Broussard blog on NBA Coaches...

[DJ_Money]

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Subpar

Mike Woodson -- Whether the underachieving Hawks make the playoffs or not, he should be gone. And he should take Billy "Who Needs Point Guards" Knight with him. Word is both are gone if the Hawks fail to reach the postseason.

You can read the rest here...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...broussard_chris

[exodus]

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Word is both are gone if the Hawks fail to reach the postseason.

They should both be gone even if they do make it.

[Admin]

Why? This is the first year (half year actually) that we have even been remotely close to a complete roster and it's still a roster full of kids. If we make the playoffs this year I would consider that a greatly improved season and enough to allow both of them to keep their jobs for another season.

[TheTruth]

No way. It's not so much the talent that has been the major problem (although it has been a big contributing factor), it's the fact that Woodson has done nothing to coach up the talent that he has had on the team. He still makes bad substitutions, and has not adequately developed some guys. Hell, he had Zaza starting over Horford at the beginning of the season. In large part, it took Zaza getting hurt to force Woodson to start Horford...

Now, when push comes to shove, Woodson tried to rely on Solomon Jones and Salim for good minutes. The problem is, by and large, they didn't do well because ever since they got here Woodson has done little to develop their games. It's no wonder they are largely inconsistent. He doesnt play either of them now, Jeremy Richardson doesnt get any PT, and Mario West (although I dont understand the love affair with him) gets his complimentary 28 seconds of PT every night. Go figure. He still leaves players on the bench too long, wont let players play with fouls (especially if they have two in the first half), hasn't established an identifiable style of play or system, hasn't done anything to corral Smoove and his insistence on taking long jumpers, yanks Acie out as soon as he makes a mistake, would play Lue wayy too much and then started that with Pachulia again, etc etc.

Whether we make the playoffs or not, both BK and Woodson have to go. We need a real coach in here who will correct the many egregious problems I described above.

[exodus]

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Why?

Because they both suck.

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This is the first year (half year actually) that we have even been remotely close to a complete roster

Which is BK's fault.

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If we make the playoffs this year I would consider that a greatly improved season and enough to allow both of them to keep their jobs for another season.

Making the playoffs in a historically weak conference isn't enough to outweigh the pathetic job performance that preceded it.

[oiatlhawksfan]

Billy should stay imo, Woody needs to go ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Admin]

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Because they both suck.

Very compelling argument Ex.

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Which is BK's fault.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. If the truth is ever known and it turns out that he had deals in place to get Calderon, Gasol, or Amare and it was ownership that balked would it still be BK's fault?

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Making the playoffs in a historically weak conference isn't enough to outweigh the pathetic job performance that preceded it.

If we back into the playoffs then yeah I would agree with you, but if we finish the season strong and play .500+ ball after the Bibby trade and we go into the playoffs and make some noise I would consider that a serious improvement.

[Nicholasp27]

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Billy should stay imo, Woody needs to go ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

qft

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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No way. It's not so much the talent that has been the major problem (although it has been a big contributing factor), it's the fact that Woodson has done nothing to coach up the talent that he has had on the team. He still makes bad substitutions, and has not adequately developed some guys. Hell, he had Zaza starting over Horford at the beginning of the season. In large part, it took Zaza getting hurt to force Woodson to start Horford...

Now, when push comes to shove, Woodson tried to rely on Solomon Jones and Salim for good minutes. The problem is, by and large, they didn't do well because ever since they got here Woodson has done little to develop their games. It's no wonder they are largely inconsistent. He doesnt play either of them now, Jeremy Richardson doesnt get any PT, and Mario West (although I dont understand the love affair with him) gets his complimentary 28 seconds of PT every night. Go figure. He still leaves players on the bench too long, wont let players play with fouls (especially if they have two in the first half), hasn't established an identifiable style of play or system, hasn't done anything to corral Smoove and his insistence on taking long jumpers, yanks Acie out as soon as he makes a mistake, would play Lue wayy too much and then started that with Pachulia again, etc etc.

Whether we make the playoffs or not, both BK and Woodson have to go. We need a real coach in here who will correct the many egregious problems I described above.

Some of you still don't get it. People can question Walter on whether our fan base overrate the talent of our main guys. But there is NO DOUBT that some of you overrate this bench.

And before I condemn anybody else, I have to condemn MYSELF for overrating the bench. Guys like Salim, Solo, West, and Jeremy would NEVER see consistent minutes off the bench off of ANY current playoff team. NOT A ONE.

Jeremy has consistently bounced around the league. Salim is too small to play the 2 and not skilled enough to play the 1. Solo is literally a hacking machine, if he doesn't get a weakside block. And West is nowhere near the defensive "stopper" that people make him out to be. Out of all of those guys, Salim is the only one that can possibly step in and make a solid contribution. And that's only if you pair him with the right group ( i.e. - play him alongside JJ ). He's a guy that you have to play alongside a playmaking big guard or small forward.

So to be totally honest, I don't blame Woody with going with 8 guys each night. Everybody can't play every night. Those bottom 4 guys should only see time if multiple guys in our core group are in foul trouble.

And if the 3 guys we do play off the bench ( Zaza, Chill, and Acie ) don't play well, then we're better off givng the starters heavy minutes. I like Acie, but Woody was exactly right in not playing him in the 2nd half of the Orlando game.

Development does NOT take precedence over winning games. Maybe in year 1 & 2 for Woody it did, but not now.

[AHF]

My reasons for absolutely not wanting Woodson back next year are pretty similar to TheTruth's post (minus the bit about Solomon, etc. having been wrongfully denied consistent minutes). The bottomline is that I don't think he has done a good job installing a system and maximizing the talent he has had at his disposal. 4 years into his tenure we still play whatever style the other team wants and I just can't accept that from my head coach.

