NEW YORK (AP) – Showing more defensive intensity than his team often exhibits, New York Knicks coach Don Chaney stuck up for himself Saturday amid reports that his job is in jeopardy.

“I don’t need any reassurance,” Chaney said prior to New York’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. “You’re here to win as many games as you can. I know my job; I do my job well. If we don’t win, I can’t do anything about that. Only thing I can do is be judged by my team being prepared. Bottom line.”

The Knicks lost for the eighth time in 10 games Friday night, falling 105-99 in overtime to the Toronto Raptors.

Team president Scott Layden told reporters before that game that the Knicks were entering a critical juncture of their schedule, although he also said he was “unflappable” in his support for Chaney.

Several newspapers quoted anonymous sources saying Chaney’s job is in jeopardy with the Knicks (9-18) sitting in fifth place in the woeful Atlantic Division.

For the first time since he took over following Jeff Van Gundy’s resignation more than two years ago, Chaney has had an entire roster intact for the past 11 games after Antonio McDyess returned from knee surgery.

But the team has played poorly during that span, going 0-5 – and losing all five decisively – on a recent Western road trip before a woefully uninspired effort Tuesday in a 104-86 home loss to Golden State.

“I realized in November I have to win, now I’m in December and I still realize the same thing. In terms of being a critical part of the season, the critical part was going out West, going out there and not winning. That was critical. We could have made up some ground there,” Chaney said.

Chaney has compiled a 66-106 record with New York, the fourth NBA team he has coached. His career record over 12 seasons with the Knicks, Rockets, Clippers and Pistons is 331-448.

While pointing out that he has “no excuses” while defending his work ethic and preparation skills, Chaney made two somewhat disparaging references to the Knicks’ talent level.

Layden made two major offseason moves, trading away Latrell Sprewell for Keith Van Horn and signing free agent center Dikembe Mutombo.

Van Horn has struggled with the Knicks, shooting below 40 percent from the field and getting benched for the fourth quarters of several recent games.

Mutombo’s minutes have varied based upon the matchups different opponents present, yet Chaney has stuck with him as the starter while demoting Kurt Thomas to a backup role – a move that angered Thomas.

Chaney also has made constant changes to his point guard rotation, replacing Charlie Ward with Howard Eisley as the starter but then using either of the two – or third-stringer Frank Williams – during fourth quarters.

“I work extremely hard, I put a lot of hours in, I lose a lot of sleep and when I wake up the next day I’m very, very, very pleased with myself because I know I’ve done my job. Now, whether it turns into winning, I can’t control that,” Chaney said.

“If I weren’t working hard and doing the best I could then I would be concerned, but I know inside I’m happy with myself because my teams are prepared as well as they can be prepared.”