Johnson was second choice for Knicks' coaching job

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Avery Johnson was Knicks team president Donnie Walsh's second choice to coach Mike D'Antoni. If D'Antoni took the Bulls job, Johnson -- and not Mark Jackson -- would have become the Knicks head coach in May 2008, bringing his disciplinarian, defensive demeanor.

"From what I was told, yeah [that's the truth]," Johnson told The Post Wednesday night at San Antonio's AT&T Center. The Knicks face the Grizzlies tonight (8:00, MSG, ESPN 1050 AM).

Johnson is a coaching free agent, unsure he will coach next season. Johnson might still be on the market if things don't work out next season for D'Antoni, whose biggest attribute now stands as his recruiting prowess in landing the top-tier free agent class headed by LeBron James.

If the Knicks don't come up big in free agency, D'Antoni will be on thin ice next season if the Knicks start off sputtering.

Johnson, the former Mavericks coach who is an ESPN studio analyst, took a three-hour drive to attend the Spurs' 97-87 victory over the Knicks on Wednesday. Johnson said he was there to take his former coach Gregg Popovich out to dinner, not to see Walsh.

Johnson said D'Antoni's job performance cannot be evaluated until next season.

"These two years for the Knicks are not a measuring stick for where they need to be," Johnson said. "You have to wait until that third year in this particular case and give D'Antoni a chance and Donnie a chance to improve their personnel, then see where it goes from there."

Johnson said he has been very picky about his next landing spot. But Johnson added the Knicks would have been the right fit.

"Donnie flew down [to Dallas], we met for several hours, talked about it," Johnson said. "He didn't know at the time if Mike was going to go to Chicago or not. But that was the one job I would've taken immediately."

Asked why, Johnson said, "Because of Donnie. Knowing him since I was in college, I have an awful lot of respect for him. He's positioned himself really well. Now, can they get somebody to sign up July 1?"

Walsh has utmost respect for Johnson, too. Walsh's longtime confidant, Ben Jobe, was Johnson's mentor and college coach. Jobe became a legendary black-college pioneer and Walsh and Jobe worked together at the University of South Carolina and Denver. Walsh hired Jobe as a Knicks scout two seasons ago.

In May 2008, Jobe lobbied Walsh to hire Johnson, saying Johnson and Walsh would mix perfecttly together. Johnson was 194-70 in four seasons with Dallas -- a .735 winning percentage -- and took the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2006.

After his success in Phoenix, D'Antoni is 54-92 in his two Knicks seasons. Sources close to D'Antoni acknowledge he will not survive another bad season.

"Everybody still has their own system and style of play and what they feel comfortable with," Johnson said. "I don't think you can really judge the Knicks coaching. You got to wait until the personnel -- hopefully for their sake -- changes in the offseason. Sometimes when the media wants teams to become better defensive teams, they have to have the personnel also."

At 22-42, the Knicks have to go 10-8 to match last season's 32-50 clip. That's highly doubtful because of this post-trade-deadline roster. The Knicks' defense ranks near the bottom, allowing teams to shoot 48 percent.

Though he battled with Mark Cuban, Johnson gave the Mavericks a defensive posture they didn't have. But Johnson said D'Antoni doesn't have the defensive players.

"Scheme is one part, but you have to have the personnel of players who are really good defenders," Johnson said. "I think they're young. You got some players who are aging players who are not as athletic as they used to be and the combination of that would be detrimental to your defensive growth."

Johnson said he's not averse to sitting out another year.

"After the season is over, like every year, we'll probably get a phone call and we'll sit down and talk to folks as we always have and see if there's a fit somewhere," Johnson said. "If not, I'll keep doing what we're doing."