Woody, BK, and the culture of losing...

[TexasPete]

Mike Woodson and Billy Knight have had enough time to prove that neither of them is good enough at what they do to continue in their current jobs. The case against both of them is too strong to ignore at this point.

But, just as important as how poorly they have both performed, is the culture that is these Atlanta Hawks. And when your culture is filled with losing and bad breaks it is almost always a self fulfilling prophecy. These two guys should go because these Hawks need a fresh start with a new coach and GM, a chance for the entire organization to start fresh. When these guys report back at the end of the summer if Woody and BK are still in their positions you can expect more of the same. The best thing these owners can do is wipe the slate clean, get a real coach and GM in town and the new culture has a chance to thrive. These young players associate losing with this regime and that won't ever change. And the fans would be able to get excited if the new coach was the real deal and had the right pedigree. The Hawks need a new culture...and a fresh start in 2007-08.

[Packfill]

I agree, except I think the ownership mess permeates everything so that the culture of losing comes from the ownership level down.

[Guest Walter]

Quote:

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Mike Woodson and Billy Knight have had enough time to prove that neither of them is good enough at what they do to continue in their current jobs. The case against both of them is too strong to ignore at this point.

But, just as important as how poorly they have both performed, is the culture that is these Atlanta Hawks. And when your culture is filled with losing and bad breaks it is almost always a self fulfilling prophecy. These two guys should go because these Hawks need a fresh start with a new coach and GM, a chance for the entire organization to start fresh. When these guys report back at the end of the summer if Woody and BK are still in their positions you can expect more of the same.

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I agree with everything above 100%. Not just do BK and Woody deserve to be fired but the franchise NEEDS them to be fired and hope in the form of new managment and coaching hired. That isn't all they need, but it's a start.

Our ability to acheive this depends mostly on the ownership situation, but putting that aside, it depends upon our relative capacity to turn things around. THAT depends upon what draft pick(s) we get. Alot of this boils down to the lottery, frankly.

This lottery is make of break for big changes this offseason. Even if ownership wants to, I can't see them making big changes without a top 3 pick to entice another GM and coach to attempt to weather the ownership dispute.

[TexasPete]

True about the Atlanta Spirit. These guys aren't going anywhere however, barring a loss in court. And getting Belkin has it's own issues.

The way I see it is that the ASG have hired a solid GM and coach on the hockey side. The Thrashers have a different vibe and that is because the GM and coach are solid.

The big issue I have with the ASG is why they can't seem to grasp the BK and Woody incompetance thing. With every blown BK opportunity they are always there with the fact that they are so happy with who he has picked. No Deng? No problem, we got Chill. No CP3? No sweat, Marvin is on the way. No Roy? Big deal, we got what we needed in SW.

The whole ASG seem in denial and you can't fix what you don't acknowledge.

[Lascar78]

Well obviously they can't acknowledge the problems while they retain the GM / coach. You can't undermine your staff. You shut your mouth until you let them go and then you can be honest.

And there is a significant possibility that they are keeping Woody and BK around solely because of the lawsuit and its implications.

I wish this damn lawsuit would go away so we could know what's up. Much like the injuries have left plenty of questions about some players, the lawsuit has left plenty of questions about the owners. If the lawsuit was not there and Woody and BK survived the summer I would be extremmely disappointed.

[Lrenfro]

When all looks lost reboot. Been there done that. We need something else. The reboot has not worked. We need to rework. I have an ideal. Lets revamp the coaches contract and make it based on his wins. You get paid per game. Kind of like getting paid hourly vs salary. The games you win you get full pay the games you loose you get half pay. While you are at it lets do the same for the players. The blow out games you get over time. I think we see more wins what do you think. Lets work on fan participation. Lets utilize some of our tax write-offs. Lets do some give aways and promo's. Some contest some better entertainment. Well I will say more entertainment how about that. Fill the stands so the team can have someone to play for and feel good for when they win. How about selling your players to the fans. Make them local hero's so the kids just have to see them. I think we can work on the intangibles and get this team back on target. And lets leave Microsoft out of this.

[sinctybldh]

what kind of percentage is it that either one or both will be gone after the season? Any other ownership I would think that it would be 100% but with these clowns its probably less than 50%.

[Seano]

We'd better change our culture of losing real quick like, or I've got a feeling we're gonna find it awfully difficult to keep some of our younger and better players here. If I were a Hawk player, I sure as hell would not want to stick around through this mess. Life's too short. I'd want to go somewhere where I had a chance to win, and not to mention had stability in the ownership offices.

This is like the freaking Mickey Mouse Club here, I mean a total joke. And it's like we're a hamster on a treadmill, running a mile a minute but going absolutely nowhere at all, and it seems like that's not going to end anytime soon. So I wouldn't blame any Hawks player for wanting to move on to an organization that had at least semi-realistic championship hopes, or even just wanting to go someplace not so depressing, frigged-up and cursed as this franchise seems to be.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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Mike Woodson and Billy Knight have had enough time to prove that neither of them is good enough at what they do to continue in their current jobs. The case against both of them is too strong to ignore at this point.

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Not necessarily that neither aren't good enough but they have had trouble co-existing. BK built a team that could win if he had a running team. Woodson has a formula for winning if he had a 1 and 5.

Let's get one of the two and see what we do next year.