Most New York Knicks fans have already put the onus of blame on head coach Mike Woodson, and now the head coach has joined them in shoveling the blame for the team's struggles onto himself.
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Woodson appeared on ESPN Radio on Thursday and blamed himself for the Knicks--billed as a championship contender by owner James Dolan coming into the season--limping to a 22-40 record at this point in the season.
"I put it all on my shoulders," Woodson said Thursday in an interview on ESPN New York 98.7 FM's The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show. "I've always thought as a coach, and most coaches probably feel the same way, you need talent to win, you need healthy bodies to win. But I've kinda gotten past that," Woodson added. "I think I can take whoever suits up and win with it. That's just how I feel."
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Woodson, a coach for nine years, was willing to take some of the blame but also said that the team has been faced with the challenge of injuries, which the head coach said played a "major part" in the team's struggles on the court this season.
The Knicks lost Tyson Chandler for 20 games due to an injury, Raymond Felton has dealt with various ailments that have kept him in and out of the lineup, J.R. Smith was slow out of the gate due to knee surgery in the offseason, Iman Shumpert had knee injuries of his own and Kenyon Martin missed over three weeks due to an ankle problem.
Woodson, who many fans have called for to be fired due to the Knicks struggles, told ESPN Radio that injuries have taxed his team.
"It's been hard to put a team on the floor and have any kind of chemistry all season long. It's just been that way," Woodson told the program. "Not being able to practice based on all the bodies being in and out, not having 10 guys on the floor to go up and down in practice, it's been a lot this season."
While injuries happen during the season, a lot of teams--such as the Chicago Bulls--have been able to piece together solid seasons despite missing major players in their lineup while the Knicks are 18 games below .500 and 5.5 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 20 games remaining on the schedule.
"A lot of it has to do with our chemistry and being able to have the pieces in place when you really need it. The core group is there, in Raymond, J.R., [Carmelo Anthony] and Tyson and Iman. That was the core group we brought back this season and [were] going to depend a lot on," Woodson told the show. "Guys have been in and out, there's no question about that. But we just have not been able to put it together defensively as well as offensively."
There have been plenty of rumors throughout this season that Woodson would be fired by Knicks brass, and his seat really heated up around All-Star weekend and just before the trade deadline. Many people believe that the team has quit on their coach and that a change is needed, while Woodson said he doesn't see it that way.
"There were games where we held double-digit leads," the coach said via ESPN. "If you're quitting, you're not competing to get an advantage in a ballgame."
It is expected that Woodson will be fired over the summer and the Knicks will enter the 2014-15 campaign under the tutelage of another coach, but Woodson insists he knows how to coach and hasn't forgotten how to provide a winning formula.
"I haven't forgotten how to coach, there's no doubt about that in my mind, I haven't," Woodson said. "Again, our record doesn't indicate that, and that's the downside of coaching."
Woodson has 20 games to prove that he can still coach, and even if the Knicks make the postseason, the ship may have already sailed on the head coach's tenure with the team beyond this season.
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