If the Hawks dont fire Mike Woodson also, then good luck to them. No new coach, no playoffs next season for the Hawks.
This increases the chances of Woody staying as coach. Billy Knight has been trying to fire him since January. IMO, both guys should be let go. Woody is another one of those guys who should be a lead assistant instead of an NBA head coach.
Why should the head coach be fired? He led Atlanta to their first playoff appearance in 10 years and took the team with the best record to 7 games in the first round when many people, including experts, saw a sweep coming.
Because he's got a horrible overall record @ Atlanta and the same team that took Boston to 7 in the playoffs only won 37 games in the regular season?
Overall record is bad but he has improved each season he has been in Atlanta. Win 6 more games next year and he has the first winning season in Atlanta in over a decade. With the young talent emerging on that team I think it is very possible.
Woody isn't a good head coach. They should get rid of him now and hire someone else to take them to the next level. Don't let that playoff series fool you.
Do you think the Hawks have a real chance to beat out the Pacers (JOB), Bobcats (LB), Bucks (Skiles), and Bulls (D'Antoni?) for a playoffs spot next season with Mike Woodson as coach? Pacers missed the playoffs becoz of injuries. Bobcats/Bucks had bad records becoz of a rookie coach. Bulls also had coaching problem. These 5 teams plus Raptors and Sixers, will compete for 3 playoffs spots next season. Their talents level are more or less the same with the Bulls and Raptors stand out a little bit better. Coaching/injuries will determine which of these teams get to playoffs next season. Mike Woodson, who has never had a 500 regular season record, doesnt look like he's capable of beating out LB, Skiles, etc, with more or less the same talents. I guarantee the Hawks will be back to lottery as long as Woondson stays. This season, they are lucky to be in the playoffs. That home crowd in the playoffs wont be there in regular season games when the Hawks start losing as usual.
Why not evaluate whether or not he's a good coach? Just because he's won more games each year doesn't mean he's a good coach. I think most people here would agree that the situation in Atlanta made it inevitable that he was going to win more games each year, no? When Woodson first got to Atlanta, the players that had the most minutes played were: Al Harrington, Antoine Walker, Josh Smith (in his first year out of HS), Josh Childress (his rookie year), and Tyronn Lue. When you compare this season's roster, is it not inevitable that they'd have a much better record based on talent alone? When you consider what they had during his first season and now, I'd argue that only improving 24 games in 4 years is pretty bad, especially in a conference with such a weak bottom half.
Both of them should be gone. Billy Knight may have drafted Smith, Childress, and got Joe Johnson to sign with Atlanta (a move that Johnson wanted anyways), but it was totally inexcusable to have drafted Williams ahead of either Deron or Paul. They needed a point guard and you had two quality prospects there. Then to compound his mistake, he brings in Mike Bibby. Of course no one saw Bibby jumping the shark vs. Boston, but those hand injuries should have been a red flag. As for Woodson, his lack of any coaching IQ is the reason he needs to go. You put in ANY coach with some kind of coaching skills on that club and they should have been at least a .500 team. The playoffs was when his Xs and Os deficiency was magnified.
imagine if JVG was the coach of the hawks, with that sort of young talent and athleticism at each position he could probably make them the best defensive team or at least a top 4 team in no time. so many players i like on the hawks hopefully they can learn how to mesh together they are fun to watch when they are playing well. mike woodson though probably a nice guy but as a coach? i dont think so, i think they overachieve in the playoffs but vastly underachieved in the regular season
I think because of his playoff success this season, he deserves to be given the job to lose at the start of next one. If the Hawks start out stinking, then fire him, but don't fire Woodson after he took the Hawks to 7 games with Boston. A good thing could be happening.
To borrow a phrase from Hogan's Heroes: If the Hawks hire Billy King to replace Billy Knight, their owners should be court-martialed, shot and then sent to the Russian front.
Hard to believe they got rid of the guy that took Marvin Williams over Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Also, the same guy that drafted Shelden Williams over Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay and also the same guy who passed on the opportunity to trade their 2007 lottery pick (Acie Law) for Monte Ellis? Wow, hard to believe an owner would ever give that guy the boot....
