Breaking News: WOODY IS GONE

[niremetal]

Once you get to the second round, teams either have an elite player or a great team. We are a very good team with without SS or PG/C. You are not going to beat a Dwight Howard team without it.

We are a terrible matchup against the Magic. Every team in the league today except Orlando has a couple of teams like that. The Lakers can't beat the Bobcats to save their lives, and that's true despite the fact that the Lakers have a clearly superior roster. Matchup luck often plays a role in teams making it to the Finals.

We could beat the Celtics and with the right coach, I'm confident we could have beaten the Cavs. JJ is better than anyone on today's Celtics (or even the '08 Celtics) and will do better in an offense that works to create some open shots for him instead of asking him to create all of them himself, Horford is still improving, Josh probably will play more within himself under a coach who gives a $h!t about the offense, and Marvin will do better in a system in which he isn't Marvinalized.*

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Marvinalize

(derived from "marginalize") - n.mar·vin·al·ized

1) to put an athlete in a system in which he has no role and is left to wander the court aimlessly without instruction

2) to make no effort to make use of a player's skills out of fear of disrupting the games of other players

Examples

- Much was made about the Cavs' acquisition of Antawn Jamison, but Jamison soon found himself Marvinalized in Mike Brown's ISO-oriented offense.

- Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko found himself Marvinalized for a time after the rapid emergence of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer as stars.

Edited May 14, 2010 by niremetal

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Fixed.

Sorry dude. Can't have the growing of the team, without the growing of the coach.

I mean . . if ya'll want to play this game. OK. Then that means that every collapse that this team experienced throughout the season, was because of the PLAYERS. Every playoff disappointment we had here, was because of the PLAYERS.

No way you can give the players all of the credit when we win, but place all of the blame on the coach when we lose.

We WIN as a team. We LOSE as a team.

If Woody had nothing to do with the wins, then he had nothing to do with the losses either.

Can't have it both ways folks.

[Joker]

We are a terrible matchup against the Magic. Every team in the league today except Orlando has a couple of teams like that. The Lakers can't beat the Bobcats to save their lives, and that's true despite the fact that the Lakers have a clearly superior roster. Matchup luck often plays a role in teams making it to the Finals.

We could beat the Celtics and with the right coach, I'm confident we could have beaten the Cavs. JJ is better than anyone on today's Celtics (or even the '08 Celtics) and will do better in an offense that works to create some open shots for him instead of asking him to create all of them himself, Horford is still improving, Josh probably will play more within himself under a coach who gives a $h!t about the offense, and Marvin will do better in a system in which he isn't Marvinalized.*

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Marvinalize

(derived from "marginalized") - n.mar·vin·al·ized

1) to put an athlete in a system in which he has no role and is left to wander the court aimlessly without instruction

2) to make no effort to make use of a player's skills out of fear of disrupting the games of other players

Examples

- Much was made about the Cavs' acquisition of Antawn Jamison, but Jamison soon found himself Marvinalized in Mike Brown's ISO-oriented offense.

- Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko found himself Marvinalized for a time after the rapid emergence of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer as stars.

Wow, lol... you should contact Webster's.

[niremetal]

Sorry dude. Can't have the growing of the team, without the growing of the coach.

I mean . . if ya'll want to play this game. OK. Then that means that every collapse that this team experienced throughout the season, was because of the PLAYERS. Every playoff disappointment we had here, was because of the PLAYERS.

No way you can give the players all of the credit when we win, but place all of the blame on the coach when we lose.

We WIN as a team. We LOSE as a team.

If Woody had nothing to do with the wins, then he had nothing to do with the losses either.

Can't have it both ways folks.

That's a load of crap. It's not having it both ways to point out that having great talent will get you a lot of wins during the regular season. In the regular season, there usually isn't time to do extensive pre-game scouting or to have practices where you work on things specifically designed to deal with certain teams. Strategy and tactics are both less important.

But in the playoffs, when you have to beat a team 4 times in 7 games, you need a coach who is proactive or at least a quick counterpuncher in coming up with gameplans to deal with what the opposing team is doing well. You can't expect your players to outsmart the other team's coaches in that situation, which is basically what Woody was hoping for against Orlando. That is why Hubie, Phil, Red, and every other coach that I've heard talk about it says that you can't tell how good a coach is until you see how he does in the playoffs.

