Terrance Moore article on Woody and Gearon

[NJHAWK]

It just popped up on ajc.com if anybody is intersted. Pretty much states that Woody never complains and now he has a team so lets see what he can do with it.

[bumpyphish1]

link?

[exodus]

Bibby’s a gift to Woodson

By Terence Moore | Monday, February 18, 2008, 07:23 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Terence Moore Nothing against the six, nine, 387 or whatever number of other Hawks owners comprising Atlanta Spirit, LLC, but this franchise would be so much better with just the Gearons in charge.

Once again, Michael Gearon Sr., the insightful father, got it exactly right when discussing the present and the future of the Hawks. They just became significant, or beyond that, after swapping virtually nothing for Mike Bibby, a real point guard with credentials and more than a little zip left in his 29-year-old legs.

“I think everybody on our staff wants to see how we’re going to play when you put a guy out there who can really run a team, because that’s what we haven’t had,” said Gearon, who has spent three decades with the Hawks as everything from GM, president, chairman of the board to NBA governor. “But, listen. I don’t think it matters what moves you make. Fans just want to see one thing, and that is, what you do on the floor.”

To put it bluntly, Hawks coach Mike Woodson has to win.

Like now.

“You know, how does Ted Turner race when he doesn’t have a really great boat? Well, now you’ve got a good boat. You’ve got the pieces. I think now Mike has a team,” said Gearon, referring to Woodson, a career NBA assistant before joining the Hawks. He spent his three seasons in Atlanta before this one winning just 28 percent of the time courtesy of a young and flawed roster.

Even so, Woodson has impressed in several ways. First, he has ignored the whining among players over his supposedly demanding ways. “If they think this guy is tough, they should have been around when Hubie Brown and Mike Fratello were coaching here,” said Gearon, chuckling, before adding, “All of that [whining] by players means nothing to me.” Here’s what matters more to Gearon: The next time Woodson complains about his plight with the Hawks will be the first.

We’re talking about a screwy ownership situation, where one owner is suing the others for control of the team, and where the general manager has made bizarre moves and non-moves. “The guy never complains, never knocks a player in private conversations, never says a negative word about Billy [general manager Billy Knight], the owners, the players, anybody,” Gearon said of Woodson. “Any coach who came in here was going to lose games. Mike had a kid who was right out of high school [Josh Smith], and another who spent just a year in college [Marvin Williams].

“The Bulls, in their rebuilding process, they just kept churning guys. Elton Brand. Ron Artest. Tyson Chandler. We didn’t churn anybody. We had the guts to sweat it out and not panic.”

So much for the past. As for the Hawks’ present and future, Gearon expects results, which he should. Which means Woodson has to produce in a hurry. Which means his fate will depend on whether the Hawks spend their last 33 games ending the distinction of having the NBA’s longest current streak for a team missing the playoffs at eight seasons.

With Bibby, the Hawks aren’t so young and flawed anymore. He is a real point guard for a franchise that kept ignoring such a thing (Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Mike Conley Jr.) in the draft. If you add Bibby to All-Star Joe Johnson, along with the athletic and capable likes of Marvin Williams, Al Horford and the two Joshes (Smith and Childress), the Hawks suddenly are competitive in the wobbly Eastern Conference. Their 21-28 record puts them just 2 1/2 games from the sixth playoff spot, which they would prefer. You can make the postseason as the seventh- and eighth-place teams. It’s just that you’d get the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons, the only monsters in the conference.

Even with Bibby, the Hawks aren’t ready to slay a Goliath in the playoffs, but this gets them closer to a slingshot.

“This is his opportunity,” Gearon said of Woodson. “It’s something that he deserves, and he finally got it.”

Or he’ll quickly get it.

Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Hawks / NBA, Terence Moore

[MikeWilksBooth]

I refuse to read Terror Moore. Is it worth reading??? Somebody test the food to make sure it's not poisoned

[mattlanta]

Quote:

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I refuse to read Terror Moore. Is it worth reading??? Somebody test the food to make sure it's not poisoned

Ditto.

[mrhonline]

It's bearable.

[Lacsho]

WOW!! He actually wrote a decent article.

[Final_quest]

There is very little opinion in this article. Pretty harmless. Worth reading just for the quotes in it from Gearon.

[frosgrim]

Every now and then TM writes a good article. Sometimes he makes good sense. Other times TM just reports on an interview. This article is an interview with a few digs at the Hawks, esp. BK thrown in. Read the piece to see what Gearon Sr. says.

That said, TM on the majority of days is just a blow hard. He writes "controversial" stuff to get people talking. Its his thing.

[TheDude]

Yeah, Terrence blows...

but agree, this article is pretty nice actually...gearon says quite a bit honestly, heck even kind of digs on the Bulls a bit...seemed also like straight up talk by gearon.

dduuuuuuuuuudddddeeeee...I'm psyched.