Woody = Undeserved firing!

[Diesel]

First thoughts

Can't wait for the NY team to be worse now. Woody is not that good of a coach. Our team got better because its called natural progression. Not because he is some sort of genius. This guy was the worst offense coach in the NBA and on defense everyone knew how to score on us because all we did is switch everything defensively. So you put the quick pg on our center. Woody good coach my A@@. I wouldn't wish him to coach a team that I hate thats just not fair to them.

-Phoostol

Second take

That will assure the Knicks will never be a serious contender in the East or the NBA for that matter. Thanks NY management.

-Phoostol

I will say this. What Woody has done with the Knicks this year... with the amount of injuries that they have had is very good work.

Some might say IsoMelo however, those other guys know when to step up.

I think he has a very good mix of player who have maturity.

All signs points to a Woody in Atlanta that had some immature basketball players with low BBIQ.

LD inherited that same team and even though we made some big trades this past offseason, we have the same problems we have always had. Little maturity, no BBIQ.

I just hope that we don't do unto LD as we had done unto Woody without considering what he had to work with.

[capstone21]

Woody was an absolute TERRIBLE coach here....he may have improved with the Knicks but his style here was a disaster.

[buckeye242424]

I've never thought that Mike Woodson is a great coach. He improved every year, but when you start with a 13 win team, it's hard not to. His talent improved. He still was the coach that made the Hawks relevant again.

But damn, let's be honest here. The Knicks have better basketball players than we do. It's that simple. ISO Carmelo is better than ISO Joe. Tyson Chandler is, arguably, the best defensive player in the league. Defense is his staple. It sets up nice for Woody. I'm happy for him.

[GST]

NY this year: fewest assists in the league, also fewest turnovers. Woody's standard plan that works well in the regular season, not so well in the playoffs.

[Ruckus]

You might be giving him a bit too much credit here. He has a stacked team with All-Stars, Hall of Famers, and this years possible scoring champ. We never had that.What LD has done is much more impressive to me.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Ruckus

[buckeye242424]

NY this year: fewest assists in the league, also fewest turnovers. Woody's standard plan that works well in the regular season, not so well in the playoffs.

Right. My point exactly. His philosophy hasn't changed. He just has a better one-on-one player in Melo than he had in Joe. it's not even close. Plus his role players are better defensively, and all around, have more talent than any team he had with Atlanta,. He's not a bad coach, but when you have better personnel that still fits your philosophy = more wins.

[Guest]

Wait another month before you praise Woody. He's a good regular season coach but he chokes in the playoffs. Ala Mike Brown

[cam1218]

Woody wasn't too bad, but we were horrible in the playoffs under him. That is where he will always be remembered. The Knicks were horrible too last year as well.Life is easy when you have a guy dropping 30 points a game.I'd never have l him back and I don't want Drew back either.

[MaceCase]

Yea....I'd wait a bit to see if he can dominate a lower seed in the playoffs as he should before putting up a competitive 2nd round first. Eeking out a 7 game series with the Celtics, Bucks or us before getting swept by the Pacers just won't cut it.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Diesel bringing back old memories.

If the Hawks had the 2010 version this year, we'd be #2 in the East on pace to win 55 - 57 games. We matched up with every team in the league that year, with the exception of the Orlando Magic.

2010 Hawks vs 2013 Knicks

PG - Bibby vs Felton

G - Johnson vs Shumpert

F - Marvin vs Melo

PF - Smith vs Amare

C - Horford vs Chandler

6th man - Jamal vs J.R.

Two teams that are virtual mirror images of each other who basically play the same way. The difference would be that Horford + Smith in 2010 > Amare + Chandler in 2013.

The combo of JJ + Jamal ( 39 points - 8 asst - 45% FG - 37% 3FG ) virtually equals the production from the combo of Melo + J.R.in 2013 ( 46 pts - 5 asst - 43% FG - 36% 3FG )

I would've loved to see that Hawks team have another forward with the skills of an Ivan, or a spot up shooter they could've brought off the bench like Jenkins ( instead of Mo Evans ). Zaza was pretty sad that year as well.

[Wretch]

Woody was an absolute TERRIBLE coach here....he may have improved with the Knicks but his style here was a disaster.

^This right here.

