Mike Woodson is in elite company

[NowYouKnow]

From Bill Simmons' new column:

In the history of the NBA, only six people have coached more than 300 games consecutively for the same franchise and won less than 40 percent of those games. Incredibly, Dunleavy is the only person who accomplished this "feat" for two different franchises. Here's the complete list:

• Bill Fitch, 99-229 (.302) -- L.A. Clippers, 1994-1998

• Mike Dunleavy, 107-221 (.326) -- Milwaukee Bucks, 1992-1996

• Matt Guokas, 111-217 (.338) -- Orlando Magic, 1989-1993

• Jack McKinney, 125-203 (.381) -- Indiana Pacers, 1980-84

• Wes Unseld, 202-345 (.369) -- Washington Bullets, 1987-94

• Mike Woodson, 153-257 (.373) -- Atlanta Hawks, 2004-present

• Mike Dunleavy, 194-298 (.394) -- L.A. Clippers, 2003-present.

[gsuteke]

He won't be in that category for long.

That distinction is more of a reflection upon Billy KNight and the rebuilding job they all inherited IMO

[ATLNY7]

That's not good to hear. Well, at least the hawks are improving each year.

[gsuteke]

A 13 win initial season will skew the number - this is a classic case of the numbers only telling half the story

[capstone21]

From Bill Simmons' new column:

I am impressed that Mike Dunlevy is there twice.

[mrhonline]

I am impressed that Mike Dunlevy is there twice.

Takes some skill, huh?

[thefloydian]

That's not surprising. Woodson is incompetent.

[coachx]

Just b/c you were forced to coach bad teams does not make you a bad coach.

For example, Fitch lead Boston to 3 straight 60 + win seasons and a won an NBA Championship for the Celtics in 1981 and later won a Wester Conference Championship with Houston in 1985.

The year before Fitch took the Celtics job he was 30-52 in Cleveland. He then won 61 games with Boston the very next year. One year after that Boston won 62 games and a NBA Championship.

He was coach of the year twice and was named one of the 10 Best NBA Coaches of All Time in 1997.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/fitchbi99c.html

Edited July 28, 2009 by coachx

[thefloydian]

Woodson didn't take anyone to the playoffs. If anything, the team drug him there kicking and screaming.

[jy23]

Woodson didn't take anyone to the playoffs. If anything, the team drug him there kicking and screaming.

lol

[DrReality]

Woodson didn't take anyone to the playoffs. If anything, the team drug him there kicking and screaming.

You have a way with words that your picture's sake would be proud of.

[hawksrule9]

Dumb stat. Woodson has made it to the playoffs twice. Whether you like him or not he was the coach that coached our team into the playoffs. He is the coach that has coached our team to a better record every year. He is the coach that hung with us during our reboulding years. He got us to a home court advantage in the 1st round. He coached us into the 2nd round.

[Admin]

Dumb stat. Woodson has made it to the playoffs twice. Whether you like him or not he was the coach that coached our team into the playoffs. He is the coach that has coached our team to a better record every year. He is the coach that hung with us during our reboulding years. He got us to a home court advantage in the 1st round. He coached us into the 2nd round.

Yeah but we're the only team in history that is better than our coach allows us to be. I guess you don't realize that every other playoff team in history was lead to the playoffs by their coach and the truth is that we'd have probably won 2-3 championships in the past 5 years if we had Phil Jackson as our coach.

[thefloydian]

The people who argue that Woodson "got us" to the playoffs two years in a row use flawed logic. They act like "getting to the playoffs" is somehow the mark of a good coach. Just because a team gets to the playoffs, it does not necessarily follow that the coach had a positive affect on the team. With a better coach, we might have done a little better than barely squeaking into the playoffs with a losing record two years ago, or barely squeaking by Miami in pathetic fashion last year.

And I'm not even going to get into the "he's coached us to a better record every year" because that is so obviously ridiculous an argument as to not warrant any reply.

[thefloydian]

Yeah but we're the only team in history that is better than our coach allows us to be. I guess you don't realize that every other playoff team in history was lead to the playoffs by their coach and the truth is that we'd have probably won 2-3 championships in the past 5 years if we had Phil Jackson as our coach.

You're just acting intentionally dense if you don't understand that a team can make the playoffs while still underachieving.

[thefloydian]

Not to mention that none of Woodson's supporters want to acknowledge the historically pathetic nature of the Eastern Conference the last two years. North Carolina probably could have made a run at the 8th seed two years ago.

Edited July 28, 2009 by thefloydian

[MaceCase]

I read a passage over at peachtree hoops and apparently our rebuilding has been pretty normal for any franchise under our circumstances so one has to wonder how much stock you can put in it being all Woody's doing.

Still, I came upon an excellent article by Tom Ziller over at Fanhouse looking at how teams respond to dreadful seasons. Ziller looked at teams with 19 or fewer wins (hello, 04-05 Hawks) and examined the rate at which these teams improve. It should be noted getting to 19 or fewer wins is not common with every rebuilding process. Only five percent of all seasons even qualify.

Also, a team on average wins almost 29 games following their low point season (the Hawks won 26), and Ziller adds a final point that matches the Hawks progress from the 13 win debacle.....

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2009/7/22/958257/player-development-shlayer

Edited July 28, 2009 by CrawfulToCrawesome

[jy23]

Dumb stat. Woodson has made it to the playoffs twice. Whether you like him or not he was the coach that coached our team into the playoffs. He is the coach that has coached our team to a better record every year. He is the coach that hung with us during our reboulding years. He got us to a home court advantage in the 1st round. He coached us into the 2nd round.

Where was he going to go?

[HAWKSFAN89]

LOL

[coachx]

Yeah but we're the only team in history that is better than our coach allows us to be. I guess you don't realize that every other playoff team in history was lead to the playoffs by their coach and the truth is that we'd have probably won 2-3 championships in the past 5 years if we had Phil Jackson as our coach.

Funny stuff ! I nominate this for post of the week !