New Sekou On Foul Management - CLASSIC WOODY

[Lascar78]

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Hawks won't let foul trouble take them out of game

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 04/10/08

Managing the minutes of his starters has been one of Hawks coach Mike Woodson's toughest tasks this season.

Early foul trouble to Al Horford or Josh Smith means Woodson has to maneuver his players to keep opposing defenses honest inside.

It happened Tuesday in Indiana. Horford picked up his second foul with the Hawks leading 20-18 with 5:46 left in the first quarter.

Woodson sat him and the next time he saw the floor, at the start of the second half, the Hawks had been outscored 49-32. They trailed by what turned out to be an insurmountable 15 points.

So don't expect Woodson to yank his starters at the first sign of trouble Friday night in New York. There's too much on the line for the Hawks. They need to do whatever it takes to win and hold off Indiana for the eighth and final Eastern Conference postseason berth. The Hawks lead Indiana by two games with four to play, but the Pacers have the tie-breaker advantage.

"Certainly, if you take him out, you have to bring him back at the seven- or eight-minute mark of the second quarter [rather than sitting him out until the third quarter]," Woodson said. "A lot of it depends on the situation in the game. When Al got his second Tuesday night it was still a back-and-forth game.

"But he came out and then they just took off. We couldn't even get out of the first quarter, so you don't want to risk that again going into the third quarter."

Horford's impact on the game, a 29-point blowout before a late Hawks rally, was non-existent. He finished with four points and five rebounds in under 20 minutes, an unacceptable performance for one of the Hawks' most important players.

"We can't dwell on what might have been," Horford said. "It's too late in the season for that. But I agree that we have to start playing through whatever comes up, whether it's foul trouble or anything else. After you sit that long it's tough to come back into that type of game in any kind of rhythm.

"I know I felt out of it at the start of the second half. We were already down big and it wasn't easy trying to get back into the flow."

With little room for error, the Hawks can't even count on the schedule to help them now. A colossal disappointment for most of this season, the Knicks are playing some of their best basketball now. They've won three straight games and pose matchup problems.

The Hawks need to get point guard Mike Bibby going after three straight disappointing shooting efforts.

"Listen, the bottom line is that we've got to have a total team effort," Woodson said. "Everybody has to pitch in and do their part, starters and bench guys. No matter how many minutes you play, they have to be positive minutes.

"Getting Bibby going is a big part of that. And he's a veteran. He knows when he's not playing well. But just like when we [beat Philadelphia Saturday], he makes one or two key shots and we're good."

LINK

Vintage Woody. Years after the fans, Woody catches on. After a couple of years he realizes that maybe the young super athletic team should run. Now after 3-4 years he realizes that maybe a guy with 2 fouls early in the 1st shouldn'e be on the bench all the way until the 2nd half. Better late than never. I guess. Again.

His quotes don't even make sense. You want to make sure you don't have to sit Al in the 3rd because we're getting lit up when he's out, so you leave him out for the rest of the 1st, and the entire 2nd quarter while the Pacers' lead balloons to an insurmountable amount?

I'm trying to ignore Woody's ineptitude to enjoy the playoff run as a fan, but he sure makes it hard.

[CrawDaddy]

We might not make the playoffs because of Woody. That might actually be better for us in the long run.

[Lascar78]

Yeah I used to feel that way. Now I think that regardless it is better for us to make the playoffs even though we will get smoked. The players need the experience. They need to get the burden of "longest playoff drought" off of their shoulders.

I do fear that Woody will be retained. But honestly, the messages we get from the ownership are so confusing, I have no idea if that is the case. Hell for all I know we could miss the playoffs, Gearon will plead for Woody, and he will still be here. I still think that there's a chance that most of the owners don't think much of Woody and just wanted to wait for the offseason when more coaches will be available and they don't have to pay 2 guys. If so, hopefully we make the playoffs, clean house, and get a new coach and possibly a new GM.

I think that playoffs are where coaching plays the biggest part, and Woody will make his ineptitude very clear unfortunately.

Who knows though.

[exodus]

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"A lot of it depends on the situation in the game. When Al got his second Tuesday night it was still a back-and-forth game.

"But he came out and then they just took off. We couldn't even get out of the first quarter, so you don't want to risk that again going into the third quarter."

Huh?

The fact that indy took of makes it MORE IMPERITIVE TO GET HORFORD BACK IN THE GAME. Zaza is a garbage can and we shouldn't risk our season on him. If you are going to lose you need to do it with the best players on the floor and Zaza isn't one of them.

I really have no idea what Woody is trying to say. I guess that is a good thing. If i understood the way he thinks that would probably be a bad sign about my mental health.

