Two year extension offered to Woodson

[cowa]

Just remember, Woodson might feel entitled to a raise, and we have no idea what the structure of the cotract looks like. Maybe it's a pay cut, and Woody will say no. We just don't know anything at this point besides he was offered a two year extension. Woody may see what other coaches ar making and say to hell with this job. You just never know until something is signed. Keep the faith!

[macdaddy]

I bet he's gone by midseason. They aren't going to change the players or the coach. They will get the same frustrating, inconsistent results. What's the definition of insanity again? trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

[Johann]

Quote:

---

Keep the faith!

ROFL

[Wretch]

Welcome to mediocrity. Get used to it because apparently this team has no intention of becoming relevant. We can only hope that the players figure out how to motivate themselves and get it done, because Mike Woodson does not.As for Rick Sund, I have no opinion. This move was pushed down from over his head.

[TheTrueSiete]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Keep the faith!

ROFL

No kidding... You know Woody is going to sign it... He has had one of the worst records coaching and still has a job? Idiots!

7

[DJ_Money]

Really happy that I declined to renew my season tickets. I feel bad for every person that bought into this only after the playoff run.This won't end well. With no coaching change and no real room to change the roster, there's no reason to believe in sigfinicant improvement.And I wouldn't shock me to see Smoove talk his way into a SNT, a la Joe.This is just fan-*bleeping*-tastic.

[DeacKillsaDevil]

It will be interesting to see if he can produce wins with something closer to a real roster next year. Remember he hasn't had a legitimate point guard or big man for most of his tenure with the Hawks. Now, we'll have Horford and Bibby for at least one full season. Also, hopefully, Law can stay healthy and develop.

[DeacKillsaDevil]

Quote:

---

w...t...f...I'd rather have avery or flipit's a 2 way street

[TheTruth]

This is HORRIBLE news. Great, another year of excuse-filled underachieving. With quality coaches out there, it is a downright sin that we did not at least INTERVIEW other coaches. I could have lived with a one year extension (that Woodson likely would have rebuffed), but TWO effin years? Sadly, supporters of this new contract will champion our taking Boston to 7 games and using that as a tangential, and sometimes central, argument to justify the new contract. Being a fan of the team means wanting the very best for the team...and I make no apologies--Woodson is NOT what is best for the team.

[skyhawk]

Quote:

---

WTF? ridiculous.....i don't care what we did in the playoffs...noone can tell me that Mike Woodson is a better coach than Avery Johnson or Flip Saunders...which tells me they dont care about getting the best possible coach or maximizing their potential..It's mind boggling that people on this board consider Avery Johnson as an upgrade. He's a horrible coach who made bad move after bad move last year, his players didn't like him and he got schooled big time by Pat Riley in the finals. He's a product of the media which should be very obvious...how many interviews did he rack up this year?As for Flip Saunders - who couldn't win with Detroit's team. Dumars didn't let him go for a reason.

[TheTrueSiete]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

w...t...f...I'd rather have avery or flipit's a 2 way streetExactly... 1 way (Woody) leads to inconsistency and mediocrity, and the other way is uncharted because we will never know what it's like to have a winning coach with these bumbling morons upstairs!7

[prolikewhoa]

Sund!!! You n00b!!!! Listen to the fans!! We've suffered through this crap!!! Hire anyone!!! Right now I'd be happy with Alan Henderson as head coach! How about Isiah Rider?

[TheTrueSiete]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

WTF? ridiculous.....i don't care what we did in the playoffs...noone can tell me that Mike Woodson is a better coach than Avery Johnson or Flip Saunders...which tells me they dont care about getting the best possible coach or maximizing their potential..

It's mind boggling that people on this board consider Avery Johnson as an upgrade. He's a horrible coach who made bad move after bad move last year, his players didn't like him and he got schooled big time by Pat Riley in the finals. He's a product of the media which should be very obvious...how many interviews did he rack up this year?

As for Flip Saunders - who couldn't win with Detroit's team. Dumars didn't let him go for a reason.

Here we go again with this nonsense! Honestly, man if you don't consider Avery or Flip an upgrade over Woody, I feel extremely sorry for you.... You need to watch more Hawk games!

