My personal Mike Woodson apology

[terrell]

I would like to personally apologize to Mike Woodson for every negative thing I've ever said about you. Well most of em. I know you werent the best coach out there, BY FAR, but I dont think Red Auerbach or Phil Jackson could win with this bunch. "They left their heart in San Francisco". Again, sorry Woody. And btw, LD you dont stand a chance with this team, as is constructed. You can flip flop the lineup all you want. Doesnt matter. If you owe Woodson an apology, feel free to comment.

[niremetal]

Getting rid of Woodson was not sufficient to get this team over the top, but it sure as hell was necessary.

[terrell]

Getting rid of Woodson was not sufficient to get this team over the top, but it sure as hell was necessary.

But have they really improved? If they have, I dont see it. Think it's more about the players. Coach can only do so much.

[capstone21]

But have they really improved? If they have, I dont see it. Think it's more about the players. Coach can only do so much.

Yes the last week or so has been bad but the change has been dramatic. The switching defense is gone (which hurt us a lot) and there is more flow to the offense (not including the last week).

Once again ...not taking the last week into account...we have become more unpredictable...Woody has one plan and one substitute pattern at almost set times and we don't ever swtich it up. We were very predictiable. LD has been able to adjust as the game moves on.

[Brotha2ThaNite]

But have they really improved? If they have, I dont see it. Think it's more about the players. Coach can only do so much.

That maybe true but a lot of ppl on this board didn't think LD was the coach for this team either. So, some will still say it is part coaching :headphones:

[terrell]

Yes the last week or so has been bad but the change has been dramatic. The switching defense is gone (which hurt us a lot) and there is more flow to the offense (not including the last week).

Once again ...not taking the last week into account...we have become more unpredictable...Woody has one plan and one substitute pattern at almost set times and we don't ever swtich it up. We were very predictiable. LD has been able to adjust as the game moves on.

Until we get a pg who can play perimeter defense, it doesnt matter if we switch or not. Woodson was just trying to hide Bibby. You almost have to. And what's not predictable about giving Joe the ball at crunch time? LD did the same thing Woody woulda did. ISO Joe. The Bobcats were ready for it, and Joe's dumbass settled for a jumpshot like he always does. Gotta take it to the hole in that situation. And btw, I havent seen good ball movement in a while now. Maybe in the 1st half. But not the 2nd half. And I'm not just talking about the last couple of weeks either. But like I said earlier, the coach can only do so much. These guys are soft as wet toilet paper. And the bench, or lackthereof, is D-leaguelike. Same as last year. What has Powell or Etan given us, that Randolph Morris couldnt of given us? I mean really. Edited February 13, 2011 by terrell

[frankthetank966]

Where is he now???

[TheTruth]

Where is he now???

Last I heard, no one is looking to hire brow-less Mr. Potato Head look-a-likes and body doubles.

[Vol4ever]

Last I heard, no one is looking to hire brow-less Mr. Potato Head look-a-likes and body doubles.

I would take him over LD today. At least we played defense and he tried to keep JSmoove under control, whicj LD has failed misrably at.

I believe LD will be fired in the offseason. One and done.

[gsuteke]

I would take him over LD today. At least we played defense and he tried to keep JSmoove under control, whicj LD has failed misrably at.

I believe LD will be fired in the offseason. One and done.

i believe if LD's contract runs after this season then that is probably not the case.

Woody should have put in his contract that his was tied to Marvin Williams'

[swolehawk2]

Players come and go, but the one thing that has been constant is that we have not had a proven coach since Lenny Wilkens.

And thats part of the reason that the prime talent on this team will waste away. We need a pro proven coach.

[Bawse]

This team is a group of it's own. Doesn't matter who's coaching, whether it be Woody or LD the fact of the matter is that there is no discipline. Smoove is still taking outside jumpers and we got Bibby starting for who knows why. The dude can barely bring the ball up the court.

I'd go ahead and put Joe at the 1 and start Jamal at the 2. f*** it. Make some changes like you said you would LD. Show em who's boss with the lowest paid salary in the NBA!

[NineOhTheRino]

The team played 10x harder under Woody. Drew is OK as Josh Smith's confidant but suck as the head man.

[terrell]

This team is a group of it's own. Doesn't matter who's coaching, whether it be Woody or LD the fact of the matter is that there is no discipline. Smoove is still taking outside jumpers and we got Bibby starting for who knows why. The dude can barely bring the ball up the court.

