The New York Knicks are in a very tough situation and with the team mired in a nine game losing streak and no end in sight, if they lose on Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets, head coach Mike Woodson could be fired and a name that has come up as an option to replace him is former team star Allan Houston.
Reports came out this week that owner James Dolan could be getting restless with his team on the losing streak and with them off to a 3-11 record, big changes could be coming and a name that was mentioned was Jeff Van Gundy. That was shot down a bit, but on Wednesday another name emerged as an option, as the Daily News reported that the Knicks could possibly put Houston in the spot, as he has a role with the organization in the front office. Frank Isola writes in the Daily News that Houston could be an option for the team, as coaching this disaster could make up for the $100 million contract that he had years ago that held the team back for many years salary cap wise.
While that was written in a bit of jest, the report is written as serious and while Houston doesn't have any coaching experience, he could try to guide the team out of this tough situation. Houston's fate could be tough though, as Jason Kidd has shown that no coaching experience could be an issue with a team and the Knicks also love having Houston as the assistant general manager and supposedly are grooming him for the top job.
The Houston move is an unlikely one, especially with names like George Karl and Jeff Van Gundy out there, but it brings up an interesting situation. Either way, the Knicks need to win on Thursday against the Nets for themselves, as they are just 3-11 and another loss could really set them back in the East. Amazingly enough, they are only three games out of the division lead in the Atlantic because of how terrible the teams are and that gives the franchise some hope as they play the Nets.
Carmelo Anthony is doing all that he can and he is leading the team in scoring with 26 points per game and is averaging nearly a double-double with 9.9 rebounds. The team is chasing the Nets, Raptors, Celtics and Sixers in the division and no one thought that would happen and now the team comes into the game after losing by four at home to the Pelicans.