OT: Hmm...Fratello fired in Memphis.

[mrhonline]

The first firing of the season.

I always thought he did a good job of getting the most out of Memphis the past two years.

How poorly they've played without a healthy Gasol just proves how thin on talent they really were if you ask me.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Mike Fratello did a good job getting the Grizzles into the playoffs and he was fired after a bad start. This just goes to show the Hawks are the only franchise that would keep a horrible coach like Mike Woodson any other franchise would have canned this guy years ago. Im hoping this leads to a flood gate of firings next in line Mike Woodson. Please god give me this gift!

[gutz]

Shoot I would hire Fratello again instead of keeping Woodson.

[Sothron]

So why aren't we on the phone right now to hire him? Fratello is still the best coach in Hawks history. The only thing that concerns me is that he might want us to play the same boring, plodding style that the Grizz had at times.

But its still better than Woodson.

[AHF]

Who would want the Memphis job? They are in an ownership transition period right now and the prosespective owners have already said they are going to cut salary. That job will hurt the career of whoever takes it. The only reason for optimism right now is the combination of Gasol and West.

[mrhonline]

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Who would want the Memphis job?

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Mike Woodson?

[SmooveTheFuture]

Mike Woodson has a record of 48 WINS AND whopping 143 losses in his time as a Atlanta Hawks head coach.

Mike Fratello Record as the Grizzles Head coach was 95 wins and 83 losses and was fired today after a rough start.

If this guys coaching got him fired why is Woodson still coaching the Hawks.

They have almost coached in the same amount of games for each team. Now with Fratello taking the Grizzles to the playoffs twice and had success there.

NOW can someone please explain to me how in the hell is Mike Woodson still coaching an NBA Team. This is a freaking joke his record is the worst of any NBA coach in the NBA right now. When is enough going to be enough with this guy. The record speaks for itself he is not a good nba coach and should be fired asap!!!

[TheDude]

woodson needs to grow his beard back....we starting falling the very minute he shaved his beard.

[ATLJA316]

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woodson needs to grow his beard back....we starting falling the very minute he shaved his beard.

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My friend and I decided that the best thing that happened to the hawks all season was him shaving his beard.....but WOW, you might be right!

[gutz]

Your exactly right and I posted something about that before. We were 4-1 and Woody shows up to the Sonics Game with his beard shaved. We then lost numerous games by less than 3pts., everyone started getting hurt, and then we just blew 2 double digit leads in the 4th qtr. at HOME to Chicago and Utah. It literally has been all downhill ever since he shaved his beard before the Sonics game at Phillips that we lost in OT.

[Gray Mule]

Teams trade players. Why couldn't we have traded coaches

with the Griz?

They probably wanted too much "To boot" to do it!!

[DJlaysitup]

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woodson needs to grow his beard back....we starting falling the very minute he shaved his beard.

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Beard won't do it - Woodhead is the worst coach in the NBA. Opening up the universe to coaches in the NCAA he would still be worst. As far as High School coaches go - I dunno - but my buddy Mike Stallings who coached J,City against (a former SIU coach...with a talent pool of 20,000) and beat him from a town of 3600 population) would be better too. (my hero)....guess what?????? they ran the Princeton Offense.

I was an assistant coach in my son's little league and I could do better than these fools. Kill the head....now

[KB21]

The guy in Memphis that should get fired is Jerry West. He hasn't done a thing in Memphis other than put that team into salary cap hell. Memphis is lucky he is retiring at the end of the season. Jerry West has done nothing but live off the mystique that the City of LA created for him while with the Lakers. Jerry West's draft picks have been terrible in Memphis, and the trade of Shane Battier this past summer was the straw the broke the camel's back.

[DrReality]

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Who would want the Memphis job?

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Mike Woodson?

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Good point. I don't think Fratelo had a chance.

[TexasPete]

Its another example of how some teams expect more than others. Fratello also had horrible injuries to deal with and he was still held accountable. He led a very average team to the playoffs last year and suffered injuries all this year and still got wacked.

