Knicks Hire Woodson as Head Coach

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(Image source: Newsday) ?

BY MEGAN RICE

Practice makes perfect and what better way to practice becoming a head coach than getting hired after an interim season. New York 1 reports on who the Knicks decided to keep in charge next year.

?And Mike Woodson will stay on as Knicks coach. The team dropped the interim tag from Woodson and gave him a multi-year contract. Woodson coached the Knicks to an 18-6 record and their first playoff win in 11 years after Mike D'antoni left mid-season.?

With any job in the Big Apple comes speculation. But, ESPN?s NBA Analyst Stephen A. Smith says the Knicks made the right choice.

?There haven't been many times when the New York Knicks have done something right. So it's nice to see that they finally did something sensible...?

Woodson beat out some stiff competition in the likes of the NBA record 11-time champion coach Phil Jackson. Fox Sports reports he will be there as long as some of the Knicks? star players.

?Sources indicated Jackson was interested -- and Jerry Sloan may have been, too. But they'll have to wait as Woodson gets what's believed to be a three-year deal, the length of service left on the pacts of Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire.?

If being a head coach in a major city doesn?t bring enough pressure, having NBA coaching legend Phil Jackson in your rear-view certainly will. A Yahoo! Sports columnist wrote earlier this month the iconic coach was actually the better choice.

?Mike Woodson is a solid NBA coach, but he doesn?t have the clout to make this work the way that Jackson can... The Knicks don?t need Jackson for the sake of his r?sum?, his stature, but for his ability to get talent ? especially talent at odds like ?Melo and Amar?e ? to play together.?

Regardless of what the critics think, Woodson has the job, so it?s time for him to roll up his sleeves and get to work. According to a New York Times writer, Woodson?s job includes some tall tasks.

?It is now up to Woodson, who once coached the Atlanta Hawks, to find a way to blend the scoring talents of Anthony and Amar?e Stoudemire?s, a goal that has eluded the Knicks the past two seasons.

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