Report: Hawks GM Wants to Fire Woodson

[bumpyphish1]

Let me first just ask: Who has been behind BK all along? I have always seen that twinkle in his eye and known he was the real deal. Hail, Hawks fans, there's no way Woody can survive this, right?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArUs...ov=st&type=lgns

Report: Hawks GM wants to fire Woodson

2 hours, 41 minutes ago

ATLANTA (TICKER) —Mike Woodson’s days as coach of the Atlanta Hawks could be numbered if general manager Billy Knight has his way.

According to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday, Knight wanted to fire Woodson during the NBA’s All-Star weekend and replace him with assistant Larry Drew.

However, Knight’s wishes were put to rest due to the support from owners of the franchise, but reasons why Atlanta decided to keep Woodson remain unanswered.

“We wouldn’t get into that publicly,” said Michael Gearon Jr., one of the Hawks owners “And no one is more private in these matters than Billy.”

Later Thursday night, the newspaper pulled the story from the web site for unknown reasons.

This was not the first time that Knight tried to get rid of Woodson, who has yet to record a winning season since taking over the club in July of 2004, according to the report.

But Woodson, who owns a 91-209 record in Atlanta, claims that he has never been approached about being fired.

“I’m the coach of this team until someone tells me otherwise,” Woodson told the newspaper Thursday. “I’m going to get these guys ready to play and we’re going to keep plugging away at this playoff chase. Because we’re right there.”

With a young and experienced club, expectations took a dramatic jump for Woodson when the Hawks acquired veteran guard Mike Bibby from the Sacramento Kings on February 16.

“It’s been kind of hard to ignore all the talk because you know in a situation when you’re not winning a lot, somebody always has to go, and unfortunately it’s usually the coach,” Hawks All-Star guard Joe Johnson said. “With that being said, I think everyone agrees that getting Mike in that trade certainly helps us.”

Atlanta (23-32) currently sits one game behind the New Jersey Nets for the eighth and final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks haven’t appeared in the playoffs in eight campaigns - the longest drought in the league.

The Hawks will host the New York Knicks at Philips Arena on Friday.

[NJHAWK]

Yeah we have been talking about this all day. I dont know what is stranger, the whole situation with BK/WOODY AND ASG or the fact that the story was posted in the ajc, then taken down, then posted again only to be taken down again. weird

[DJlaysitup]

It's a one paper town - the worst of the worst as far as reporting goes.

Take a town like Denver - Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News - they work to get stories and try to beat each other out....AJC is just a....... One paper town.

[Hawk88]

I think tonight is a must win for Woody, so I might be pulling for the Knick tonight as bad as that will be. If the Hawks don't start a roll starting tonight, I think he will be gone and Drew will replace him.

Hawk88

[Atlantaholic]

Quote:

---

I think tonight is a must win for Woody, so I might be pulling for the Knick tonight as bad as that will be. If the Hawks don't start a roll starting tonight, I think he will be gone and Drew will replace him.

Hawk88

I don't know, he should have been gone after several losses... If he survived our 8-20 slide (which is just short of absolutely insane) he can survive a loss at the hand of the Knicks.

I hope you are right though

[TheDude]

I find interesting that we have never heard a player defend Woodson's abilities as a coach. Even in this article Joe says that it's unfortunate but instead of defending woody, he says having Bibby will help.