Mike Woodson allowed himself to daydream for a moment yesterday about a day when all of his key players are healthy and the Knicks have a full roster for him to tinker with.
“It’s going to be interesting to see where we go once everybody is in place,” he said with a grin. “I’d like to get to that point.”
Chances are Woodson will never get to that point. Not if things continue the way they have. It was encouraging to see Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire actually run up and down the court at the Knicks practice facility yesterday. But Anthony’s sprained left ankle remains sore, making him iffy for tonight’s game against the Nets, and Stoudemire appears at least several days away from returning to the lineup following offseason knee surgery.
That’s not all. Rasheed Wallace was walking around in slide sandals, having missed the past two games with a sore left foot, and no one is speculating when Marcus Camby (sore left foot) will be ready to contribute. Add Iman Shumpert (offseason knee surgery), who isn’t expected back until deep into the season, and the Knicks are a long way from getting everybody in place.
With Stoudemire practicing — he worked with the Knicks’ D-League team yesterday — speculation will resume over how he will fit into the offense and function alongside Anthony. It’s a topic Woodson deflects by saying, essentially, he’ll deal with that when the time comes.
The coach’s immediate task is to restore the kind of focus on the defensive end of the court that has helped the Knicks build the best record in the Eastern Conference at 18-6.
Woodson has not liked what he has been seen of the defense over the past five games as the Knicks have allowed an average of 104.2 points. Despite going 4-1 over that stretch, Woodson knows the best way to weather injuries is to play consistently sound defense.
It’s why he lectured his team during a lengthy film session yesterday, pointing out repeated mistakes in a 109-96 loss to Jeremy Lin and the Rockets on Monday night at the Garden.
“We’ve had some slippage,” Woodson said of the defensive effort. “Right now, we look like we’re trying to outscore teams, and that’s not good.”
Only twice in their first nine games did the Knicks allow their opponents to score more than 100 points. Later came a stretch beginning on Nov. 26 at Brooklyn when seven straight teams failed to score 100 points on the Knicks. But the recent “slippage” has been noticeable. Prior to the past five games, the Knicks had held their opponents to .447 percent shooting. Over the last five games, that has soared to .497.
After the Rockets ran the Knicks out of their own gym Monday night, Woodson didn’t spend much time fantasizing about Stoudemire and Anthony finally playing together on offense. That will be fodder for radio talk shows and others to speculate about. Stoudemire yesterday said he will take on whatever role is best for the team, and Anthony seemed eager for his teammate’s return.
But defense will get the Knicks through the inevitable bouts with injuries. It’s why Woodson is insistent on restoring the kind of defensive effort that can last through a long season.
Yesterday’s rare practice was used to work out some of the kinks.
“Practice puts you in a different light when you can get after guys and hold them accountable in terms of rotating,” Woodson said. “We haven’t been able to do that.”
He hopes to see improvement beginning tonight when the Knicks play the Nets at the Garden after splitting two games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Should the Knicks ever get completely healthy, the coach said figuring out how to manage minutes for a full roster will be “a good position to be in.”
Until then his main topic of discussion will focus on the defense, which is exactly what it should be.
george.willis@nypost.com