You go big, the Knicks will go big. You go small, the Knicks will go big. You go medium, the Knicks will go big.
You see a pattern here?
“I’m going to stay big,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said about his preference for a Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler front line.
“When Amar’e came to me and said, ‘Hey coach, it’s time to bump the minutes,’ that’s when I decided to make the change,” Woodson said Thursday during his weekly spot on ESPN Radio. “We’ve been trying to get to this lineup since I’ve been here.”
Woodson, noting he can always return to small ball if needed, admitted there was a little concern facing the Nets Wednesday because Chandler wound up guarding Paul Pierce. Turns out, there was no need to fret as the Knicks buried the Nets by 29 points.
The Knicks are sending another show of love to Carmelo Anthony — always a good move when a can opt out for free agency at season’s end. On Friday, the Knicks are honoring Anthony’s franchise record-setting 62-point game at the Garden’s Historical Exhibit.
Garden execs will add a “visual retrospective” of Anthony torching Charlotte for his 62 points on Jan. 24 to the “Garden 366 presented by SAP” exhibit on the arena’s concourse. No doubt, they’ll reserve a spot and hope to add the pen he uses to sign a new contract.
New team president Phil Jackson addressed the matter of players and agents and said he will not be bound by any past or present affiliations. He was asked specifically about Creative Artists Agency, which represents Anthony, among others.
“We discussed this, as part of my role coming here was ‘Is there anything that would inhibit me from having the freedom to work with all the people in the NBA that represent players?’ And there is nothing,” Jackson said. “So, I know there are connections and there are friendships, and whatever has been in the past, but those don’t weigh in on me.”