I give Woody a lot of credit for our victories in games 6 and 7 against Milwaukee. His simple adjustment to show and trap off some screens disrupted the Bucks' offense. I also give him credit for implementing a defensive system that worked against most teams during the regular season, although I think we could have won even more games if the switching D was used more selectively. But beyond that, I see little room for credit and tons of room for blame - especially in the playoffs.

It isn't 100% to 0%. Nothing is. But it's preposterous to argue that blame and credit must be doled out in identical proportions for every single game, regardless of the situation.

Edited May 14, 2010 by niremetal

[drzachary]

Exactly. I think all of that ISO-JOE was out of the fact that we never had a legit playmaking PG here. So Woody gave "superstar" responsibilities to the one player who could create his own shot and create for others.

He did that instead of trying to install some kind of offensive plan. Which makes him, ultimately, a good substitute teacher, but a failure.

[drzachary]

HALLELLUJAH!!

Also, the worst sweep in the long history of the NBA is Woodson's legacy. That and the 10-2 (I believe) road playoff record with 90% blowouts. And the longest tenure of any coach ever with absolutely no offensive system and no adjustments. And the utterly unwatchable diet of Iso-Joe at the end of every game.

I'll temper my optimism until we know the replacement, but it can only be an upgrade unless we go for an assistant.

I'd like to see Jeff Van Gundy come in.

Good to see you posting!

[Plainview1981]

Once you get to the second round, teams either have an elite player or a great team. We are a very good team with without SS or PG/C. You are not going to beat a Dwight Howard team without it.

The Hawks have got blown out in at least half of the playoff games they have played the last 3 years.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

That's a load of crap. It's not having it both ways to point out that having great talent will get you a lot of wins during the regular season. In the regular season, there usually isn't time to do extensive pre-game scouting or to have practices where you work on things specifically designed to deal with certain teams. Strategy and tactics are both less important.

But in the playoffs, when you have to beat a team 4 times in 7 games, you need a coach who is proactive or at least a quick counterpuncher in coming up with gameplans to deal with what the opposing team is doing well. You can't expect your players to outsmart the other team's coaches in that situation, which is basically what Woody was hoping for against Orlando. That is why Hubie, Phil, Red, and every other coach that I've heard talk about it says that you can't tell how good a coach is until you see how he does in the playoffs.

I give Woody a lot of credit for our victories in games 6 and 7 against Milwaukee. His simple adjustment to show and trap off some screens disrupted the Bucks' offense. I also give him credit for implementing a defensive system that worked against most teams during the regular season, although I think we could have won even more games if the switching D was used more selectively. But beyond that, I see little room for credit and tons of room for blame - especially in the playoffs.

It isn't 100% to 0%. Nothing is. But it's preposterous to argue that blame and credit must be doled out in identical proportions for every single game, regardless of the situation.

Well you actually agree with me then. Because you don't give sole credit to the players for winning games. But a lot of these fans DO give sole credit to these players winning games. So if they get sole credit for winning the games, they get sole credit for the losses.

In the Orlando series, we were simply outmatched, and have been outmatched for about 2 years now vs that team. You know that and I know that. The Milwaukee series, blame for those 3 losses can be put on coaches and players, seeing that Horford didn't play well at all in Milwaukee. Nor did Crawford, Bibby, or Marvin.

Blame and credit goes all around. That's all I've said over the years. LOL @ this team winning strictly on talent . . with a "dying" PG and a SF that shows up every blue moon.

[Plainview1981]

Sorry dude. Can't have the growing of the team, without the growing of the coach.

I mean . . if ya'll want to play this game. OK. Then that means that every collapse that this team experienced throughout the season, was because of the PLAYERS. Every playoff disappointment we had here, was because of the PLAYERS.

No way you can give the players all of the credit when we win, but place all of the blame on the coach when we lose.

We WIN as a team. We LOSE as a team.

If Woody had nothing to do with the wins, then he had nothing to do with the losses either.

Can't have it both ways folks.

Well, it's not like Woodson got Josh to eliminate the 3 ball or anything. Josh decided to make that improvement on his own. Who's to say the rest of the improvements didn't come the same way??

