The record is 11 games south of mediocre. The Knicks have been on an Injury of the Day plan all season it seems. Depending on the source, Mike Woodson’s job life expectancy is anywhere from an hour-and-a-half ago to days to weeks.
And yet on Monday, there was talk of the playoffs by players — with one even chatting up championship aspirations.
Yeah, this season. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.
Tyson Chandler said the push starts Wednesday against Sacramento at the Garden, the last home game before the All-Star break.
“Wednesday is very important. You don’t want to go into the All-Star break with a loss hanging over your head. I definitely think this team will make the playoffs,” Chandler said at Chelsea Piers during Knicks Bowl 15, a charity event for the Garden of Dreams Foundation. “We have enough talent to do so.
“This has been an up-and-down season for us, but at this point we can’t control anything that has happened in the past. We have to focus on getting better and try to jump up into one of the playoff spots,” Chandler said.
Metta World Peace did Chandler one better. True, the season hasn’t gone as planned. But it still can.
“I didn’t picture this. I was very optimistic. A championship level team was on my mind,” World Peace said Monday on ESPN Radio. “I still believe we have championship-level players.
“We are good enough to make the playoffs. I believe the team has what it takes. Sometimes you can start off on the wrong foot but it can end up well, and we still have the capabilities to win a championship. These players are more than capable.”
Adding a little lemon juice on top of the salt in the Knicks’ wounds has been their utter failure (12-17) to cash in on a favorable home schedule so far. And the schedule could force them to face the consequences: Of the 30 games after the All-Star break, 19 are on the road. The Knicks have stunk on the road, too, going 8-14.
Players welcome the challenge.
“It will show exactly what we’re made of and what kind of character we have on this team,” Chandler said of the post-break schedule.
“This is going to show how tough a team we are. We’ve got to come together,” said Anthony who also pointed to Wednesday as the key. “I don’t want to say it’s a must-win, but it’s a game we have to take care of.”
“We can’t change the schedule. The schedule is what it is,” Woodson said. “We can’t run from it.”
World Peace, who got to plug his new children’s book, “Metta’s World Peace and Love Stories,” addressed a wide variety of topics.
He supported Michael Sam coming out as openly gay, although he previously had no idea who he is. (“[Missouri] won the Cotton Bowl? What’s the Cotton Bowl?” but later, “I encourage anybody to feel comfortable with themselves.”)
He revealed on draft night 1999, hoping to be selected by his hometown team, he wore Knicks shorts and a T-shirt under his suit.
And World Peace praised Anthony, calling him a vastly talented star who remains humble. He stressed, “Melo is not the reason why we are losing.
“Melo is one of my favorite stars I ever played with,” World Peace said. “There are things he can do on the court better than anybody. He’s so talented and so humble. It’s hard to be humble and have that killer instinct because most people with a killer instinct, they’re just worried about themselves. Melo is actually able to worry about his teammates, care about his teammates.”