Mike Woodson: Red Auerbach lite?

[lethalweapon3]

Whatever your perceptions of the Browless Wonder, Mike Woodson is closing fast on a feat not accomplished by an individual NBA coach in a half-century.

Victory number 48 will allow the Atlanta Hawks to boast five consecutive seasons of increasing win percentages. That, in itself, is rare but nothing new. On eight other occasions, NBA organizations have enjoyed a half-decade worth of regular season finishes without regressing or plateauing along the way. The Mavericks escaped the doldrums of the 1990s with a 1998 draft that netted Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash. The most recent case of increased “win totals” was the Timberwolves, having gone from Tony Campbell and Pooh Richardson in 1991-92 to KG and Starbury by 1996-97. The Wolves remain the only NBA team to increase their wins from the prior season for six straight years.

Remarkably, in all but one instance, franchises sifted through two, and often many more, head coaches during their ascents up the regular-season win column. Legendary Hawks owner Ben Kerner, who changed coaches about as often as he changed suits (and cities), paraded through six coaches between 1953-54 and 1959-1960. Prior to Woodson’s pending accomplishment, only once has an NBA coach, at the helm for a team at a subpar season’s start, increased his win total with that team in each of the next five years.

That one exception was Red Auerbach, already the incumbent coach when the stuck-in-neutral Celtics embarked on a 36-36 season in 1954. Add Bill Russell to a talented nucleus two seasons later, and by 1960 the Celtics were well on their way to their third NBA title. As an asterisk, veteran coach Don Nelson was the coach during the Mavericks’ resurgence, but unlike Woodson was brought on after the low-point season had already begun.

Given Auerbach was an incumbent coach, for a .500 team in an 8-team league, one could argue Woodson’s successes as a persevering first-time head coach stand alone in the modern era.

Below are the previous periods in which NBA teams have improved for five straight seasons (head coaches shown in parentheses), along with descriptions of what happened during their rise and after they peaked. Except for the Atlanta Hawks, a common theme in each of the stories was the addition of a #1 overall NBA draft pick and/or a current or sure-fire future NBA Hall of Famer (Bill Russell, Bob Pettit, Julius Erving, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Danny Manning, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash). Unless Joe Johnson is perceived as a certain Hall of Fame player, Woodson’s accomplishments are all the more noteworthy.

Milwaukee/St. Louis

(Andrew Levane/Red Holzman/Slater Martin/Alex Hannum/Andy Phillip/Ed McCauley)

1953-54: 21 - 51 .292

Just one player averaged double figures (Don Sunderlage, 11.2 PPG); Red Holzman added on as player/coach

1954-55: 26 - 46 .361

Rookie Bob Pettit stars immediately as Holzman becomes a full-time coach

1955-56: 33 - 39 .458

1956-57: 34 - 38 .472

Losing record good enough for three-way division tie in the West, but Holzman canned mid-season; Martin, then Hannum, takes coaching helm; Hawks reach NBA Finals behind Pettit and Macauley

1957-58: 41 - 31 .569

Cliff Hagan becomes a star; Best of the weak West, Hawks take advantage of injured Bill Russell to edge Celtics for NBA title

1958-59: 49 - 23 .681

Versatile Clyde Lovellette added for scoring, rebounding punch to frontline; Hannum replaced by Phillip, then Macauley; Hawks upset by Elgin Baylor's 33-39 Minneapolis Lakers for West title

1959-60: 46 - 29 .613

110.7 Opponent PPG fewest in the NBA; Avoided repeat playoff failure against the 25-50 Lakers; Fell to Boston in 7-game NBA Finals; Needed guard help would come after season when Lenny Wilkens drafted

Boston

(Red Auerbach)

1954-55: 36 - 36 .500

Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, and Ed Macauley star, but team struggled defensively; first team to feature "sixth man" and score 100+ PPG

1955-56: 39 - 33 .542

1956-57: 44 - 28 .611

Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones drafted; Macauley and Cliff Hagan traded to Hawks for Bill Russell; 1st of 17 titles

1957-58: 49 - 23 .681

1958-59: 52 - 20 .722

2nd NBA title

1959-60: 59 - 16 .787

3rd NBA title

1960-61: 57 - 22 .722

Still another NBA title, although roster adjustments to advance K.C. and Sam Jones reduced victories slightly

Philadelphia

(Roy Rubin/Kevin Loughery/Gene Shue/Billy Cunningham)

