It's Drew! (Woo-hoo?)

[Buzzard]

Yep, indeed.

Looks like everyone is still upset Avery didn't get the hire.

Not me, did not want the Little Dictator at all. I will give Drew a chance before going over the edge on this choice. He has a solid resume and assitant coaches hardly ever follow exactly in their bosses footsteps. Otherwise, Woody would be Brown 2.0. Lets see if he has some better ideas and ways about doing things before calling him Woody 2.0.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Buzzard

[hazer]

I like it. And here's why, from Marc Stein at ESPN.com:

"Although he's well-liked and well-respected in the Hawks' locker room, Drew is bound to be dismissed by the Atlanta public as a coach too closely connected to the Woodson era, even though Drew was a respected NBA assistant long before he landed on Woodson's bench.

Those who know Drew best say he'll inject the built-for-speed Hawks with some needed offensive creativity and get them playing faster than the stubborn Woodson ever did. They also say he'll reach Josh Smith and Marvin Williams like Woodson never could and that knowing Atlanta's personnel so well gives him a head start no one else could enjoy."

Drew is not the sexy hire, but seems like the perfect fit :helpsmilie:

[Dsinner]

I like it. And here's why, from Marc Stein at ESPN.com:

"Although he's well-liked and well-respected in the Hawks' locker room, Drew is bound to be dismissed by the Atlanta public as a coach too closely connected to the Woodson era, even though Drew was a respected NBA assistant long before he landed on Woodson's bench.

Those who know Drew best say he'll inject the built-for-speed Hawks with some needed offensive creativity and get them playing faster than the stubborn Woodson ever did. They also say he'll reach Josh Smith and Marvin Williams like Woodson never could and that knowing Atlanta's personnel so well gives him a head start no one else could enjoy."

Drew is not the sexy hire, but seems like the perfect fit :helpsmilie:

OK I get he may change our offense (which is a good thing) but why would anyone think he's all of a sudden going to reach Smoove and Marv now? Hasn't he had that opportunity for a few years now? Anywho, between the 3 I'd have like to have seen a new voice all together but if he gets our guys up and down the floor while still focusing on D I'm all for it. I don't think he' necessarily going to be a Woody 2.0 as he was coaching loooong before he became Woody's assistant.

[DJlaysitup]

Sunday morning sportsradio (local) says the contract is 3 years - 5 million dollars (I'm sure they mean 5 mil total - life of the contract). I haven't checked but I would suppose that makes him one of the lowest paid coaches in the NBA.

My initial though was "welcome the new boss..same as the old boss". But what the hay...I wish him luck and hope for the best.

[Sothron]

Sunday morning sportsradio (local) says the contract is 3 years - 5 million dollars (I'm sure they mean 5 mil total - life of the contract). I haven't checked but I would suppose that makes him one of the lowest paid coaches in the NBA.

My initial though was "welcome the new boss..same as the old boss". But what the hay...I wish him luck and hope for the best.

He is the lowest paid coach in the entire NBA which is why he was hired.

[ATLSmith]

He is the lowest paid coach in the entire NBA which is why he was hired.

No one here really knows that for sure. I think any first-time head coach would be the lowest (or near lowest) paid coach in the league. For all we know LD might have made concessions in this salary to allow the ASG to sign Joe and bring in the other pieces we need; concessions that Avery Johnson might not have been willing to make.

Lets give the guy a chance before ripping into him or the ASG.

[AHF]

I like it. And here's why, from Marc Stein at ESPN.com:

"Although he's well-liked and well-respected in the Hawks' locker room, Drew is bound to be dismissed by the Atlanta public as a coach too closely connected to the Woodson era, even though Drew was a respected NBA assistant long before he landed on Woodson's bench.

Those who know Drew best say he'll inject the built-for-speed Hawks with some needed offensive creativity and get them playing faster than the stubborn Woodson ever did. They also say he'll reach Josh Smith and Marvin Williams like Woodson never could and that knowing Atlanta's personnel so well gives him a head start no one else could enjoy."

Drew is not the sexy hire, but seems like the perfect fit :helpsmilie:

I hate this hire out of the gate and hope I am wrong. My concerns are:

(1) What has he been doing about the offense for the past several years? If he was the top offensive mind on the staff, was Woodson just ignoring him? Was he an emasculated guy sitting on the sideline that he wasn't able to impact the offense at all? If so, are the players going to buy him as an authority figure to respect and fear?

