Mike Woodson Apologizes to Knicks Fans and Blames Himself for Bad Season

By beating the Miami Heat on Saturday, the Atlanta Hawks officially clinched the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference, mercy killing the New York Knicks' playoff hopes in the process.

It's been a miserable season for Knicks fans, players and apparently coaches, as on Sunday, Mike Woodson took on responsibility for his team's failings.

According to ESPN New York's Ian Begley, Woodson shared his thoughts prior to the Knicks' game with the Chicago Bulls:

"

I mean, you can point the fingers in a lot of directions. And I'm not going to sit here and air that out. I mean, at the end of the day I'm the coach and I didn't get it done. It's just that simple. There's a lot of factors that came behind it, but you can't sit here and complain about it now. We didn't get it done. Being the coach, I just apologize to the fans. Again, they earned their hard earned money to come see us play and we didn't come into this season expecting this.

"

The apology comes after months of fans and writers alike demanding Woodson get the axe. Don't believe me? Just Google "Fire Mike Woodson."

There have been plenty of scapegoats for New York's season—Andrea Bargnani, Amar'e Stoudemire, Raymond Felton, James Dolan and many others—but Woodson was likely the biggest.

In an article from February entitled "New York Knicks Have Officially Checked Out on Mike Woodson," Bleacher Report's Joe Flynn proclaimed that there were "...legions of fans who have been begging for the coach's dismissal since early in the season."

Whether or not this acceptance of blame will help those fans ultimately get their wish remains to be seen. But at this point, it's hard to imagine New York retaining Woodson.

New President of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson will likely want his own imprint on the franchise as soon as possible. The best way to start could be by installing a new coach who can implement Jackson's fabled triangle offense.

Woodson will likely have to go on a job hunt, looking for a new place to "get it done."

Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report.

Follow @AndrewDBailey