I'd go ahead and put Joe at the 1 and start Jamal at the 2. f*** it. Make some changes like you said you would LD. Show em who's boss with the lowest paid salary in the NBA!

Mike Bibby is still in the NBA?

[spotatl]

Last season the Hawks were 13th in the league in Defense, this season they are 13th in the league in Defense.

Last season the Hawks were 3rd in the league in offense, this season they are 15th. Last Season the Hawks were the best team in the league in turnover rate by a big margin, this season they are 13th. Last season the Hawks were a top 5 offensive rebounding team, this season they are in the bottom 5.

I just don't see how anyone can think this team is better than last season.

I do think that Drew's job is safe. No way will the ASG pay 2 coaches during the lockout.

[niremetal]

Last season the Hawks were 13th in the league in Defense, this season they are 13th in the league in Defense.

Last season the Hawks were 3rd in the league in offense, this season they are 15th. Last Season the Hawks were the best team in the league in turnover rate by a big margin, this season they are 13th. Last season the Hawks were a top 5 offensive rebounding team, this season they are in the bottom 5.

I just don't see how anyone can think this team is better than last season.

I do think that Drew's job is safe. No way will the ASG pay 2 coaches during the lockout.

Most of basketball can't be gleaned from looking at the team statistical rankings on Basketball-Reference.com.

Last season the Hawks' top 6 missed 14 games due to injury. This season it's already been 36. Despite that, we still have roughly the same record. More importantly, the team's offense and defense is less predictable, which has already paid dividends particularly in close-and-late situations because it's no longer the case that everyone in the building knows the ball is going to JJ. For the rest of the game, you don't hear Hubie Brown and Mike Fratello making fun of the Hawks for going 1-on-1 nearly every possession like they did last year, and you don't see teams getting the mismatches they want as easily as they could a year ago.

Of course, many of the warts remain present. The team gets jumper-happy and the offense thus can go cold for long stretches, particularly in the fourth quarter. We still don't have a PG who can both defend his position without fouling and be a modicum of a threat of offense. Marvin still disappears, Josh is still in love with his jumper, Al's OReb ability suffers because he drifts out to the perimeter often, and JJ/Jamal (especially Jamal) sometimes pull a Kobe by ignoring the offense and going one-on-one. But the team at least is a threat to win a couple games in a second round series this season. There was never a risk of that under Woody.

Edited February 14, 2011 by niremetal

[spotatl]

Niremetal. I'd bet heavily the Hawks don't win a second round game this year. The offense is less predictable in the sense that there are more times when the offense goes completely into the toilet but I don't see that as an improvement. The offense is less effective this season. I do think that Woodson got a ton of production out of a highly flawed roster. With a different approach the team is using a method that many fans were clamoring for and getting worse results. I just think its funny how far people will go to try and say that the offense is better this season even though the results aren't there.

[99PROBL3MS]

The negative impact Woody had on this franchise is greatly exaggerated. He was destroyed in the playoffs last year and had road woes. He won at home though. This year we have already list more home games than we did all of last year. On the flipside, we have almost won as many road games as all of last year. Woody improved every year record-wise and that is why alot of casual observers were shocked to see ASG let him walk. If he wasn't undressed in the playoffs he may have been brought back.

[NineOhTheRino]

I always thought Woody did a damn good job with the built in limitations at the 1,4, and 5 positions. I don't see where Drew has a schematic advantage over Woody. The team was always on the verge of becoming a jump-shooting team under Woody but there's not question they're a jump-shooting team under Drew. Just goes to prove that sometimes the best moves are the ones left undone.

Edited February 14, 2011 by NineOhTheRino

[macdaddy]

I always thought Woody did a damn good job with the built in limitations at the 1,4, and 5 positions. I don't see where Drew has a schematic advantage over Woody. The team was always on the verge of becoming a jump-shooting team under Woody but there's not question they're a jump-shooting team under Drew. Just goes to prove that sometimes the best moves are the ones left undone.

'On the verge of becoming a jump shooting team under Woody' is a huge understatement. We were without a doubt a jump shooting team. And we shot well last year. But that's not going to get us anywhere.

I know we disagree but we are much less of a jump shooting team now. Our defense wasn't any better last year and Smoove was not 'more under control'. We've had a bad couple of weeks and exposed some weaknesses. Its not the end of the world. We could use some more talent on the bench but this is still a damn good team. I think LD has done more to get them playing the way they need to in 4 months than Woody did in 6 years.