Rick Sund on 790

[GameTime]

Hey, Woody may even surprise us with an actual OFFENSE next season. Stranger things have happened.

So you think Woody was just playing possum for the last 4 + years and is gonna become a genius his final year? I doubt it. Sund's first mistake in the offseason. He's not looking any better than BK so far. YAY for mediocrity next year!

Edited May 19, 2009 by GameTime

[Dsinner]

Just think Woodson is always coaching like it's his last season and he has to save his job. Well, this will be his last season (again) so you can expect Joe to receive heavy mins with a 7 man rotation. Hopefully he doesn't do anything detrimental to the team that will last beyond next year.

[mrhonline]

So you think Woody was just playing possum for the last 4 + years and is gonna become a genius his final year? I doubt it. Sund's first mistake in the offseason. He's not looking any better than BK so far. YAY for mediocrity next year!

Knight "resigned' not long after the story came out that he wanted Woodson fired.

How can we be sure that the Hawks' GM has the power to fire a coach?

Edited May 19, 2009 by mrhonline

[Sothron]

Knight "re-signed' not long after the story came out that he wanted Woodson fired.

How can we be sure that the Hawks' GM has the power to fire a coach?

I would have to say that its pretty obvious the GM has no power to do that. BK got slapped down when he wanted to fire Woody now Sund has already stated he's coming back. Its all about that cheap contract Woody has and the fact the Spirit do not want to pay another coach.

[frosgrim]

Just think Woodson is always coaching like it's his last season and he has to save his job. Well, this will be his last season (again) so you can expect Joe to receive heavy mins with a 7 man rotation. Hopefully he doesn't do anything detrimental to the team that will last beyond next year.

This is going to be a huge problem for the Hawks. JJ may play 44 minutes a game after January.

The only way the ASG can salvage this is just give Woodson a real contract. If he's your coach, then make him your coach. Give him a five year deal so maybe he will coach for the long term instead of treating every game as if his livelyhood depended upon winning. Woodson could really learn something by watching how Popovich and Sloan manage their players throughout the season. You can loose a game and end up winning two down the road by keeping players fresh, and giving your bench playing time to develop.

[00Blink]

Exactly. Why whine about something you KNEW was going to happen? However, he could always get fired mid-season for poor performance. I'm not saying that I want to see anybody get fired, I'm just putting it out there. But I don't see Woodson's coaching as something that will stop me from supporting this team. I think we will be even better next season as our players continue to improve. Hey, Woody may even surprise us with an actual OFFENSE next season. Stranger things have happened.

True!! Notice that I stated I would become an armchair GM. I'm not a season tix holder but I ALWAYS make like at least 15-20 games. And even more in recent years. I would just stay home for the entire season and watch from home.

[MaceCase]

So you think Woody was just playing possum for the last 4 + years and is gonna become a genius his final year? I doubt it. Sund's first mistake in the offseason. He's not looking any better than BK so far. YAY for mediocrity next year!

Who's to say that the recent media attention that the HAwks have been getting from our playoff runs doesn't make Woody bashful enough to change focus. It's not just that he's in his last year of his contract here, but he is fighting for his future in the league now. Outsiders looking in may have once just thought how could he win given the talent he has but now that they see we are actually very talented they may come to the conclusion that we are winning in spite of him. I feel he may come out and put a stamp on this upcoming season, I doubt his resume can withstand anymore criticism that other coaches who work in the media have levied on him.

[hawkman]

Who's to say that the recent media attention that the HAwks have been getting from our playoff runs doesn't make Woody bashful enough to change focus. It's not just that he's in his last year of his contract here, but he is fighting for his future in the league now. Outsiders looking in may have once just thought how could he win given the talent he has but now that they see we are actually very talented they may come to the conclusion that we are winning in spite of him. I feel he may come out and put a stamp on this upcoming season, I doubt his resume can withstand anymore criticism that other coaches who work in the media have levied on him.

Those are actually good points that I hadn't thought of. The media was pretty hard on our so called offense during the postseason. That increased visibility and scrutiny may help us in a way we never thought possible: It could make Woody a better coach by forcing him to either address our dismal offense or bring an assistant in who can come up with some competent plays.

[coachx]

Who's to say that the recent media attention that the HAwks have been getting from our playoff runs doesn't make Woody bashful enough to change focus. It's not just that he's in his last year of his contract here, but he is fighting for his future in the league now. Outsiders looking in may have once just thought how could he win given the talent he has but now that they see we are actually very talented they may come to the conclusion that we are winning in spite of him. I feel he may come out and put a stamp on this upcoming season, I doubt his resume can withstand anymore criticism that other coaches who work in the media have levied on him.

Excellent points !

He took a major bashing on national television for the teams poor (or lack of) offensive philosophy throughout the playoffs. Maybe that makes him focus on his area of weakness and trust or allow assistants to have more power in the offense.

[AHF]

If being able to sit through tape of that offense for 5 years wasn't enough but hearing the press bash our offense will do it, I will take it. Just give our team some structure and an identity. Please.

[HawkNJersey]

Fire Rick Sund!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

And people wonder why others outside of ATL talk bad about the fan base. It's just an ungratgeful, and somewhat unappreciative fan base. People know we don't have a pass-first PG running the show, nor a legit low post presence, yet, they want this offense to run smooth as a finely tuned Corvette.

There is no doubt that Woody isn't a good offensive coach. But there's also no doubt that we don't have the pieces necessary to be a highly efficient offense either. People want to see "pretty" basketball, instead of seeing the Hawks win.

And if that wasn't the case, fans wouldn't talk about NOT going to watch this team play, even though we won 31 home games.

You know how many teams won 31 home games last year?

