The New York Knicks' 17th--and perhaps most frustrating--loss of the season has many people clamoring for a new head coach, but star player Carmelo Anthony doesn't think that Mike Woodson's job is in jeopardy after a boneheaded move led to the Knicks' one-point loss to the Washington Wizards on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
"As far as I'm concerned, he's secure right now. I haven't heard anything," Anthony told ESPN Monday night after the loss. "There's nothing to discuss. He's our coach, and we're rolling with him."
Woodson has come under fire after the Knicks have plodded out to an awful 7-17 start to the season and the voices calling for Woodson's job get louder with each loss, perhaps reaching maximum heights after Woodson's latest gaffe on Monday night.
New York had a foul to give while holding a one-point lead over Washington with 24 seconds to go, but rather than using the foul, the Knicks allowed Bradley Beal to hit an uncontested layup with 6.9 seconds left.
Following that play, the Knicks--who had three timeouts--didn't stop play to take the time to make up a game plan for the final rush down the court, and the game ended as Anthony chucked up a 25-foot shot that fell short as time expired.
Woodson lamented after the game that he should have taken a timeout.
"I probably should have taken a timeout there at the end, but you know, Beno [Udrih] grabbed it [to inbound] and the ball is in Melo's hands before I could even react, and I should have reacted a lot sooner once the ball went through the bucket. So, that's on me," Woodson said in hindsight via ESPN. "I didn't call the timeout so I've got to take the heat for that."
According to ESPN, Woodson said he instructed his players to foul and thought that Udrih would do it, but Udrih said he was waiting on Andrea Bargnani to help stop Beal from getting to the rim, but the help never came and the layup went up by Beal uncontested, leading to the ninth loss for the Knicks at home in 13 games.
"That's a tough way to lose a game," Anthony said per ESPN. "If [Woodson] said it's his fault, there's no need for me to make excuses or talk about it. As players, we have to be smarter. We knew we had timeouts. I was just trying to get a shot."
Woodson, who is under contract through the 2014-15 season, received a public vote of confidence by team owner James Dolan on Nov. 20, but the team has gone 4-9 since then and a source told ESPN that Woodson is being evaluated on a "game-by-game basis."
For now, Anthony believes that Woodson's job is safe, but if the losses keep piling up there could be a new voice leading the Knicks in the not-so-distant future.
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