Woody is trying to emulate the offense that Larry Brown had in Detroit. Is he doing a good job of it, hell no (lol). He wants to run a half-court offense through Joe Johnson. The problem with that is Atlanta has no deadly outside shooters, so when Joe penetrates, who’s he gonna dish to? Marvin? J-Smoove? Bibby came to the team towards the end of the year but he’s streaky. The Hawks need a shooter who can consistenly make the open shot, whether it’s a three or 18-footer.

The Hawks tend to start off the game shooting jumpers instead of penetrating and kicking the ball out. I think that’s because they didn’t have a true point-guard. And being that Joe Johnson was the only viable threat on the team before Bibby’s arrival, teams would double him and dare Marvin and Josh to beat them. But now, with Bibby here for an entire season and Al Horford becoming a force in the middle, they are now able to call more plays in an ‘inside-outside’ offense and free up some shooters. This way you don’t rely strictly on jump shots in the beginning. But make no mistake about it, the Hawks need another shooter….someone like Heinrich with the Bulls.

Now i’m going to be honest here; I fully expected them to fire Woodson, even after the playoff run. I thought that if Woody got fired, they’d go after Avery. I think Flip Saunders has had his best chances to win a title and after getting to the ECF with the best starting five in the league for 3 years, he just doesn’t have what it takes to get over the top.

….and no, it’s not wrong for you to want a better coach. I’m telling you that if Woody doesn’t get them into the 2nd round in ’09, i’ll be right with you screaming for him to be fired.

Peace

The guy is not the best coach in the league (by a long shot), but i don’t think he’s the worse either. I didn’t expect the Hawks to be competitive in Boston. To be honest, I expected the Celtics to take the Hawks in 5 (4-1). No one (and I mean absolutely no one) expected the Hawks to take the Celtics to seven games. Sure he’s made some questionable moves but what coach in this league haven’t made moves we’ve all questioned? Why did Phil Jackson sit Derek Fisher in the Finals after he was effecticve in talking the ball to the basket? Why did Doc Rivers at times sit Rondo and go with Sam Cassell instead of Eddie House, who proved he was more effective?

What Woody showed me in the playoffs is that if his team buys into what he’s trying to incorporate (play defense, move the ball around, take smart shots, be agressive), they can beat even the best of teams. However, if the team would rather take ill-advised threes(Josh Smith), play “lack-a-daisal” defense(Marvin Williams), and fear the home team(Marvin Williams, Zaza), then they’ll lose on the road like they did in the 1st round. That’s what I took from it. If you never give the system a chance, especially in the most trying of times, you won’t ever know whether or not it will work.

I’ve been watching the Hawks every since the days of Dan Roundfield. I’ve seen the good years and the bad years. I watch them every year, either on TV or at Phillips Arena. I won’t claim to be an expert on them but I did say that they would make the playoffs this year. And I won’t sit here and say Woody did a fantastic job, either. But I will say that he did the best he could with what he had. I’ll even say that he did better than anyone expected him to. But again, what coach what have done better if he was dealt the hand Woody was dealt? We’ll never know………..

BTW…..i’m not judging a coach on one playoff series. I’ve looked at what he’s done with what he’s been given by Billy Knight the past four years.

Peace!

You’re right, i just looked up his coaching career and he did just complete his 4th term. But in my opinion, he has utilized what he has had to work with. Now granted, it’s not much but i’m wondering who out there could’ve done better? As I said earlier, the team’s record improved every year and he got them to the playoffs last year.

All players are not going to get along with their coaches — that’s just the way it is. It’s called “clash of egos”. If the players know more than the coach does about what it takes to win in the NBA, then maybe the players should coach the team. Personally, I think it’s a matter of the players being “young” and full of you know what. I will agree that not all the players are buying into his system but most of them are. That was the same situation that happened between Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce. Doc couldn’t get Pierce to buy into his system UNTIL he got the missing pieces. This is what needs to happen in Atlanta — they need more pieces and I guarantee you that J-Smoove will buy into it. Winning cures everything.

It seems to me that they busted their asses for him during the playoffs, unless i’m missing something. And as for the two-year contract extension — it is what it is….you and I both know that. This is a business. If you don’t win NOW, you’re out the door. But if a coach don’t have all the pieces, why do people expect so much with so little? I cram to understand that.

Avery Johnson inherited a good team, so the expectations for him was indeed higher. Do i agree with his firing? No, I don’t but I think his situation was far different from Woody’s.

Like I said, i don’t know if Woody is the right guy or not but I think people are really being unfair to him. If the Hawks don’t make it into the second round next year, of course he’s gone. But at the same time, the GM need to get him the players to be successful and for the past 4 years the Hawks have failed to do that.

Sister, I feel your pain but with all due respect, i think you’re not being fair to Woody. He has just completed his 3rd year as the Hawks’ head coach, so he’s only had 3 yrs to get them out of the curse. In each of his first 3 season, their record improved and by year 3, he got them into the playoffs and took the Celtics to 7 games in the 1st round. Like mizz said, they have the youngest team in the league and for the 1st two years, they had little to zero talent.

Instead of placing the majority of the blame on the coach, why isn’t anyone blaming the GM who snuck out of Atlanta (Billy Knight) for his terrible draft picks? Now this is not to say that I think he’s the one coach out there who will get them to the NBA title — hell, that’s a crap shoot in itself. The jury is still out on that one. If he doesn’t make it to the 2nd round this year, he’s gone and I wouldn’t be mad about it either because he would have gotten his chance. But don’t expect the guy to win the NBA title with missing with what he currently has. That’s unfair.

Peace

I’m diggin’ everything you said about the Hawks & coach Woodson. People don’t seem to understand that he did the best he could with what he had. Billy Knight drafted the players he (Woody) was expected turn into miracles. I think he’s a pretty good coach and will do even better this upcoming season. If Josh Smith is going to continue to jack up ill-advised threes as opposed to working on his mid-range and low post game, then maybe he doesn’t need to be in the ATL. I hate to say it but it’s true.