[Lascar78]

That's what I'm saying. Not to mention, you should pretty much play whichever way gives you the best chance to win every night, regardless of a playoff push. The only reason it would be different would be if he's saying he doesn't want to play Al too many minutes, but that is clearly NOT what he is saying. I am in eternal amazement at just how clueless he can be.

[DJlaysitup]

Woody is not a smart coach. He may be a helluva nice guy and a guy you would want for your neighbor - but as far as coaching NBA basketball teams - he isn't very good.

Of course let's not forget the real villian here in our "rebuilding" process - it's BK. BK has stunk the place up with his draft choices and acquisitions. To be as weak as we are in the paint 5-years in - is inexcusable. We have a rookie 4 playing starting 5 and a backup 5 (at best) spelling him. Solo was a typical BK "dream pick" who will get paid for 6 years and never do anything of note. BK hates 1's and 5's - the only reason we have Bibby is Woody and ASG. As odd as that sounds - they are smarter than BK - no large feat.

Bottom line - if BK hadn't got lucky and got the "no brainer" pick at 3 to get Horford - we would be talking tank now...ooops....except we have NO draft picks.

There comes a time when a guy like BK should get his walking papers - that time was 2 years ago.

[Lascar78]

I want BK to go too but he is not nearly as bad at his job as Woody is at his. Other than the Shelden pick, every move he's made can be understood (at the time), even the ones that are horrible in hindsight. He still has gotten gems in Smith (#17 obtained with Sheed's expirer) and Horford (#3). If Woody had done anything remotely that impressive in the coaching realm he would be significantly better.

Back to the topic at hand: on a nightly basis, Woody makes decisions that no other NBA coach would ever make, and for good reason. I have never seen such a horrible coach in the NBA. We've had very mediocre coaches in Stotts and Kruger in the recent past, but they look like Auerbach and Phil Jackson next to Woody.

[AHF]

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That's what I'm saying. Not to mention, you should pretty much play whichever way gives you the best chance to win every night, regardless of a playoff push. The only reason it would be different would be if he's saying he doesn't want to play Al too many minutes, but that is clearly NOT what he is saying. I am in eternal amazement at just how clueless he can be.

It blows my mind that he still has supporters. Like you noted earlier, it is incredible that 4 years into his tenure as coach he is still figuring things out literally years after the fanbase.

[Seano]

I take whatever Woody says with a huge grain of salt anymore. I don't know even that he realizes or thinks about what he's saying before saying it. I believe he's in full self-protect/self-defense mode at this point. He knows as well as anyone that his job security is contingent upon a playoff berth at the very least (Gearon himself said that at the end of last season in a radio interview, the transcript of which was posted on this board), and so that's Woody's sole focus. I think that would explain to a large extent Woody's screwy substitution patterns, and the fact that he's not doing anything much at all to develop his young players riding the bench. He's got to win now, so he can't really risk any developmental pains, and if winning now means riding his starters into the ground while leaving his bench woefully unprepared and underdeveloped, well then so be it.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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That's what I'm saying. Not to mention, you should pretty much play whichever way gives you the best chance to win every night, regardless of a playoff push. The only reason it would be different would be if he's saying he doesn't want to play Al too many minutes, but that is clearly NOT what he is saying. I am in eternal amazement at just how clueless he can be.

It blows my mind that he still has supporters. Like you noted earlier, it is incredible that 4 years into his tenure as coach he is still figuring things out literally years after the fanbase.

Woody should learn how to subs his players by playing NBA 2k8.

[Kimsey]

I feel very uncomfortable with Woody closing out the rest of this season.

Him leading the young squad into battle in the first round of the playoffs... *shutters*

[DJlaysitup]

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I want BK to go too but he is not nearly as bad at his job as Woody is at his...

I apologize for going off topic - but yes - BK is FAR worse that Woody. Woody is bad - real bad - but somebody hired him (BK)...and somebody took JC over Deng and somebody missed on a guy like Milsap and somebody skipped the best PG (when we needed one) and let this year's NBA MVP get away. The list can go on and on but you get the picture.

BK is the guy who has F*@#ed this franchise up. Nobody can put the total blame on Woody (a lousy coach)...because BK hired him.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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I want BK to go too but he is not nearly as bad at his job as Woody is at his...

I apologize for going off topic - but yes - BK is FAR worse that Woody. Woody is bad - real bad - but somebody hired him (BK)...and somebody took JC over Deng and somebody missed on a guy like Milsap and somebody skipped the best PG (when we needed one) and let this year's NBA MVP get away. The list can go on and on but you get the picture.

BK is the guy who has F*@#ed this franchise up. Nobody can put the total blame on Woody (a lousy coach)...because BK hired him.

At least he tried to correct his wrong doings (tried to fire Woody 3 times; Bibby trade)... unlike Woody who keeps doing what Woody does best.

And you wouldn't know if Milsap would've got minutes on Woody's team.

