Despite reports that his job status is shaky, Mike Woodson remains "very confident" he can turn the Knicks around.
"Do I think I’m the guy for the job? Absolutely I do," Woodson said before Friday's game against the Nuggets. "That’s not ever going to change as long as I am the head coach of the Knicks. With that being said, we are two and a half [games] out [of the playoffs]. Somehow, tonight, we got to stop the bleeding and win a game and start feeling good about ourselves and move on."
The Knicks have lost three straight entering Friday's game. They are 19-30 overall, and just 11-17 at home. Their most recent struggles have led to renewed speculation that Woodson is on the verge of being fired. But Woodson said Friday he remains focused on guiding the Knicks into the playoffs.
"I feel good about our team moving forward in terms of being two and a half out of the eighth spot and I feel like we still got a legitimate shot to get one of the eight spots," Woodson said.
Woodson was asked if, given his track record as Knicks coach (a 54-win season, a playoff series win), he feels he deserves a chance to continue coaching the team.
"That’s not my call. My call right now is I am still the head coach of the Knicks and I proudly say that. And I still have a job to do," Woodson said.
Woodson made headlines Thursday by saying that the Knicks' season thus far has been a "disaster."
"This year has been, for me, it's been kind of a disaster from a coaching standpoint in trying to get players to compete and play at a high level," Woodson said on ESON NY 98.7 FM's "The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show."
"That's the frustrating part about it, because I know we're better than what we've shown and we've still got a chance."
The Knicks have dealt with injuries to several key players, including Tyson Chandler. But Woodson has come under fire for his lineup decisions and insistence on trying to play a big front line of Chander, Carmelo Anthony and Andrea Bargnani.
"I can't point the fingers at nobody at the end of the day, I'm the head coach of this team and somehow I've got to continue to push this team and get them to make the playoffs," Woodson said Friday. "That's what we're in it for. We're in it to win our division and that's somewhat slipping away from us right now but we've still got to push to get in the playoffs."
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