Woodson's Challenge: Scoring Production - NYTimes.com Since the departure of Mike D'Antoni, the New York Knicks have won all three games under replacement coach Mike Woodson. In fact they've not only won, but have done so in convincing fashion. Over this span, the Knicks have outscored their opponents by 23.7 points. It's too early to give Woodson credit for turning around the team's fortunes. In fact, it may be a few more games before we can rule out the Hawthorne effect, the infamous study in which workers responded positively to any change in their environment. To keep the Knicks on their current win streak, Woodson will need to fix the team's offense. Despite the perception of D'Antoni being defensively indifferent, the Knicks actually have been playing well under their opponents" basket. According to basketball-reference.com, New York has the league's eighth-best defense. Perhaps the best display of the Knicks defense came Friday night as Tyson Chandler, en route to four blocked shots, terrorized All Star center Roy Hibbert (who shot only 2-10) and the rest of the Indiana Pacers. In that game Indiana shot worse from two-point range (38.7 percent) than New York did from behind the three-point line (44 percent). New York's troubles stem from their low ranking on offense, which currently stands at 19th in the N.B.A. It's hard to understand what caused such a poor showing, because it's not as if the Knicks lack viable scoring options. Carmelo Anthony's high-volume scoring from Denver is fresh enough in people's minds to have made him a fan- voted starter for the Eastern Conference All Stars this year. Although Amar'e Stoudemire's high-flying game seems to have disappeared, he still is an above average scorer for his position. Linsanity as a craze may be on life support, but Jeremy Lin is still a promising and effective young point guard. Additionally, the Knicks don't lack for tertiary scorers. Three-point specialist Steve Novak and energetic guard J.R. Smith provide firepower from the bench. Even Chandler helps the offense with a highly efficient 69.5 effective field goal percentage. So far it appears that the Knicks have moved away from D'Antoni's philosophy, which featured motion and frequent passing. In its place is a more isolation-friendly attack, which has produced more drives to the hoop. New York has averaged 31.3 free throw attempts per game under Woodson, up from the 25 under D'Antoni. Forcing the action to the basket, instead of shuffling the ball around the perimeter, has opened up the outside for New York. Before the change the Knicks attempted 22 shots from downtown, where they've attempted 29 over the last three games. To succeed where D'Antoni failed, Woodson needs to find an offensive system that suits the talents of his players. If the new Knicks head coach can improve the Knicks" scoring production, New York could be the team that other franchises wish to avoid come the playoffs. Mike Kurylo is the founder and editor of KnickerBlogger.Net, a member of ESPNís True Hoop Network. You can find him on Twitter (@KnickerBlogger).