New York Knicks: 3 Players Better Under Woodson and 3 Better Off with D'Antoni

Coming into the 2011-12 season, there was reason for optimism in New York. The Knicks qualified for the playoffs for the first time in six seasons in 2010-11, but were knocked out in the first round by the Miami Heat. With a full season of Amar'e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler, it looked like the Knicks might fare even better.

But after an 18-24 start, Mike D'Antoni resigned as the Knicks' head coach and was replaced by Mike Woodson, who immediately improved the team's defense and guided New York to an 18-6 record.

While the Knicks were clearly better under Woodson, there were definitely some players that performed better under D'Antoni. Let's explore which players benefited the most under each coach this season.

Better under Woodson: Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony never really fit in with D'Antoni's style. So much so that D'Antoni wanted to trade Anthony for Deron Williams before he decided to resign.

When Woodson took over for D'Antoni, Anthony's play really took off. Under Woodson, he averaged 24.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.3 steals, a .470 field-goal percentage and a 17.2 game score. With D'Antoni coaching the team, Anthony averaged 21.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.0 steals, a .400 field-goal percentage and a 13.5 game score.

Anthony had considerable improvement across the board under Woodson, especially in his offensive efficiency, as indicated by his improved field-goal percentage and game-score average.

Better under Woodson: Mike Bibby

Bibby was just a role player on the Knicks last season. That said, he played much better under Mike Woodson.

With Woodson coaching the Knicks, Bibby averaged 14.7 minutes, 2.4 points, 2.8 assists, 1.7 rebounds and a game score of 3.0. When D'Antoni was coaching the team, Bibby averaged 13.9 minutes, 2.8 points, 1.4 assists, 1.4 rebounds and a game score of 1.8.

Bibby, like Chandler, benefited from Woodson's style of play, which emphasized a half-court offense rather than constantly trying to push the ball in transition.

Better under Woodson: Amar'e Stoudemire

You could make an argument either way for Stoudemire. His basic statistics, while similar under both, looked better with D'Antoni. However, his advanced statistics and his efficiency were much better under Woodson.

With D'Antoni, Stoudemire averaged 17.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, a .462 field-goal percentage and a game score of 11.6. After Woodson took over, Stoudemire averaged 16.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists, a .573 field-goal percentage and a game score of 12.9. The big differences between the two lie in field-goal efficiency and game-score averages.

Stoudemire's offensive rating was noticeably better under Woodson and his defensive rating improved a bit, too. With Woodson, his offensive rating was 113 and his defensive rating was 100. Under D'Antoni, his offensive rating was 101 and his defensive rating was 103.

Better under D'Antoni: Jeremy Lin

Because of Lin's late-season knee injury, he didn't play too many games with Mike Woodson as head coach. But in the time that he was there, Lin saw a noticeable drop-off in his production.

D'Antoni's utilization of the pick and roll helped Lin flourish. Under D'Antoni, Lin averaged 15.0 points, 6.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals and a 11.5 game score. Under Woodson, his production dropped to 13.3 points, 5.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and a game score of 10.1.

Better under D'Antoni: Landry Fields

Fields played much better under D'Antoni, especially on offense. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals and a game score of 8.2. When Woodson took over, Fields averaged 6.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and a game score of 5.0.

However, Fields was marginally better on defense under Woodson, averaging a defensive rating of 101, opposed to the 103 he posted with D'Antoni. Despite the slightly improved defense, it wasn't enough to offset Fields' offensive production, which saw a sizable drop under Woodson.

Better under D'Antoni: Tyson Chandler

As far as team defense goes, the Knicks were clearly better under Woodson. Chandler, however, put up similar defensive numbers under both Woodson and D'Antoni. But his offensive production was much better with D'Antoni.

Under D'Antoni, Chandler averaged 11.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.0 steals, a .689 field-goal percentage and a 12.6 game score. With Woodson coaching the team, he averaged 11.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 0.8 steals, a .662 field-goal percentage and a 11.5 game score.

On top of that, his defensive rating was 99 under D'Antoni and Woodson. The real difference was in offensive rating, which was 132 under D'Antoni and 123 with Woodson.