Former Knicks president Donnie Walsh watched his old club face the Pacers on Saturday night at the former Conseco Field House and can’t complain his guy, Mike D’Antoni, is no longer in charge of the bench.
Walsh, who lives in Indiana and works as a Knicks consultant, brought D’Antoni to New York four years ago but admitted yesterday things are on the upswing with interim coach Mike Woodson, hired as a defensive assistant after Walsh stepped down from power.
“I love what they’re doing,’’ Walsh told The Post yesterday from his Indiana home. “I love how (Woodson) is doing it. He’s got the team playing good basketball. And it’s all about basketball now.’’
Indeed, the soap opera is over with D’Antoni resigning after a power struggle with Carmelo Anthony. Walsh sees how the players have responded to the new voice as the Knicks swept the Pacers in a home-and-home to go 3-0 under Woodson.
“It looks like they have responded and you never know, you can’t predict that,’’ Walsh said. “I thought he did a good job in Atlanta. A lot of my friends know him well like Larry Brown and they’ve spoken highly of him. I’ve always heard nothing but good things.’’
This was the first time Walsh had seen a Knicks game live this season and got swept up by the roaring Linsanity fans.
Walsh worked out Jeremy Lin before the 2010 draft but the point guard phenom went undrafted.
“I felt he would be an NBA player, I had no idea he’d be this good a player,’’ Walsh said. “The whole Linsanity thing is unbelievable. It’s difficult on him and he handles it well. I haven’t seen something like this since I’ve been in the league and I’ve been here a long time. For the most part, he has a good game every time he plays and you take in consideration this is really his rookie year, it’s pretty special.’’
Walsh, who speaks to his successor Glen Grunwald every few weeks, has caught all the Knicks games from his TV at home. He said he did not go downstairs to the locker room after the game because he did not want to be swarmed by the Indiana and New York media. Walsh was a longtime president of the Pacers and speculation exists he’ll return next season in some capacity because of his friendship with owner Herb Simon and his complete recovery from hip-replacement surgery.
Walsh’s consulting contract expires after the season. Asked his future, Walsh said, “I haven’t decided on that yet.’’
Walsh was genuinely surprised the Knicks blew out Indiana on back-to-back nights, winning by a combined 29 points, buoyed by their defense.
“Indiana is a really, really good team,’’ Walsh said. “After the blowout in New York, I thought Indiana would come out hard and they still won,’’ Walsh said. “I was very impressed with how the Knicks are playing a much more complete game. They have everything going right now.’’
marc.berman@nypost.com