10 . . . 10 out of the 30 teams in this league can say that they won 31 home games, yet, some of you want to boycott Philips and ABANDON YOUR TEAM, just because you don't like the damn coach.

This is what pisses me off about some in the ATL fan base. Cry all you want about the offense. The fact is that we WIN.

Would you rather be like the Knicks, and look great on offense, yet lose 65% of your games?

I don't want to go back to losing. I like winning. I like watching the Hawks win AT PHILIPS . . even if they score 82 points doing it.

Talk about me all you want . . but if you fans abandon the team NOW . . . NOW. . WHEN WE'RE A PLAYOFF CALIBER TEAM, you weren't fans to begin with.

Get over your hatred of the coach, and support the (( bleepin )) team!!

By the way . . 2008 - 09 Hawks averaged 98.1 ppg and shot 46%

Edited May 20, 2009 by northcyde

[Diesel]

I would have to say that its pretty obvious the GM has no power to do that. BK got slapped down when he wanted to fire Woody now Sund has already stated he's coming back. Its all about that cheap contract Woody has and the fact the Spirit do not want to pay another coach.

After listening to the Sund interview, I started to think that maybe Woody is a place holder?

Since Avery Johnson left Dallas, he has turned down 2 jobs. He's still getting paid lots of money by Cuban and that's understandable. What if ASG has already worked out a coaching deal with AJ to take over after Wood's contract ends. Money is good, but AJ doesn't want to sit on the sideline too long. If you listen to Monty Williams, Johnson loves to coach. Maybe he's letting ASG get their affairs in order, waiting on the coaching position and in the meanwhile grading our talent.

It seems far fetched, but remember this:

A source close to Avery Johnson’s situation said a scheduling conflict forced Paxson to postpone an interview with the recently fired coach of the Dallas Mavericks. The Bulls have shown a willingness to reschedule, but there’s a sense that Johnson is serious about sitting out next season and collecting money from the Mavericks, who would owe him $12 million over the next three seasons if he decides not to return to coaching. Johnson also may be waiting to see if the Atlanta Hawks are in the market for a coach once they hire a general manager.

[Sothron]

After listening to the Sund interview, I started to think that maybe Woody is a place holder?

Since Avery Johnson left Dallas, he has turned down 2 jobs. He's still getting paid lots of money by Cuban and that's understandable. What if ASG has already worked out a coaching deal with AJ to take over after Wood's contract ends. Money is good, but AJ doesn't want to sit on the sideline too long. If you listen to Monty Williams, Johnson loves to coach. Maybe he's letting ASG get their affairs in order, waiting on the coaching position and in the meanwhile grading our talent.

It seems far fetched, but remember this:

I don't think its far fetched at all actually. Johnson isn't a bad coach, he is an upgrade over Woodson and the Spirit may simply be letting Woodson coach his way out of town so they can let his contract expire and then offer Johnson the job.

[AHF]

And people wonder why others outside of ATL talk bad about the fan base. It's just an ungratgeful, and somewhat unappreciative fan base. People know we don't have a pass-first PG running the show, nor a legit low post presence, yet, they want this offense to run smooth as a finely tuned Corvette.

I will settle for some form of offensive structure that is well short of a finely tuned machine and simply does obvious things like keep Josh Smith away from the 3pt line and run the pick and roll when Mike Bibby is your PG.

There is a HUGE, HUGE gap between "Iso Joe" and an offense that runs smoothly as a finely tuned Corvette. Like the difference between taking the public transit bus and driving your Corvette. I'll settle for a Honda Civic at this point quite happily.

There is no doubt that Woody isn't a good offensive coach. But there's also no doubt that we don't have the pieces necessary to be a highly efficient offense either.

These are two separate issues. The question is whether he makes good use of the pieces he does have.

People want to see "pretty" basketball, instead of seeing the Hawks win.

And if that wasn't the case, fans wouldn't talk about NOT going to watch this team play, even though we won 31 home games.

You know how many teams won 31 home games last year?

10 . . . 10 out of the 30 teams in this league can say that they won 31 home games, yet, some of you want to boycott Philips and ABANDON YOUR TEAM, just because you don't like the damn coach.

This is what pisses me off about some in the ATL fan base. Cry all you want about the offense. The fact is that we WIN.

Would you rather be like the Knicks, and look great on offense, yet lose 65% of your games?

I don't want to go back to losing. I like winning. I like watching the Hawks win AT PHILIPS . . even if they score 82 points doing it.

I don't think 99% of the fanbase disagrees with the notion that we want to keep winning and would not want to have a team that is bankrupt on talent like the Knicks. The fact is that we have a lot of good young talent and we want to win as much as possible. If we had a coach who ignored defense we would be screaming for him to improve the defense or bring in a defensive coordinator. And it would be the right thing to scream. When you have a coach who ignores the offense, you naturally want to see improvements there.

It is not like having a functional offense is mutually exclusive with a focus on defense. Ask the Spurs or the Rockets.

Talk about me all you want . . but if you fans abandon the team NOW . . . NOW. . WHEN WE'RE A PLAYOFF CALIBER TEAM, you weren't fans to begin with.

Get over your hatred of the coach, and support the (( bleepin )) team!!

By the way . . 2008 - 09 Hawks averaged 98.1 ppg and shot 46%

I agree no one should be abandoning their support of the team. I don't think that there is a problem about trying to draw attention to obvious and correctable issues with the team, though. The Hawks were well below their offensive potential last season and the season before and the season before....

By the way - we were 15th among 16 teams in ppg among playoff teams in the post-season. In the regular season, we were 19th in ppg. A total of 3 playoff games were won by teams below us in the rankings. Naturally, all teams remaining in the playoffs were in the top half of the league in ppg in the regular season.