7

[HawkItus]

Honestly, as a Hawks fan I'm realistic. If I was a good coach would I come here? No. If I'm Flip or Avery coming from the rosters they just oversaw, I'm looking at the Hawks with no pick this year and thinking, I can't do better than what I just did with this roster. And what I just did got me fired. I'd wait until maybe Portland is looking for a coach or Orlando etc. I'm not risking my career on this team with this ownership. If I'm an up and coming assistant I pass on this job. That leaves us with a mediocre retread or an unknown 1st timer. In that scenario I'm okay with giving the Devil I know a little more time.

[oiatlhawksfan]

This is not good, back to go "WTF are you doing Woody"!?!?

[Johann]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Keep the faith!

ROFL

No kidding... You know Woody is going to sign it...

Haha yeah he'll sign it. But I wasn't making fun in any way of what Cowa said - I was applauding the post, which I think is really funny

[Traceman]

I figured they would offer him a two year extension at a number they can buy out if he doesn't get it done. I suspect he will get a small raise from his salary last year. IF they were going to bring him back, it only made sense to do so if they gave him more than one year. Putting him in "lame duck" status would not have been fair to him or the players. Like I said before, I'm pretty neutral on bringing Woody back. Time will tell if this is the right move. If the players want him back, it very well COULD be. I think players make MUCH more of a difference than coaches at the NBA level anyway. Coaches can have all the basketball knowledge in the world but if the players tune them out (Brown, Riley, Skiles, Carlisle, etc), it won't matter. That said, if the players DON'T want him back, it won't take long to see it. Things will likely go down hill pretty quick. If Woody accepts this offer (he still might not if he wants more years) and Sund can get the Joshes resigned without giving up any of our core, I will still be VERY happy.

[AHF]

Quote:

---

Obviously this raises issues. Did Sund really make the decision or is the ASG pulling the strings?If Sund did make this decision on his own then that raises questions about his judgement considering how many coaches were available. I certainly didn't hear of any other coaches being interviewed.Agreed. And ugh. I have zero hope that Woodson will reject this. I can't imagine another team giving him a head coaching job.I hate reading something that almost makes me regret that the Hawks had an exciting playoff series with the Celtics instead of another year missing the playoffs.

[oiatlhawksfan]

When you think about it, Mike Woodson is the person who knows his players the best, not the Billy is gone.

[sturt]

Quote:

---

He has had one of the worst records coaching and still has a job? Idiots!

It's this kind of shallow logic that really makes me shake my head in disbelief.

OF COURSE a coach is going to have one of the worst records coaching when he signs on with a team at the launch of a total re-build.

Bill Fitch labored in futility for years with a young Cavaliers franchise that couldn't seem to get out of the league basement. Next thing you know, he gets hired by Red Auerbach, and the man becomes a coaching genius.

There are plenty of things to criticize Woody for, but this isn't one of them. Where coaching is concerned, numbers tell us nothing by themselves.

Same is true of GIVING Woody CREDIT for increasing the win total from year to year.

It's a re-build, so showing a trend toward winning isn't enough to be meaningful.

Evaluating Woody is more about coaching philosophy and player development. Those are grayer areas because, with such a young team, part of their improvement can be explained as the natural physical and mental advancement of young players... how much is that and how much is the coach is a subjective task.

To decide whether or not to keep Woody, Sund needed to dig a little more than the average Hawksquawk Joe.

Did he do that? And even if he did, is his judgment sound?

The best you or I can say is "I don't know. But given his longevity and the respect he has around the league, one should be able to hope that they can give him a benefit of a doubt."

It's always energizing to see a coaching change.

But having said that, personally, I don't think there was one right or one wrong decision here... for all of the advocacy of Avery Johnson and Flip Saunders, the measure of coaching is much more than simply W/L records. Those guys had a playoff-proven roster to work with, but in the end didn't satisfy their employers that they were making the end-product better by their work... not saying that hiring one of them wouldn't have had its merits, but just that there's no slam-dunk-obvious decision to make here given the pool of candidates.