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ARTICLE: Hawks' coach (foolishly?) is optimistic

clrumph

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clrumph Newbie

clrumph

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Hawks' coach (foolishly?) is optimistic

By Chris Perkins

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Mike Woodson might be crazy.

Entering the weekend the Atlanta Hawks coach had a 15-81 record in one-plus seasons on the job.

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There are reports that Atlanta, the NBA's youngest team, has a generation gap in its locker room that is threatening to divide the young and the older. During the exhibition season, center Jason Collier died from a heart abnormality. Then the Hawks started the season 0-9.

Yet there was Woodson last week, sitting in his office and smiling while counting his blessings.

"It's the greatest job in America," said Woodson, who served as an assistant for three seasons for Larry Brown and played for Bob Knight at Indiana University. "I try to tell my players that. This job is the best job in the world."

Hawks have look of a loser

That doesn't mean Woodson likes to lose.

He was an assistant coach with Detroit for two years ago when the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the NBA Finals.

Woodson, who has been in the league since 1980 as both a player and a coach, is used to winning.

But that's not going to happen anytime soon in Atlanta.

The Hawks consist of forwards Al Harrington, Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Marvin Williams, who so far is taking the Darko Milicic path for No. 2 draft picks. The guards include Joe Johnson, Royal Ivey and Tyronn Lue. Atlanta's center is Zaza Pachuila, and he might be the most productive player at this point.

And that's what tells you Woodson might be crazy. He has this cast of characters, his team is losing, and still he enjoys coming to work every day.

"You lose anywhere, and it's tough," he said. "But I'll say this — it's been fun coaching. From a coaching standpoint, I don't know if you will find too many coaches that say that when they lose."

Remember Pat Riley when the Heat was going through that 25-57 season that would be his final one as a head coach? He was miserable.

Remember Stan Van Gundy when the Heat started out 0-7 the following season? He was miserable.

Ask any coach who is losing and he's miserable.

Woodson, one would suspect, is also miserable.

But he says his job remains fun because his players are trying to learn and trying to win.

"We just haven't gotten over the hump yet as far as being able to win on a consistent basis," he said.

A history of dysfunction

That's crazy talk.

Atlanta will never be able to win consistently with this roster.

That has been the case for the Hawks for the past few years. They're a bad team. They have it written all over them. Bad teams lose consistently and they never learn to win consistently.

Atlanta has all the earmarks. It has s been slumping since the 1998-99 season. Since then the team has had four coaches — Woodson, Lenny Wilkens, Lon Kruger, Terry Stotts — ownership has changed, player turnover occurs at an alarming rate and no one attends the games.

In the grand scheme of things, Woodson should be praised for realizing how fortunate he is to be an NBA coach. Just 30 men in the world hold that job.

With his positive attitude, Woodson should be held up as an example of someone who appreciates what he has no matter how badly things are going.

Then he spins this gem.

"We've played 13 games," Woodson said last week, "and I truly believe we could easily be 6-7 or 7-6."

Perhaps Woodson wasn't crazy when he took this job in August of 2004, but he definitely seems to have lost his mind now.

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Dakin Newbie

Dakin

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"Marvin Williams, who so far is taking the Darko Milicic path for No. 2 draft picks"

Whoever wrote that is a complete idiot, especially for the last line. Woodson was obviosly referring to all the close games, how does that make him insane. what a joke.

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Lascar78 Newbie

Lascar78

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Quote:

The people that said the Hawks should have taken a PG are

correct no matter if you want to admit it or not. Perhaps

they'd atleast be .500 instead the dormat for every single

team in the league.

Only if your goal is to win the most games this year. But we knew that on draft night. If the goal was to be the best possible team in a couple of years, we don't know who's right

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TheDude Newbie

TheDude

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Quote:

Quote:

The people that said the Hawks should have taken a PG are

correct no matter if you want to admit it or not. Perhaps

they'd atleast be .500 instead the dormat for every single

team in the league.

Only if your goal is to win the most games this year. But we knew that on draft night. If the goal was to be the best possible team in a couple of years, we don't know who's right

exactly lascar..everyone knew that marvin was going to take a few years..here it is a few weeks and the sky is falling.
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macdaddy Grand Master

macdaddy

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exactly lascar..everyone knew that marvin was going to take a few years..here it is a few weeks and the sky is falling.

I agreed with you on draft night. But man Marvin has looked bad. Smoove looked better right out of high school. He played ok in garbage time, but how many turnovers and travels has he had this year. He has a nice shot but seems to have below average offensive skills. His D seems good but I definitely expected more. Of course, he looks plenty uncomfortable so maybe once he settles in he'll look better.

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exodus Newbie

exodus

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I think a lot of Marvins problem is just jitters. I think he also needs to add some in between moves to his game, and some post moves. But his shot sure is nice and he gets it off quick.

I expect as the season goes on we will see more of Marvins true game.

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JoeJohson Newbie

JoeJohson

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The reason the Hawks should have taken Paul instead of Marvin, is that good point guards are a lot harder to find then forwards. Marvin is going to be a very good player in 3 years, Paul is a very good player right now.

I believe the Hawks would have won more games if they had Paul instead of Marvin. Next year it would have been easier to recruit players with Joe Johnson and Paul here.

-

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Guest Walter

Guest Walter

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with Paul (or Deron). Especially Paul, his height/length hasn't been half the liability I thought it would and he is a coach on the floor able to overcome Woodson and a young team's offensive lackings. Already he is averaging 17/7 as a rookie and doing so from the most important position. If any position can change a whole team it is Pg. The only greater shame than not drafting Paul at this point is our drafting Marvin over getting a top notch Pg period (i.e. Deron 13.5/5).

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I'll admit that we should have taken Paul, but we'd still be the worst team in the league even with him. This team doesn't do the things necessary to win games and one guy (particularly a rookie) isn't going to change that. We need a fresh start.

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Packfill Proficient

Packfill

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The reason the Hawks should have taken Paul instead of Marvin, is that good point guards are a lot harder to find then forwards. Marvin is going to be a very good player in 3 years, Paul is a very good player right now.

I believe the Hawks would have won more games if they had Paul instead of Marvin. Next year it would have been easier to recruit players with Joe Johnson and Paul here.

-

Agreed. As a Suns fan you should know very well how important a good point guard is. Unfortunately, Hawks fans have not learned this lesson yet.

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drzachary Newbie

drzachary

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Agreed. As a Suns fan you should know very well how important a good point guard is. Unfortunately, Hawks fans have not learned this lesson yet.

Hawks fans don't get to decide who we draft (Diesel fever-dreams notwithstanding.)

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