[Lascar78]

In the Orlando series, we were simply outmatched, and have been outmatched for about 2 years now vs that team. You know that and I know that. The Milwaukee series, blame for those 3 losses can be put on coaches and players, seeing that Horford didn't play well at all in Milwaukee. Nor did Crawford, Bibby, or Marvin.

The players are the reason we are better than Milwaukee and we weren't going to beat Orlando.

Woodson is the reason that it was THE WORST SWEEP OF ALL TIME.

And he is the reason that it took 7 games to beat the Bucks. He got outcoached so badly in both rounds that it was embarrassing. I actually felt bad for him.

He has clearly improved from year to year, but he is still a HORRIBLE coach by NBA standards and this team has underachieved badly in the playoffs, especially on the road.

[swolehawk2]

Great day! I won't have to see that brand of ball anymore in ATL, just hire JVG and let's get on with it.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

It doesn't matter anyway. Regardless of who the coach is, we still have the same personnel issues. And that coach will have the exact same problems that we have today, if those issues aren't addressed.

Lose JJ though, and you have to wonder what big name coach would take this job, if our 3rd team All-NBA guy isn't returning?

[Popeye]

The players are the reason we are better than Milwaukee and we weren't going to beat Orlando.

Woodson is the reason that it was THE WORST SWEEP OF ALL TIME.

And he is the reason that it took 7 games to beat the Bucks. He got outcoached so badly in both rounds that it was embarrassing. I actually felt bad for him.

He has clearly improved from year to year, but he is still a HORRIBLE coach by NBA standards and this team has underachieved badly in the playoffs, especially on the road.

Northcyde doesn't get that apparently, I thought we had a better chance at going 7 games vs Orlando than Bucks going 7 games against us......

Skiles>Woody.....Woody<SVG

[lethalweapon3]

Poor Woody can't even be the lead "Coach 'Mike X' Let Go" sports story... and the other guy hasn't been officially canned yet.

~lw3

[NJHAWK]

Smoove is the first player to comment on the firing:

Hawks forward Josh Smith said the team’s decision to part ways with Woodson despite his success is a sign of the higher expectations for the franchise.

“It feels good to know we are not just satisfied with just being the eighth seed or improving every season,” he said. “We got expectations of going to the playoffs every year and being a difference-maker in the playoffs. The organization has everything going in the right direction.”

I wonder if he even knows we were the 3rd seed this year and the 4th seed last year. He prolly doesnt does he.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Yesssss finally this day has come. We need to get Avery Johnson that's the guy we need.

[HawksFan87]

I wonder if he even knows we were the 3rd seed this year and the 4th seed last year. He prolly doesnt does he.

oh shut up lol. no one will ruin this exciting news today..

[Packfill]

Finally!!! I have waited for this day for so long. Sund has a lot of work to do this off-season. I hope he is up to the task.

[Dsinner]

I've waited for this day since he was hired. Couldn't stand him. Now it's up to Sund to find a better head coach. My list:

+1

Didn't like him since day one myself. Too bad he may have set us back a couple of years. Still, this makes this years humiliation worth it. We could have made it a series and still lost and still extended Woody.

[ATLmixboy]

For what its worth, originally from Atlanta but being that for the past several years I have lived inToronto, I kind of follow Raptors to an extent and know a little about Sam Mitchell.

If rumors are true he is one of the leading coaches to replace Woody, I think he would be a really good fit personality wise. He's a real hard nose, take no nonsense coach and would not hesitate to get into the face of someone like Josh Smith for a minute if he plays lazy or does something boneheaded. As a coach in general however I believe he is just average. Ok Defensively and above average on Offense. He did win COY a few seasons ago but that was in a really weak Atlantic Division I believe every other team was below .500. He has coached the Raptors to two playoff appearances to only get bounced in the first round.

Now having said all this I am willing to give him a shot as Head Coach here for the Hawks, he's great personality wise for the team and the media.. He's not afraid to call the media out on asking stupid questions or asking the same questions over and over again. I always laughed my *ss off when he did interviews. Plus I believe he could do better with an athletic team like the hawks.

Not to menton to the relationship he developed with Chris Bosh in his years in Toronto... Sam had a big role in developing Bosh into the all-star he is today and supposedly Bosh was pretty upset when the Raptors let him go.

So if the Hawks do sign Sam Mitchell as Coach I believe Chris Bosh might look into joining the Hawks more seriously... But yea thats just my two cents.