Apologize to Larry Drew.

[MVP23]

I've come to the realization that this team was simply bored during the regular season. The good teams do it every year. The Spurs and Lakers apparently still are. You basically learn how can and can't coach in the playoffs. Woody couldn't coach. He was destroyed by mediocre guys like Eric Sp and the Buck coach (can't think of his name). Even MIKE BROWN OWNED Woody. We hired Drew to win in the playoffs, and here we are....winning, duh. (Ok, I hate the "winning" thing too). It was LAST YEAR when I was telling people not to double Dwight. Bad coach Mike Woodson doubles Dwight, and we get killed. The very next year, good coach Doc Rivers plays him straight up, and the Celtics go to the finals. This year, I say again, do not double Dwight. Good coach Larry Drew plays Dwight straight up, the Hawks are one game away from moving on to the second round. I have no idea what the gameplan would be against the Bulls though, don't ask me, but I believe in Larry Drew. He has OWNED SVG in this series, completely owned him. I called for LDs head multiple times during the regular season......my bad. This guy can coach.

[JohnnyCASH]

he will only get better

[sasuke]

If he can give us a 7 game series with Chicago I'll give him props.

[plskeepbibby]

No props yet... We still have more to accomplish...

[BudBall]

We can still lose this series or get our *ss handed to us in the Second Round so dont start praising yet.

[CBAreject]

I've come to the realization that this team was simply bored during the regular season. The good teams do it every year. The Spurs and Lakers apparently still are.

Hard to imagine the Spurs were just being bored on their way to 61 wins. Sure, they hit a rough patch late in the season, but 60+ wins is a feat. If anything, their performance against Memphis shows they overachieved in the regular season. Ditto for the Lakers. I disagree that "the good teams do it every year". Does every team give 100% every game? No, but most great teams dominate during the regular season for the most part. This team won 44 games and got outscored in the regular season. If we were in the West, we'd be in the lottery, praying for lucky pingpong balls right now. You can't compare us to Western conference elite, annual 58-game winners.

I agree that LD is coaching a good series, but I'm not ready to annoint him after 4 games vs the Magic. Consider that what we've done against the Magic is nothing we didn't do against them in the regular season. Let's see if he makes it a series against the Bulls.

[High5]

While it's nice to have a coach who can make some adjustments, let's be honest, the Hawks have looked as dreadful as ever on offense for most of the series. And the adjustments that have been made (like playing Dwight straight up) weren't exactly great revelations from Drew. Fortunately Crawford has been hot.

[benhillboy]

He has been great this series. Adjustments, sub patterns, everything. If we win, I most definitely apologize for calling him "green" , "in over his head", "cheap", and "incompetent". I would have no doubt that he could devise a plan to contain Rose and make the rest of his unimpressive cast beat our balanced attack.

[MVP23]

Its just sad though. ASG found a guy they could pay the absolute mim, and he is still a better coach than Woody

[Supporter]

Larry's looking more and more like one of those rookie coaches that turn out to be a superstar coach ala Phil Jackson

[WraithSentinel]

He win this series then I may think about it. No credit until the job is done.

[01d0rd3r]

We win this series AND play respectfully against Chicago and then I will fully support drew to come back. I have supported him all year, but the reason I had hope in him is because he was supposed to make the team better. If he gets us to the second round and we get swept we have essentially stayed in a stasis. I hope he turns out to be a fantastic coach for us. I am just not entirely convinced yet.

[CBAreject]

Larry's looking more and more like one of those rookie coaches that turn out to be a superstar coach ala Phil Jackson

Holy smokes! I guess I appreciate the unabashed homerism, but guys, LD has done nothing but continue what his philosophy was to match up well with one team and overtly discipline Josh Smith. Yes, that instantly makes him better than Woodson, but that just shows how awful Woodson was. The truth is, if Orlando shoots just 3-23 on 3ptrs in the last game instead of an epic 2-23, we are tied and giving homecourt back to the Magic. They didn't have Josh Smith chucking 3's for them either, it was the likes of Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Redick, and Jameer Nelson.

[AHF]

Holy smokes! I guess I appreciate the unabashed homerism, but guys, LD has done nothing but continue what his philosophy was to match up well with one team and overtly discipline Josh Smith. Yes, that instantly makes him better than Woodson, but that just shows how awful Woodson was. The truth is, if Orlando shoots just 3-23 on 3ptrs in the last game instead of an epic 2-23, we are tied and giving homecourt back to the Magic. They didn't have Josh Smith chucking 3's for them either, it was the likes of Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Redick, and Jameer Nelson.

I don't think Orlando shooting 3-23 or 4-23 translates into an instant win for Orlando (there are more moving parts), but agree with the basic point of the post that LD definitely hasn't proven himself.

[atlbraves93]

Although I was skeptical during the season, LD has earned my respect during these playoff games. I was really impressed by the way he has handled Josh Smith, taking him out of the game when he makes dumb plays and encouraging him to play to his strengths. LD has been saying the right things all year long (less jump shots, more intensity) and it seems that the players are finally doing these things. I am still a little skeptical because of the poor performance in the regular season, but I think LD deserves to be the coach next year. Hopefully the Hawks will play more like they are playing right now than they did in the regular season.

Edited April 26, 2011 by atlbraves93

[DJlaysitup]

We win this series AND play respectfully against Chicago and then I will fully support drew to come back. I have supported him all year, but the reason I had hope in him is because he was supposed to make the team better. If he gets us to the second round and we get swept we have essentially stayed in a stasis. I hope he turns out to be a fantastic coach for us. I am just not entirely convinced yet.

I tend to agree 01d...but to be fair even if we were to somehow get swept I'd call it a baby step forward (as long as we don't break our own record).

Actually if we close out ORL I would bet the farm that we don't get swept next series. Anticipated props to LD.

[buckeye242424]

I support LD, just like I supported Woody. However, the decision of the defensive philosophy vs. Orlando had to be a group decision. Sund brought in more big bodies to combat this series, and Twin got in better shape. Good motivation for Twin, get in shape and you'll play. I do agree that this team was sleep walking post all-star game waiting for this chance...so far, so good. I'll reserve judgement on LD after the season is over.

[dalamchops]

SAY WHAT? in the 3 minutes that d12 has been out of the game, we've had ZERO ZLICH NONE layup attempts. All we've done is chuck shots.

[CBAreject]

I don't think Orlando shooting 3-23 or 4-23 translates into an instant win for Orlando (there are more moving parts), but agree with the basic point of the post that LD definitely hasn't proven himself.

Of course, you're right--it's not so simple. It's the butterfly effect in short. The point, though, is that there's actually quite a bit of variance involved in 3 pt shooting percentage in a given game being such a tiny sample. And for a team that relies quite heaviliy on perimeter shooting, when its 3 best 3 pt shooters (2 of which are spectacular) go a collective 0-fer, it's awfully hard for them to win. They had incredibly bad shooting luck and we only edged them. That said, I have been impressed with our play thus far, tonight's debacle notwithstanding.

[Atlantaholic]

So will he still get props if we are one of five six teams in NBA history to give up a 3-1 series lead? Especially since we basically gave away game 2 of the series by sitting Horford the entire first half for no reason whatsoever.

Edited April 27, 2011 by Atlantaholic