Fate threw the New York Knicks and their fans a nasty curveball last week, as head coach Mike D’Antoni resigned in the midst of a season that saw the team underachieve nonstop.  He was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Mike Woodson, a former Knicks player who is best known for turning the Atlanta Hawks back into a contending team.

Sure enough, once the defensive-minded Woodson took over, the Knicks responded immediately. 

The team destroyed the slumping Portland Trail Blazers and then twice defeated the talented Indiana Pacers, once at Madison Square Garden and once in Indianapolis.  For the first time in a while, the Knicks have actually looked like a TEAM and not just the program known as “Carmelo Anthony Takes A Million Bad Shots.”

Still, despite clear improvement in a short time, the Knicks still need to make a lot of changes before the playoffs.  They’d be the No. 8 seed were the postseason to begin today, and while they are good, a lot of work still needs to be done.

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