To say the New York Knicks were disappointing under coach Mike Woodson this season would be an understatement as the team limped to a 37-45 record and will miss the playoffs, but Woodson believes he's the right guy to coach the team even as his job remains in question following the end of the regular-season.
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Woodson said prior to New York's 95-92 regular-season finale victory over the Toronto Raptors that he thinks he can help the team turn it around next season if given the chance to by Knicks brass.
"Am I the guy for the job? I'm the only guy for this job. I've always said that. And I don't mean that in a [bragging] way. I feel good about what I do as a coach," Woodson told ESPN. "I know the system works. Unfortunately, this season we've had some bad luck, some bad breaks along the way."
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Team owner James Dolan said on the eve of the first game of the season that he believed that the Knicks would compete for an NBA championship in 2013-14, however the team failed to make the tournament to crown a champion.
The Knicks struggled through a 3-13 start, and losing streaks of seven and nine games to fall as low as 19 games under .500 earlier in the season. New York began to bounce back, winning 12 of 15 games during a stretch of March to early April, but failed to make the playoffs.
The struggles have led to rumors of Woodson --who is under contract through 2014-15 --being fired, a result in which the coach doesn't deem as fair.
"What's fair? ... I was given an opportunity two years ago to take over a team that was struggling and I made the most of it. Unfortunately this year just didn't go according to plan," said Woodson per ESPN "Is it fair to let me go? I don't think so. Again, I don't make that decision. That's got to come from the top."
Amar'e Stoudemire didn't offer much of a vote of confidence for Woodson, who took over as interim coach after Mike D'Antoni resigned in 2011, and said the team lacked leadership.
"Certain strategies were placed upon us with Coach Woodson. There were times when we didn't quite buy into it and as a result of that, we lost games," Stoudemire said per ESPN. "So, going forward into next year, whatever the strategy is, we got to buy into it from the beginning."
Phil Jackson, who took over as president for the Knicks last month, may decide to bring in his own head coach to replace Woodson next season.
Woodson understands that in the NBA, coaches get blamed for the failures of their team.
"That's just the nature of our sport. It's like that it any sport. Should it be that way? Maybe not. But what are you going to do about it?" Woodson said, according to ESPN. "You've got to continue to do your job while you're doing it. When you're services are no longer needed, you've got to move on and pick up the pieces and regroup and try it somewhere else."
Woodson may have to try it somewhere else sooner rather than later.
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