Knicks Expected to Name Mike Woodson Full-Time Coach

The New York Knicks are expected to announce Mike Woodson as the team's full-time coach sometime in the next week, according to multiple reports.

ESPNNewYork.com first reported that it was just a matter of time before Woodson's new contract was announced and that the job was definitely his. Woodson served as the team's interim coach after Mike D'Antoni resigned on March 14 and guided the Knicks to an 18-6 record in the regular season.

The Knicks lost to the Miami Heat in five games in the first round of this year's playoffs.

Woodson has the support of the majority of the team, including star forward Carmelo Anthony, and could receive a three-year contract, according to the New York Post.

Signing to Woodson to a long-term deal adds some much needed stability to the Knicks, but could disappoint fans hoping for a major name coach to be the savior at Madison Square Garden. Many hoped that Knicks owner James Dolan would open up the checkbook to lure a big-name coach like Phil Jackson, who reportedly wasn't even contacted by the Knicks.

Jackson, according to multiple reports, is interested in returning to coaching in the near future and would have listened had the Knicks contacted him, but the Knicks evidently didn't have any interest in the 66-year-old retired coach.

Kentucky coach John Calipari, former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, and former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy were other coaches rumored as the next Knicks coach. Instead Dolan settled on Woodson, who has experience guiding teams to the playoffs from his days in Atlanta, but has never guided a team past the second round as a coach.

Woodson, known as a defensive-minded coach, will be tasked with finding a way to mesh the unique collection of talent that the Knicks possess. On paper the Knicks are an All-Star team, but the team had major issues with spacing, especially on the offensive side of things, throughout the season. Woodson will need to find a way to get his talented frontcourt - Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler - to coexist or risk becoming a perennial one-and-done playoff team.