[DJlaysitup]

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I want BK to go too but he is not nearly as bad at his job as Woody is at his. Other than the Shelden pick, every move he's made can be understood (at the time).......

NO NO NO - GM's have to get it RIGHT. It's their F#@&^ng JOBS. That's it.

"Understanding the pick" is a joke - the smart guys win and the dumb guys lose.

[DJlaysitup]

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...And you wouldn't know if Milsap would've got minutes on Woody's team.

Well I do know one thing - as dumb as Woody is - he plays players who perform.

[Seano]

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Well I do know one thing - as dumb as Woody is - he plays players who perform.

Well.....the thing about that is, most players need playing time in order to be able to perform. You can't expect these young players ala Acie Law to be able to step right in and light up the night right away. Young players often struggle, but the only way to learn and improve is to keep playing, because there's nothing that beats live game competition as far as learning experiences go. That's what player development is all about, and it requires a measure of patience....and sometimes it takes awhile. But a coach has all season to do that, but Woody just doesn't. He lets these guys sit there and rot.

It's like they say when you bench a baseball player who's riding a slump- you can't bust out of your slump by sitting there on the bench. The way to break out of it is to continue playing, and eventually you'll start hitting again. It's the same principle. Woody's supposed to be a teacher, so he's got to make more of an effort to bring these young players along.

[frosgrim]

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I want BK to go too but he is not nearly as bad at his job as Woody is at his. Other than the Shelden pick, every move he's made can be understood (at the time).......

NO NO NO - GM's have to get it RIGHT. It's their F#@&^ng JOBS. That's it.

"Understanding the pick" is a joke - the smart guys win and the dumb guys lose.

I really don't see how we can accurately seperate the two of them. The mistakes of one are compounded by the mistakes of the other. BK gets players he likes, Woodson mis-manages them. Woodson asks for players, BK gets them, and then Woodson doesn't play them.

Woodson is a complete FUBAR as a coach. BK is close behind as a GM. The one pass I give BK is that his hands have been tied by ownership on several occasions. I strongly believe that Al Harrington would have been traded to GS for Murphy and Monta Ellis a couple of years ago. Ellis would have been the PG for the Hawks, and we would have been further along. Of course if that trade had gone down we probably wouldn't have Al Horford...

At any rate, a clean slate of team management is clearly needed for the Hawks.

[Lascar78]

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I want BK to go too but he is not nearly as bad at his job as Woody is at his...

I apologize for going off topic - but yes - BK is FAR worse that Woody. Woody is bad - real bad - but somebody hired him (BK)...

It seems that you are arguing that BK is more responsible for our problems than Woody is. And I might agree. But that's a separate argument from who is worse at their jobs. I would give Woody an D- or an F, and BK a C. The fact that the GM is a more important position (and hires the coach) is a separate issue.

Again, BK may deserve a bigger piece of the blame for our woes, but Woody is clearly more incompetent at his job, and it isn't close.

Also, as far as the Childress pick, he did blow it, but I like to look at it this way: if he had found a way to get Smith at 6 and Chill at 17 he would be looked at as a genius on that draft in retrospect. Smith is arguably top 3 from that draft, and Chill is definitely top 10. When you get that talent out of a 6 and a 17, you didn't do bad, even if luck was involved. And if all you're looking at is the results (and not the reasoning behind the picks) - which seems to be your attitude - then I'd say he did pretty damn well. If he takes Iguodala, Smith might not be there at 17, you never know.

[DJ_Money]

I can't even fathom the types of thoughts and/or ideas that are floating about inside Woodson's head...

[Packfill]

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I want BK to go too but he is not nearly as bad at his job as Woody is at his. Other than the Shelden pick, every move he's made can be understood (at the time).......

NO NO NO - GM's have to get it RIGHT. It's their F#@&^ng JOBS. That's it.

"Understanding the pick" is a joke - the smart guys win and the dumb guys lose.

I really don't see how we can accurately seperate the two of them. The mistakes of one are compounded by the mistakes of the other. BK gets players he likes, Woodson mis-manages them. Woodson asks for players, BK gets them, and then Woodson doesn't play them.

Woodson is a complete FUBAR as a coach. BK is close behind as a GM. The one pass I give BK is that his hands have been tied by ownership on several occasions. I strongly believe that Al Harrington would have been traded to GS for Murphy and Monta Ellis a couple of years ago. Ellis would have been the PG for the Hawks, and we would have been further along. Of course if that trade had gone down we probably wouldn't have Al Horford...

At any rate, a clean slate of team management is clearly needed for the Hawks.

Agreed.

Let us all not forget that it was BK who hired Woody in the first place, and it its BK that has a track record of hiring two of the worst coaches in NBA history. It goes without saying that BK should not be involved in hiring the next coach of the Atlanta Hawks.