streak in a New York-Miami playoff series was in 1997, when the Heat were able to overcome a 3-1 deficit to advance to the Conference Finals. While the chances of such a comeback by New York are quite improbable, the team will certainly be playing under that premise going into tomorrow's matinee matchup. Here's what else we've heard out of the Big Apple:
- Al Iannazzone of Newsday says that Amare Stoudemire could return to the starting lineup tomorrow in place of Steve Novak if he is cleared to play. If not, then J.R. Smith could start in place of Novak (Sulia link). Earlier, Iannazzone took note of Mike Woodson's post-practice comments about Amare, saying that he looked "pretty good." Woodson also said that he will leave it up to Stoudemire and his doctors to decide if he's ready to play.
- Newsday's Neil Best suggests that regardless of the Knicks' performance in this year's playoffs, it's still too soon to give up on Carmelo Anthony.
- Roderick Boone of Newsday discusses what's going through the mind of Steve Novak amidst his struggles against Miami. Novak says that he has no problem if Woodson decides to use him with the second unit after experimenting with him in the starting lineup in Game Three.
- Iannazzone obtained Carmelo's thoughts on avoiding a sweep.
- Benjamin Hoffman of The New York Times' Off the Dribble blog talks about the last time the Knicks won a playoff game.
Southwest Notes: Rockets, Mavs, Chandler
All three Southwest Division teams in the playoffs are in action later today, as the Spurs and Grizzlies look to take control of their series, while the Mavs seek to delay their seemingly inevitable elimination at the hands of the Thunder. Here's the latest from around the division:
- Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld takes a look at the offseason for Rockets, recommending that they package their two picks in the middle of the first round to try to move up into the top five. The team's priorities should be finding a legitimate starting center and going after a franchise player who can be the go-to option late in games, Ingram says.
- As many as 10 Mavericks could be playing their final game for the team tonight, says Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com, who adds that only Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Brandan Wright and Kelenna Azubuike seem likely to return.
- Jason Terry believes the Mavs would be putting up a better title defense if the team had re-signed Tyson Chandler, notes Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, but said he and his teammates can't dwell on that. "Tyson isn't coming back, and we've realized that," Terry said. "I definitely say he had a great season — Defensive Player of the Year — but it's a presence you've missed. An active big man that can cover ground, and so we don't have that. We try to find other ways to win with the group we have."
Odds & Ends: Mavericks, Terry, Anthony, Spurs
Tonight at the American Airlines Center, the Mavericks will look to stave off a first round sweep at the hands of the Thunder. Barring a miracle turnaround and subsequent deep playoff run, things figure to look rather different in Dallas next season. Here’s more on the Mavs and other notes from around the league..
- Guard Jason Terry is worried that tonight’s game could be his last wearing a Mavericks uniform, writes Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com. Terry will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and reportedly won’t take a discount to remain in Dallas.
- If the Mavericks don’t land Deron Williams this summer, then the team’s mission to clear cap space will be a disaster, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
- Howard Beck of the New York Times opines that the Knicks can only go so far with a Carmelo Anthony-centric offense. Beck also adds that Phil Jackson would demand a much more team-oriented game if he were coaching in New York, though that seems unlikely to come to fruition.
- As the Spurs and the Jazz do battle in their first round series, Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune points out that the two franchises have emulated each other quite a bit over the years.