1972-73: 9 - 73 .110

Worst NBA season ever began with Billy Cunningham's departure for ABA

1973-74: 25 - 57 .305

#1 pick Doug Collins and Tom Van Arsdale arrive to help Fred Carter

1974-75: 34 - 48 .415

Cunningham returns from ABA

1975-76: 46 - 36 .561

George McGinnis arrives from ABA; return to playoffs

1976-77: 50 - 32 .610

Julius Erving arrives from ABA; Sixers reach NBA finals

1977-78: 55 - 27 .671

1978-79: 47 - 35 .573

McGinnis traded; Collins struggles to stay healthy; Bullets emerge as dominant team in East

Utah

(Frank Layden/Jerry Sloan)

1984-85: 41 - 41 .500

John Drew suspension and Adreian Dantley holdout regresses team coming off first NBA playoffs; John Stockton 16th pick of 1984 draft; young Mark Eaton becomes a shotblocking champ

1985-86: 42 - 40 .512

Enter the Mailman (Karl Malone, 13th pick of 1985 draft), right on time as star Darrel Griffith out for season

1986-87: 44 - 38 .537

1987-88: 47 - 35 .573

Stockton takes over full-time at PG

1988-89: 51 - 31 .622

Jerry Sloan takes over for Frank Layden

1989-90: 55 - 27 .671

1990-91: 54 - 28 .659

Defensive team adjusted to addition of Jeff Malone; struggled for division with San Antonio's young David Robinson

LA Clippers

(Gene Shue/Don Casey/Mike Schuler/Larry Brown)

1986-87: 12 - 70 .146

Star Marques Johnson injures neck after running into teammate Benoit Benjamin, season ends after 10 games; Leading scorer was Mike Woodson

1987-88: 17 - 65 .207

Michael Cage becomes a rebounding monster

1988-89: 21 - 61 .256

1st Overall Pick Danny Manning arrives

1989-90: 30 - 52 .366

1990-91: 31 - 51 .378

1991-92: 45 - 37 .549

Larry Brown arrives mid-season; First of back-to-back playoff seasons

1992-93: 41 - 41 .500

Young Mark Jackson replaces Doc Rivers; Larry Brown and Manning fall out; by 1993-94, Brown leaves and Manning traded away by midseason

Minnesota

(Jimmy Rodgers/Sidney Lowe/Bill Blair/Flip Saunders)

1991-92: 15 - 67 .183

Offensive options consisted of Tony Campbell, Doug West, and Pooh Richardson

1992-93: 19 - 63 .232

Drafted Christian Laettner

1993-94: 20 - 62 .244

Drafted Isaiah Rider

1994-95: 21 - 61 .256

1995-96: 26 - 56 .317

Drafted Kevin Garnett; Laettner sent to Atlanta; Flip Saunders brought on to coach after 20 games; Rider's first flameouts begin

1996-97: 40 - 42 .488

Rider traded to Portland; Drafted Ray Allen and traded him for Stephon Marbury; KG and Gugliotta become All-Stars; Wolves make first playoff appearance

1997-98: 45 - 37 .549

Garnett agrees to unprecedented (6-year/$126 million) contract

1998-99: 25 - 25 .500

Lockout! Plus Tom Gugliotta left for Phoenix, Starbury traded to New Jersey

Philadelphia

(John Lucas/Johnny Davis/Larry Brown)

1995-96: 18 - 64 .220

Shawn Bradley's experiment ends, traded early in season to New Jersey

1996-97: 22 - 60 .268

Allen Iverson picked first overall

1997-98: 31 - 51 .378

Larry Brown hired; Improved depth with Jimmy Jackson, Theo Ratliff, Joe Smith, Tim Thomas

1998-99: 28 - 22 .560

Lockout-shortened winning season; First playoff appearance since 1991 included upset of Orlando Magic in first round

1999-00: 49 - 33 .598

2000-01: 56 - 26 .684

Acquired Dikembe Mutombo via trade for home stretch; Iverson-led Sixers reach NBA Finals in his MVP season

2001-02: 43 - 39 .524

Top-heavy offensive approach couldn't sustain itself; fell short to Paul Pierce's Celtics in first round; "Practice?"