Even the Grizzlies hold their coach accountable and don't accept excuses. The Spirit? Ole Woody and staff are presiding over another disaster that will get worse before it gets better. But these guys just don't care. This is the most gutless group I've seen in sports. Losing is not only a constant reality but they don't ever take bold action to change things. These guys have got to stop listening to Billy Knight on every issue because BK's blind to Woodson and has a strange way of doing things anyway. We still don't have a legit starting PG and it just kills the team. These dolts actually still think Claxton is going to come around. Even Claxtons best year ever is not what we should have been looking for. And we still have no interior defense. This club just beats around the bush with low budget moves trying to solve high budget problems.

Note to Spirit: Fire Woody and get us a real coach. Make a bold move and get us a GREAT COACH. Not some BK special. Being a Hawks fan can be embarrassing enough. Come on guys, its so past time.

[KB21]

Get real.

Mike Fratello getting fired in Memphis has very little to do with them holding him accountable for the Grizzlies poor season and everything to do with Jerry West not being able to admit that he made drastic mistakes in putting together that team. Fratello is simply the next fall guy for Jerry West and his inability to build upon what Billy Knight had built in Memphis.

Unlike the Grizzlies, the Hawks realize that there aren't many, if any, coaches in the league that would have done better than Mike Woodson if put into the Hawks situation during his first two years on the job. This is the first year that Mike has had a team that could compete night in and night out, and he just happens to run into the worst run of luck any coach could have. I bet the Hawks have more player games missed than any other team in the NBA at this point.

This is why fans don't make the decisions. If it were up to the fans, the coach would be changed every year.

[Guest Walter]

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Fratello is simply the next fall guy for Jerry West and his inability to build upon what Billy Knight had built in Memphis.

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BK made one very shrewed move in getting Gasol from us while he was the Memphis GM. That move alone was the inverse equivalent of his getting MW (a very "screwed move"). If BK had only made a similar trade/draft move for us or had even once drafted as soundly for us with the many high lottery picks as he did in selecting Gasol we would be in MUCH better shape. He did the opposite.

For us BK's been one of the 3-4 worst GMs in the league. West made many small mistakes, but one of them wasn't hiring a Sidney Lowe, Woody character. He got a d@mn good coach in Fratello. Didn't work out but it's not Fratello's fault as much as it was West's. It's not even like West was trying to make bold moves. Everything was a lateral move that dipped down just enough or a poor mid-1st draft selection.

West should've been out of Memphis not Fratello.

I call'em as I see'um.

W

[TexasPete]

Jerry West has won numerous NBA championships as both a player and a coach. No, he hasn't set the world on fire in Memphis but your man BK isn't fit to carry West's water bottle. BK hasn't even won 30 games in his illustrious GM career. My guess is he never will. You obviously have a hard on for West because he probably wee weed in Billy's cheerios at some point.

Woodson should not have been retained after last year. It has nothing to do with injuries and everything to do with being a lousy in game strategist. Despite the injuries we have lost most of our games in the last 60 seconds and had you been at the games instead of in another state...you would know exactly why those games were lost and who was responsible. Woodson is a terrible head coach period.

[Popeye]

West traded their "glue guy" Shane Battier for a potential in Rudy Gay. Why did he do that if he wanted to go back to the playoffs? Why did he fire Fratelo, when he knew that Grizzlies migth suck after trading their "glue guy" and knowing that he wont get much of production from Gay?

Battier was anchor of their defense, he always defended opponents best offensive players.

[Packfill]

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West traded their "glue guy" Shane Battier for a potential in Rudy Gay. Why did he do that if he wanted to go back to the playoffs? Why did he fire Fratelo, when he knew that Grizzlies migth suck after trading their "glue guy" and knowing that he wont get much of production from Gay?

Battier was anchor of their defense, he always defended opponents best offensive players.

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He traded Battier because he knows that a core of Gasol/Battier/Miller is not enough to win a championship or do more than just compete for a low seed in the playoffs. He traded Battier gambling on Gay's potential - if that potential is reached (which is a big if) then he has a legit two star lineup and a shot at the title.