It ain't the coach !!

[Gray Mule]

News flash: It's not Woody who is to blame!

Read the statements from the Hawks players. "When we

began to follow the game play, things went right."

The players admit it. There was a game plan. They had

been told. They just didn't pay attention. They didn't

follow the defensive play. They didn't execute the

planned offense correctly. At half time, the results

of not doing what they had been taught was obvious.

"Fire Woody." That's our normal reaction any time things

go wrong. It's easier to blame one individual, Woody,

than the entire Hawk team.

We all seem to be on the same page when we say, Woody

is not a great coach. We love to blame him for all

the ills of the team. He' like all of us humans, has

his faults. No doubt about that.

All this being said, the terrible play of this year's

Hawk team that we have observed in the last two games,

both wins on the road, was not Woody's fault. The

responsibility rests squarely on the players.

Let me share with you an old country boy story to

illustrate my point:

TWO FARMERS AND A MULE

Seems a farmer had this mule for sale. The mule was a

fine looking animal and he assured his neighbor, who

was buying the mule that he was a hard worker.

The purchaser, when he began to work the mule, couldn't

get him to do anything, wherein he called his former

owner over for an explanation.

When the former owner arrived, he walked up to the mule,

picked up a 2 x 4 and hit the mule squarely between

the eyes, knocking the mule to his knees.

"What are you doing!" the horrified new owner inquired.

"Are you trying to kill my mule?"

No, replied the former owner. To get this mule to work

properly, first you have to get his attention.

---------------------------------------------------------

This Hawk team has been taught how to play this game.

Apparently, at halftime Woody got their attention.

They came back out against the Timberwolves and did

what they knew how to do and didn't do in the first

half.

Many things we can blame on Woody. He's far from

perfect as we all know. This one we can't blame

on him. It was the team, not the coach.

[DrReality]

Sekou's article today supports this.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h...hawks_1126.html

Marvin saying it is a matter of focus. And the way a young team develops this is to do it for short periods until they can sustain it. Detroit, Spurs, etc know how to do it, especially when it comes the the fourth quarter.

I think our guys are on a normal learning curve. The issue is can they sustain it and is Woody the guy to help them develop this. I don't think so?

[Gambit99]

If you don't mind I'm currently writing a fitness book and I'd like to use that story (of course I'll give you the credit as my source for the story, except I don't know your name, so I'll use graymule from hawksquawk.net). Hell I need to keep a 2x4 in my gym!

[DrReality]

Good story, but the 2 x 4 you use with athletes is respect. If they respect the coach that's the stick he hits them with. I just don't see that respect being held by Woody. It's got to be earned, not given.

[Hawk88]

NEWS FLASH

IT IS THE COACH!!!!!!!!!!!

An uproven coach like Woody is not the answer for this young team.

The problem is with this screwed up Ownership it will be tough to get a good coach in to replace him.

[jerrywest]

Nothing new here. We always knew that Woody is a competant assistant coach with his Mantra of "defense & rebounds".

He is incapable of creating a cohesive offensive system. You can't play chess when your brain is wired for tic-tac-toe.

[gsuteke]

quote:

"We were missing shots and they were making shots and that's a bad combination."

[exodus]

Quote:

---

quote:

"We were missing shots and they were making shots and that's a bad combination."

---

Looks like Woody gets the Captain Obvious Award for the day.

I like this zinger from Sekou

"Hearing the Hawks talk about winning formulas on the road is suspect, considering they just snapped a 17 game road losing streak."

[macdaddy]

I like to say: Whether its the coaches fault or the players fault its the coaches fault.

If we don't have the talent then the coach can't fix that. but if the players aren't playing as well as they should? well that's what the coach is for. If its just the players then coaches wouldn't get paid so much.

Woody seems like a good guy and I don't really root for anyone to get fired. But at some point you have to figure out if a change would help.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Gray, it's been pretty obvious to me for the past 2 years, that both players and coaches have to take responsibility for what is going on here. Add the GM to that mix as well.

Most people want the Hawks to be something that they're not . . a "pretty-playing" uptempo team, that can use their athleticism to score on anybody. We don't shoot the ball well enough to play like that. We don't have the shooters that a Phoenix, a Golden St, hell . . even a Milwaukee has. For us to even start thinking about playing fast, we have to DEFEND first. And the sub-element to that, is securing REBOUNDS.

The fan base is a reflection of how the players think about the game. They want to play fast, but they don't want to put in the work on the defensive end the entire game, to play like that. They want to eat the cake, but they don't want to bake it.

It's funny though. People can constantly point out the flaws of the individual veteran players on this team:

- JJ takes too many jumpers when cold, and almost refuses to drive the ball to the hole to draw fouls.

- Marvin, while playinig better, still isn't aggressive enough on the offensive end.

- Smoove takes too many jumpshots that he knows that he can't make and tries to do too much.

- Lue dribbles out the clock, then tries to make a play with 5 seconds left . . which usually ends up in an ineffective play.

- Shelden, for whatever reason, isn't doing the dirty work we need him to do.

- ZaZa still tries to do everything one on one, and doesn't make an effort to defend.

- AJ is too old and slow to effectively run the team.

- Childress fades in and out with his aggressiveness, and needs to be completely wide open to make a jumper.

Yet, with all of these things that you can point out with individual players, the blame almost ALWAYS goes on Woody. I guess the mindset is that a good coach can get these guys to stop doing these things. Well, look at the Knicks. Larry Brown, the supposed "miracle worker of NBA coaches", couldn't get that bunch to do what he wanted on the defensive end, and look where they ended up. And this is why I've always maintained that Woody is an AVERAGE coach, not a good, nor a bad coach.

It's obvious that when you watch the Hawks, that a lot of these guys get into "comfort zones" that they don't want to get out of. It seems as if that the light comes on, only when they get behind. That's when you see the defensive pressure pick up. That's when you see everybody crashing the boards. That's when you see everybody trying to get to the hole to either get a lay-up, or get to the line.

That's what Woodson preaches to these guys on a nightly basis. But they just don't follow what he says all the time, because that takes them out of their comfort zones as a player. JJ's nature isn't to become a slasher that shoots both jumpers and get to the hole. Smoove's nature isn't to mix it up on the inside with the big boys. Marvin's nature isn't to drive the ball to the hole. But that's what they have to do, in order to become more consistent and win games.

The greatest coach in women's basketball history, Pat Summitt, agrees with Woody. If you want to win, you have to rebound and defend FIRST. If you do that, you'll create easier offensive opportunities for yourself that will make the game easier.

[AnnArborHawk]

Northcyde, I agree with you 100%. You have to hold players accountable, but at what point do you hold a coach accountable for the players not listening to him.

I agree Woody is probably an average coach. Unfortunately, while not fair for him, I think a change in regime may be what's needed for the players to start listening. After 4 years, it becomes "the same old thing" and while Woody may be right about those things, he may need to find a new way to engage these guys in the ideas of defense and rebounding, or make way for someone who can.