The growing unrest from New York Knicks fans is evident in the "Fire Woodson" chants that echo through Madison Square Garden and grow louder with each passing defeat, but Tyson Chandler doesn't believe that the derogatory chants towards coach Mike Woodson are warranted.
During the Knicks 29-point 123-94 loss Christmas Day, a group of fans began to chant "Fire Woodson" at the coach, leading to Chandler coming to the defense of his coach as the Knicks (9-19) have hugely underachieved thus far this season and have become a far-cry from owner James Dolan's championship team proclamations.
"I feel like it's unwarranted. This is New York City, so there's going to be a lot of things happening," Chandler told ESPN on Thursday. "Media is going to ... try to fight to find that person to blame, and in this situation, I don't necessarily think it's right."
Woodson's job has been a topic of conversation a lot throughout the team's slow start this season that has found them tied for third in a woefully bad Atlantic Division, but so far Dolan and Knicks management have yet to pull the trigger on firing the coach--a solution that may not fully solve the many troubles that have befallen the Knicks this season.
Woodson's Knicks have dealt with many different injuries this year and have missed several key players for various spells. Woodson said Thursday he believed that the Knicks will turn it around soon when they have all of their pieces healthy, and he expects to be on the sideline when they do.
"Do I see some light at the end of the tunnel? I do. I think eventually we'll get to where we need to get as a ball club," Woodson said via ESPN. "And I'm basing that on our last 12 games [in which the Knicks went 6-6]. Eventually, we'll get healthy and we'll see how it all plays out."
The Knicks enter Friday three games behind the Toronto Raptors (11-15) for first place in the Atlantic Division and face a home-and-home with them Friday and Saturday with a chance to gain ground.
"We won it last year, and I expect us to win it this year," Woodson said of the division title via ESPN.
Dolan gave Woodson a public vote of confidence on Nov. 20 but hasn't mentioned his job status recently as the Knicks have gone 6-11 since the public statements. One of Woodson's gaffes since the vote of confidence was not taking a timeout to set up their final possession in an eventual one-point loss to the Washington Wizards on Dec. 16. Chandler insisted it wasn't the coach's fault.
"I was there in that game when he told guys we have a timeout and we got to foul. Guys didn't execute it. That's not the coach's fault," Chandler told ESPN. "We have to then take it upon ourselves as players."
ESPN reports that sources from the team said that Woodson is being evaluated on a game-by-game basis, but Woodson is in no mood to talk about his job status.
"The bottom line is I'm the coach of this team. I have very high standards in terms of what I do and what I expect players to do. And it starts with me," Woodson said per ESPN. "I understand that. I won't ever run away from that as a coach."
Woodson can bring his team to within one game of first place if it can beat Toronto in back-to-back games starting Friday night at Madison Square Garden. If not, the "Fire Woodson" chants may start up yet again.
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