Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald thought Mike Woodson should have won Coach of the Year this season. So he is hardly listening to fan and media complaints that Woodson had a bad playoff.
Woodson, 55, finished third in the Coach of the Year voting, won 54 games, the Atlantic Division title and the Eastern Conference’s second seed. Woodson’s regular-season record as Knicks coach is 72-34, but critics point to his playoff miscues. He never has been out of the second round in eight seasons as a head coach with the Knicks and Hawks.
The naysayers knock Woodson for his misuse of rookie Chris Copeland, his blind allegiance to slumping J.R. Smith, his insistence on forcing a rusty Amar’e Stoudemire into the rotation midstream and ignoring 3-point ace Steve Novak versus Indiana.
“I think Woody did a great job,’’ said Grunwald, an Indiana classmate of Woodson’s. “I think he’s my coach of the year still, although he finished third. He did an excellent job this year. We wound up where we didn’t want to be — out of the playoffs. We all have to take a look at ourselves from the front office to the coaching staff to the players.’’
Grunwald pointed out Tuesday that Woodson plowed on despite “a rough year’’ on the injury front — especially having to juggle major big-man injuries to Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby, the midseason return of Iman Shumpert, losing starting point guard Raymond Felton for a month and Tyson Chandler in the homestretch.
Woodson was asked if he had any regrets from the Pacers second-round defeat. He didn’t name any.
“I’m my own biggest critic,’’ he said. “This was a great season for our team. No matter how you slice it and dice it. It’s the first time we assembled the team. I thought we took a major step. Is there room for improvement?. Absolutely. Across the board, there is. But this was a positive season for our ballclub regardless of what anybody says.’’
Woodson has next season on his contract, but it is believed the third year of his pact is not fully guaranteed.
* Asked about Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim attacking the Knicks roster, going after Chandler and Pablo Prigioni, among others, Grunwald said, “Jim’s a great coach and he’s obviously very loyal to Melo. So I understand where his comments came from.’’ Boeheim stated the Knicks can’t win a title without getting better players around Carmelo Anthony.
* Anthony will undergo an MRI in the next day or so to see if there’s an injury beyond a strained shoulder. … Woodson said the goal is to have Chandler work on his post game, put on more weight and also become a better offensive rebounder, instead of tapping the ball back. Grunwald said Chandler had lost as much as 12 pounds because of his strep throat in April and was never the same. The Post had reported Chandler had lost 10 pounds. … Woodson said adding a low-post scorer could be on the offseason agenda.