Dallas

(Jim Cleamons/Don Nelson)

1997-98: 20 - 62 .244

Cleamons lasts only 16 games; Don Nelson brought on to carry the rest of the way; Probably the worst franchise of the 1990's

1998-99: 19 - 31 .380

Drafted Robert Traylor and traded him to the Bucks for rookies Pat Garrity and Dirk Nowitzki; traded Garrity, Bubba Wells, Martin Muursepp for Steve Nash

1999-00: 40 - 42 .488

Nowitzki quickly becomes a go-to scorer alongside first-time All-Star Michael Finley

2000-01: 53 - 29 .646

Nash emerges as a top young point guard; First return to playoffs since 1990; edged Utah in first round

2001-02: 57 - 25 .695

2002-03: 60 - 22 .732

Nowitzki and Nash become All-Stars; Mavs fall short to favored rival San Antonio in Western finals; most wins in franchise history

2003-04: 52 - 30 .634

Division dogfights with Duncan's Spurs and KG's Timberwolves; Antawn Jamison wins 6th Man award; Afterward, Nash leaves as a free agent for the Suns

Atlanta

(Mike Woodson)

2004-05: 13 - 69 .159

Next-to-last in scoring and giving up buckets; Free agent acquisition Antoine Walker shipped back to Boston in mid-season

2005-06: 26 - 56 .317

Free agent Joe Johnson acquired from Phoenix; Josh Smith becomes a known shotblocking presence; Touted as youngest team in league history; Overcame loss of late Jason Collier with emergence of Zaza Pachulia

2006-07: 30 - 52 .366

Johnson becomes an All-Star

2007-08: 37 - 45 .451

Lottery luck brings Al Horford; Mike Bibby added at mid-season; Hawks reach playoffs and put scare in Celtics in first round

2008-09: 47 - 35 .573

Team overcomes loss of Josh Childress to Greece with Flip Murray and Mo Evans; wins first playoff series in a decade

2009-10: ???

Horford earns All-Star nod; free agent Jamal Crawford becomes 6th Man award candidate

~lw3

[niremetal]

Of course, the Celts went .500 and made the playoffs in the first of those seasons. The Hawks challenged the NBA record for losses in a season. The Celts won a title in year 3. The Hawks won 30 games in year 3. It's apples and oranges because the teams were starting from pretty different places.

Edited March 26, 2010 by niremetal

[spotatl]

Cool information. Thanks for posting it

[lethalweapon3]

Of course, the Celts went .500 and made the playoffs in the first of those seasons. The Hawks challenged the NBA record for losses in a season. The Celts won a title in year 3. The Hawks won 30 games in year 3. It's apples and oranges because the teams were starting from pretty different places.

Excellent point ("apples and oranges") worth emphasizing -- I'm thinking "oranges and clementines" myself. And not only were the teams at different starting points, but so were the coaches. Red came to the Celts (a few years prior to the seasons listed above) with significant head-coaching experience relative to his peers (Kerner's Tri-Cities Blackhawks; the Washington Caps in the predecessor BAA) while Woody joined the Hawks as a newbie. Also, when it comes to "buying the groceries," Woodson began with his esteemed BFF Billy Knight, while Red Auerbach had, well, Red Auerbach. Red's 1954-55 campaign with the resurging Celts began with an incumbent starting backcourt of Bob Cousy ('54 All-Star Game MVP) and Bill Sharman ('55 All-Star Game MVP). Woody's maiden voyage carted out a backcourt of Kenny Anderson and Boris Diaw.

~lw3

[spotatl]

Interesting that all the other teams on the list other than the Clippers acquired at least one superstar during their run.

Edited March 26, 2010 by spotatl

[AHF]

Interesting that all the other teams on the list other than the Clippers acquired at least one superstar during their run.

The Hawks didn't acquire a superstar but did acquire 3 All-Stars so at least that is something (I am counting Josh Smith in there because he was robbed this season and I am confident he will be recognized in future seasons).

This is the biggest "what-if" in Hawks history for me:

Macauley and Cliff Hagan traded to Hawks for Bill Russell

What if we hadn't traded away Bill Russell and had paired him in the frontcourt with Bob Petit? Wow.

[exodus]

When you start at 13 wins it is hard not to improve.

[lethalweapon3]

When you start at 13 wins it is hard not to improve.

No doubt... at least for the next season. It's like, "how low can you go?"

It's still hard for me to grasp that long-running franchises (Knicks? Lakers?) generally don't have track records of sustained improvement beyond 4-5 years.

~lw3

[AHF]

No doubt... at least for the next season. It's like, "how low can you go?"

It's still hard for me to grasp that long-running franchises (Knicks? Lakers?) generally don't have track records of sustained improvement beyond 4-5 years.

~lw3

I think they do - it just isn't mathematically improving every single season one to the next.

Which team here has the better track record of sustained improvement?

TEAM A

Year 1 - 13 wins

Year 2 - 24 wins

Year 3 - 30 wins

Year 4 - 38 wins

Year 5 - 45 wins

Year 6 - 48 wins

Year 7 - 46 wins

TEAM B

Year 1 - 17 wins

Year 2 - 36 wins

Year 3 - 46 wins

Year 4 - 55 wins

Year 5 - 53 wins

Year 6 - 50 wins

Year 7 - 56 wins

[lethalweapon3]

I think they do - it just isn't mathematically improving every single season one to the next.

