Mike Woodson getting more out of New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony – NBA Update
The change of head coach at the New York Knicks seems to have done the trick for the flailing franchise. Since Mike D’Antoni resigned and Mike Woodson took over the reins, the Knicks have won 3 games in a row.
The performance level is a far cry from when D’Antoni was in charge. Most notable perhaps has been the turn of fortunes for star forward Carmelo Anthony. Anthony, a much heralded arrival from the Denver Nuggets last season, had been shockingly poor for most
of this year under D’Antoni.
However, now the forward seems to be playing with a spring in his step. He gets more chances to attack than he did under the previous coach, but what has stood out under Woodson is Carmelo’s commitment to defence.
Often criticized as someone who shies away from the grind of defensive basketball, Anthony has upped the ante in that department and admitted that he was basically playing with more energy under Mike Woodson.
“I think in the last three games, my focus was to have an energy that I haven’t had so far this season, especially on the defensive end,” he said.
Carmelo, who is perhaps among the elite scorers in the NBA, said he knew where his strengths was and was now just focused on making up for the perceived weaknesses.
“Everybody on this team knows, everybody in the world knows I can score the basketball. It’s not that important to me.”
After Woodson took over, he reposted confidence in Carmelo and fellow star Amar’e Stoudemire. The two had become somewhat isolated under D’Antoni and drew the ire of fans that saw them, especially Carmelo, as somewhat who perhaps wasn’t trying hard enough.
Therefore Woodson’s backing of the duo seems to have given them encouragement to do better. So much so that Anthony himself asked the new coach to not hold back from criticism, when required.
“When he got the job, I told him, ‘Hold me accountable,’ ” Anthony said of Woodson. “I don’t have a problem with criticism. If I can do something to help better this team, let me know. And he’s been doing that.”
Mike Woodson is a defence guy; he was actually brought in to focus on that end of the coaching as Mike D’Antoni had always been viewed as an offense minded coach. Therefore it isn’t too much of a surprise that Woodson has been able to get more defensively
out of the players.
The Knicks need the effort level to stay high, for they are currently at the 8th position in the Eastern Conference. If they want to stay in a playoff spot, let alone climb higher for a favourable draw, they can ill afford any slip ups.
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