I never thought much of Woody. My opinion of him was pretty much the same throughout his tenure: he's a pretty good defensive-minded guy, sucks at offense, and his "do what the hell you want" gameplan was never going to work - and is largely responsible for how Smith has developed. ISO-Joe was never going to get us very far.

I'm quite indifferent about how he's doing NY. I'm just glad he's not here anymore. He was not the right fit for us.

My thing with coaches is that they need the right players.

[capstone21]

He was completely predictable...his sub patterns were always the same and he never did any in-game adjustments which cost us many wins. That switching defense he implemented got exploited badly in the playoffs. I was happy when Woody was relieved of his duty here. The sh!t doesn't always work!

[itsslomotionbaby]

plus woody hardly ever went past 7 deep, we must remember you would have never even seen a glimpse of jenkins or scott, would be lucky to see ivan. petro forget about it.ifnot for an injury teague never gets off the bench & is probably out of the league by now.

[benhillboy]

Woody will ultimately have to be judged by this year's playoffs, but I fear his Oldest Team in the League will not hold up. I do know he's at least a superior coach to George Karl. Woody's a defensive coach yet has managed to get the best seasons out of J.R. and Melo. I don't see a lot of talent on that team. There's a $100 million dolar PR nightmare on that roster who isnt starter quality. There are a lot of cast-offs on that roster. I understand the hate after the Orlando debacle. I do. Personally I think he's a fine coach. Ringing endorsements from the Bob Knights, Larry Browns, and Greg Popovichs of the world are good enough for me. He has the focus to drown out all the noise in New York. 3-1 against the defending World Champs, what better measure do you want?

Edited April 6, 2013 by benhillboy

[Guest]

Having superior talent and good veteran players does wonders for a coach's resume.

[yungsta]

No his time was done he had to go. He lost the team and after all those playoff blowouts something had to be done.

If you watched the knicks and heat series last year almost every game was a blowout. Woody hasnt changed 1 bit.

[Jody23]

To this topic, I have two words: Carmelo Anthony. Woody never, and I mean neeeevvvveerrrrr had a player of Carmelo's status in Atlanta. Secondly, Woody was not fired. He just didn't receive a new contract. There's a difference.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Jody23

[Guest]

What we do know: Ferry remains one of Mike Brown's biggest fans, so assumptions about Ferry's interest in bringing Brown to Atlanta will live on until Brown is no longer a coaching free agent. ESPN.com
Read more at http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm#R0ydiPzuJ7UsYPgO.99

[TheNorthCydeRises]

- 65 - 32 as coach of the Knicks

- 4 consecutive winning seasons ( 2 in ATL . . 2 in NY ).

- 5 consecutive playoff appearances. ( 3 in ATL . . 2 in NY )

- Knicks on the verge of winning their 1st division title in 20 years.

- Knicks on the verge of reaching 50 wins for the first time since the 2000 season.

He may not be a top notch coach, but don't talk like that dude is garbage. He teaches the right things that promotes winning. He's gotten Carmelo, a player much maligned for his effort on defense, to put up BY FAR the best defensive season he's ever had.

In Atlanta, all he had were 5 good players, 2 inconsistent players, and a bunch of either underachieving vets or inconsistent rookies.

I would've loved to see what Woody could've done with these current Hawks. Korver would still have the green light to fire away. Ivan would be one of his favorite players, because he plays hard on defense and he rebounds the basketball. More may have been asked of Devin Harris offensively. With Teague at the point, his role in the offense would be increased. Smith would be chided into playing more and more inside. And Horford would be "that guy" on offense who would be dependend upon to produce in crunch time.

[yungsta]

Woody ball wins regular season games not playoff games. That is why he was let go despite his improvement in the regular season. We were embarrassed in the playoffs every year when woody was here.

Our playoff performance improved signficantly the year after he was let go with a nearly identical roster

Woody has an attractive regular season because he makes ZERO ADJUSTMENTS and sticks to the same thing, same lineup, same rotations for the whole season but in the playoffs when team figure you out they will EXPOSE YOU for your lack of adjustments because you do the same damn thing without changing anything and you will end up getting destroyed like we did and the knicks did last season.

I never want a coach that has zero offensive creativity and just isos all game ever again.

Edited April 7, 2013 by yungsta