Which team here has the better track record of sustained improvement?

TEAM A

Year 1 - 13 wins

Year 2 - 24 wins

Year 3 - 30 wins

Year 4 - 38 wins

Year 5 - 45 wins

Year 6 - 48 wins

Year 7 - 46 wins

TEAM B

Year 1 - 17 wins

Year 2 - 36 wins

Year 3 - 46 wins

Year 4 - 55 wins

Year 5 - 53 wins

Year 6 - 50 wins

Year 7 - 56 wins

Knowing Year 7 ahead of time, I'd gladly take Team B. Of course, by Year 6, without a championship ring, two years of perceived slippage puts pressure on teams to "re-tool", "re-load", or "blow the doggone thing up" (Hawks in the 90s with solid seasons that go nowhere), in the hopes that some fresh blood will get the Year 7 result. For some teams (Lakers, Spurs) re-tooling works, plus they have the confidence of their fans that it will work, so they don't get strung up over mathematical regular-season results ("OMG, will we win 60 this year?").

That's also where team's perception of their prime competition comes into play: are you banging heads regularly against Duncan, Yao, and Dirk, or are you getting the benefit of fighting with Wizards and Bobcats?

~lw3

[spotatl]

Year 4 - 55 wins

Year 5 - 53 wins

Year 6 - 50 wins

Year 7 - 56 wins

WHile thats a period of sustained success- I don't see that as a period of sustained improvement. Hell yes I'll take sustained success any time.

Edited March 26, 2010 by spotatl

[exodus]

The Hawks took 5 years to break 40 wins. That is lame no matter how you look at it.

[lethalweapon3]

The Hawks took 5 years to break 40 wins. That is lame no matter how you look at it.

It'd be interesting to see the longest periods without a .500+ record in the league, I'm sure there are some doozies of teams in that department.

For "way-too-slow growth" mentors, just among those above, they have 90's-00's Sixers (NBA finals by Year 6) and the old-school Hawks (NBA champs by Season 5 -- thanks for that injury, Bill!) to look up to.

~lw3

[spotatl]

It was actually a 10 year run of the hawks not winning 40 games. 13 wins was just the start of the ascension.

Boston had a 9 year run starting in 93

Chicago had a 6 year run starting in 98

Cleveland had a 6 year fun starting in 98.

Those were just the 3 teams in alphabetical order. I don't think its all that rare to have 4 seasons below 40 wins when you are rebuilding.

Edited March 26, 2010 by spotatl

[exodus]

It was actually a 10 year run of the hawks not winning 40 games. 13 wins was just the start of the ascension.

I know. I was just looking at the start of the BK/Sund/Woody era. BK blew everything up and started over.

[lethalweapon3]

It was actually a 10 year run of the hawks not winning 40 games. 13 wins was just the start of the ascension.

Exactly. The first year being the 31-19 lockout year followed by several years of Isaiah Rider, Antoine Walker, Big Dog, playoff guarantees, and general WTFness, all before they handed the coaching keys to Woody.

~lw3

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Woody had the perfect storm to keep his job.

* No expectations in Year 1

* Year 2 was strictly a developmental year.

* The injury situation in YEAR 3 helped buy him a little time in a year where we should've at least challenged for a playoff spot.

* The ownership group in an epic battle with Belkin

* Chris Paul and Brandon Roy's rapid development into star players . . while Marvin slowly developed and Shelden was on his way to being a bust . . placed more blame on BK for the Hawks stagnation, than Woody's coaching.

* Woody being able to win 3 games from Boston in the 08 Playoffs

* Woody coaching the team to it's first winning season in almost 10 years, and winning a playoff series

* This year . . ????

And let's be honest. How many ATLiens 3 years ago actually cared about the Hawks? It wasn't a lot of pressure to put an instant winner on the floor back then. Only the hardcore fans cared about the state of the team. So it was easy for a guy like Woody to keep his job, as long as the team didn't regress. Ownership wasn't about to spend money on a big name coach anyway, with the constant court battle going on about who will gain control of the team.

At any rate . . . good job Woody, for being mentally tough all these years.

[Atlantaholic]

Woody was lucky not to get fired after his third season... The injuries were his saving grace that year.

[lethalweapon3]

Congrats to the Woodster on his rare accomplishment... and to the Hawks on 5 straight years of increasing success!

~lw3

[MaceCase]

Quite the feat and congrats to the Woodster.