NEW YORK –– Knicks coach Mike Woodson said he’d like to see sharpshooter Steve Novak put the ball on the deck a little more.
“I think as the year goes along and we’ll continue to work with him where he feels comfortable in putting the ball down on the floor more than one or two dribbles,” Woodson said before Sunday’s Sixers game at MSG.
“I’d like to see him put it down all the way to the hole and get knocked on his butt and go to the line and shoot free throws. When that day comes, boy, life will be pretty good.”
Novak went 5-of-8 from downtown in Friday’s 104-84 rout of the defending NBA champion Miami Heat, the same team that stifled Novak in their playoff series last spring.
“You saw the other night he did use his escape dribble a few times to get his shot,” Woodson said, “and he’s going to have to do that because teams are flying in. When he has an opportunity to look at the rim and he’s open, teams are going to try to run him off the 3 so he’s gotta feel comfortable about putting it down a few times at least to go get his shot.”