[Atlantaholic]

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Why? This is the first year (half year actually) that we have even been remotely close to a complete roster and it's still a roster full of kids. If we make the playoffs this year I would consider that a greatly improved season and enough to allow both of them to keep their jobs for another season.

Give me a freaking break Dolfan... WHO THE HECK has a "complete" roster in the east?????

Toronto? (Bosh misses about half the year)

Cleveland? (HAHAHA)

Washington? (I'm pretty sure they haven't played a game with their starting roster since two years ago)

Orlando? (Jameer at PG yeah.)

Phila-freaking-delfia? (No PF, no SG, NO SHOOTERS AT ALL)

All those teams have performed better in the past, continue to perform better in the present, and will most likely perform better in the future... and it has nothing to do with the completeness of their roster

[Admin]

You can sit there and list mostly veteran teams all you want but you show me another team as young as the Hawks and don't give them an even decent PG or C and give them a head coach without much experience and then show me a list of teams. Could we or should we be better, yeah probably so, but it's damn hard to be successful in the NBA without a starting caliber PG or a superstar on your team.

[Atlantaholic]

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You can sit there and list mostly veteran teams all you want but you show me another team as young as the Hawks and don't give them an even decent PG or C and give them a head coach without much experience and then show me a list of teams.

Could we or should we be better, yeah probably so,

but it's damn hard to be successful in the NBA without a starting caliber PG or a superstar on your team.

Well, Portland is just as young, has less talent on paper and they are significantly better...

Regardless, the "youth" argument is absolutely baloney... There are like 15 teams in the league that are within ONE YEAR age difference of one another.

In our particular case we SHOULDN'T be playing like a young team considering that the only player on our starting 5 with less than three years of pro ball under their belt is Horford (who consequently is the only player that plays like a vet)

Josh Smith is a FOURTH year man... JJ IS A VET, Marvin is in his THIRD YEAR.... These players should be playing much smarter basketball at this stage... Either it is BK's fault for acquiring retards or it's Woodson's fault for not teaching them how to play intelligent basketball

Woodson may not be the worst coach ever (personally I think he is close, but I'll agree that it's debatable=.. but he is bad enough that we should be looking for a replacement... Same for BK.

Performance in Basketball, like very single other sport in the history of our planet, is judged by WINS... these are not arbitrary, subjective little units of measurement, they are objective forms of appreciating performance... Judged by the amount of WINS accumulated throughout the last five years, it is obvious that both BK and WOODY have not performed well enough to merit extensions... I don't see how this is debatable.

[Admin]

How many playoff games has Portland played in recently?

The question in this thread is if we make the playoffs should the current regime get new contracts. So obviously in your mind making the playoffs isn't enough, so what would be acceptable then? Do we have to get to the 2nd round? 3rd round? Win the finals?

[Kimsey]

Woody and staff are terrible at developing young talent on our team. Smith and to a certain extent Chilldress have improved despite of the coaching staff. Smith works with Nique and Hakeem to elevate his game. Chilldress was a four year player at good program with Stanford.

We need a coach with a guard background (preferably point) to help work and help develop our young talent. Look around the league at the successful coaches that have played guard in the league or college.

Horford is coming in playing like a veteran but he has been bred at a program that has prepared him to work hard and become a champion.

Billy Donovan as new Atlanta Hawks coach. Make that happen ASG.

[TheTruth]

Although I share some of the same sentiments you do, there is no any team, much less the Hawks, touch Billy Donovan after he bailed out on the Magic like he did before the season...at least for a few years anyway. Plus, he is a college coach. If we rightly fire Woodson, his replacement needs to be an NBA coach with at least some prior experience. No more of this assistant-turned-head coach stuff. We need an experienced coach to help get over the hump (along with new GM, new owners, adepth at Center, more productive bench, etc. etc.)

[Atlantaholic]

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How many playoff games has Portland played in recently?

The question in this thread is if we make the playoffs should the current regime get new contracts. So obviously in your mind making the playoffs isn't enough, so what would be acceptable then? Do we have to get to the 2nd round? 3rd round? Win the finals?

Having a freaking WINNING record would be a start.

[thefloydian]

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How many playoff games has Portland played in recently?

The question in this thread is if we make the playoffs should the current regime get new contracts. So obviously in your mind making the playoffs isn't enough, so what would be acceptable then? Do we have to get to the 2nd round? 3rd round? Win the finals?

Being the 8th seed in the weakest conference the NBA has ever seen is not something that should save a coach from being fired.

[Wretch]

I've been calling for Woodson's head for about a year and a half... I don't believe that he's a bad coach. He is simply either a) not HEAD coaching material or b) not the right coach for this team. Something is wrong with the way these guys are up and down. For validation, look no further than the players who have never gone out of their way to defend him. They take the blame, as they should, as players...but you don't hear them coming to his defense. Regardless of what the issue with our coaching is...it is time for the coaching cycle to blow through this team. It's just damn time...

On another note, everytime we play the Pistons...those guys always come down and shake his hand for what he did for them in Detroit. He's respected for something...

As far as BK goes, I've really not changed my opinion of him since day one. He takes as many steps backwards as forward... Though, having lived through the nightmare of Babcock (and watched other GMs absolutely devastate teams), I can say with confidence that he's not the worst. Lots of people want to burn him over his drafting mistakes; however, I remember only a handful of posters that were actually supporting drafting the players he passed over - and I rarely hear any of them calling for BK's head.

As I said before the season though, this is it for BK. I'll phone in a stay of execution if we make the playoffs. I like the Bibby deal and we'll see what happens in the off season.