(2) Again, why hasn't he been "reaching" Josh Smith and Marvin Williams already? What was he waiting for?

(3) For the players, Drew is going to be connected to the Woodson regime until he proves otherwise. Hopefully he does that, but I am concerned that bad habits will be tougher to break for an in-house hire than for someone who comes in front the outside with a fresh voice and fresh perspective.

(4) As far as assistant coaches, I don't know how he is going to get a standout group of assistants in place. Does he have any real connections? Many of the very best coaches in the league today like Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich are known for having to standout assistants on their staffs. We are going to need some of that here with an inexperienced head coach like Drew. Can he convince anyone like that to work under him? Will he have the self-confidence to hire someone with an equal or possibly better resume to work under him (and potentially threaten to usurp his job as he did Woody's)? I hope so, but I am pretty pessimistic on this point.

(5) For the fans, Drew is going to be connected to the Woodson regime until he proves otherwise. It sends a bad message to hire a Woody assistant on the cheap. The only way to overcome that is to go out and win and overachieve. Coming out of the gate, though, most coaching hires give some energy and bounce to the fan base. This one is deflating.

Again, I'll be rooting for Coach Drew to really blossom now that he has been hired but he was my very last choice (even below Mark Jackson) because of my concerns about what he was not able to accomplish as an assistant coach here and because of his connections to Woodson. I really hope I am wrong.

[BusBoyIsBack]

I like it. And here's why, from Marc Stein at ESPN.com:

"Although he's well-liked and well-respected in the Hawks' locker room, Drew is bound to be dismissed by the Atlanta public as a coach too closely connected to the Woodson era, even though Drew was a respected NBA assistant long before he landed on Woodson's bench.

Those who know Drew best say he'll inject the built-for-speed Hawks with some needed offensive creativity and get them playing faster than the stubborn Woodson ever did. They also say he'll reach Josh Smith and Marvin Williams like Woodson never could and that knowing Atlanta's personnel so well gives him a head start no one else could enjoy."

Drew is not the sexy hire, but seems like the perfect fit :helpsmilie:

These quotes from Stein say it all. But they won't reach any of the people who can't get past the name game.

All these threads hating on Drew, Im sure we will all revisit and those who were wrong about him should gladly admit it if this guy really does implement an offense that encourages ball movement as well as uptempo style, you know the actual STRENGTHS of this team.

As far as why wasn't it implemented before? You can't be serious with that question knowing anything about Mike Woodson

[AHF]

As far as why wasn't it implemented before? You can't be serious with that question knowing anything about Mike Woodson

That explains that he was powerless (i.e., useless) on big picture offensive scheming under Woodson and had very lilttle responsibility for the offense.

That doesn't answer why he didn't work with Marvin and Josh before and doesn't explain what his responsibilities actually were.

I hope I am being pessimistic but I am not excited by an offensive assistant coach who couldn't get the authority to install a few pick and rolls from his prior boss - the boss who didn't give a **** about offense.

If he installs effective offensive structure, speeds up the tempo, gives Teague consistent minutes, and reaches Marvin and Josh in ways that Woody never did, he will definitely start selling me.

The other thing I don't like is the 2 year contract. Really? You believe in the guy so much you are willing to offer only a 2 year deal at basement bargain prices? Really?

[BusBoyIsBack]

That explains that he was powerless (i.e., useless) on big picture offensive scheming under Woodson and had very lilttle responsibility for the offense.

That doesn't answer why he didn't work with Marvin and Josh before and doesn't explain what his responsibilities actually were.

I hope I am being pessimistic but I am not excited by an offensive assistant coach who couldn't get the authority to install a few pick and rolls from his prior boss - the boss who didn't give a **** about offense.

If he installs effective offensive structure, speeds up the tempo, gives Teague consistent minutes, and reaches Marvin and Josh in ways that Woody never did, he will definitely start selling me.

The other thing I don't like is the 2 year contract. Really? You believe in the guy so much you are willing to offer only a 2 year deal at basement bargain prices? Really?

Well we will know very early whether or not Drew is indeed making changes. It should be pretty evident. Also we are not exactly building this team from the ground up which is why they don't have the same patient approach they had with Woodson