Our Success is dependent on how Woody adapts!

[Wurider05]

I think that our success this season depends on Woody's willingness to adapt his coaching style. He constantly whines about what he doesn't have. I thought that a coach was suppose to rally the troops and prepare them for battle even when they are going to probably get creamed. I can just hear his pregame speech now-- "Guys we are probably going to lose tonight because we don't have a center or a point, Joe I need you to play 45 minutes tonight. Even though this season is lost I am going to give Lorenzen heavy minutes instead of out younger players ZAZA and Batista. Lue you have the green light. Good games fellas"

If Woody doesn't change than we are doomed again.

[Diesel]

Some coaches know how to make the system fit around the players... Others know how to make the players fit into the system.

I think Woody is neither. I think he has a system and wants certain players to fit it, but neither knows how to train the players to fit, nor does he understand how to adapt to the players style.

I think our success revolves around our players adapting and not our coach. Woody is not going to adapt... in cases like that, the players need to learn to get in where they fit in. Sorta like the Bulls did with the Triangle.

[DJlaysitup]

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I think that our success this season depends on Woody's willingness to adapt his coaching style...

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I think that hits the nail on the head. It's a key aspect of coaching in all of sports (especially basketball and football). It drives me crazy seeing BK drafting long athletic players that seem to be perfect for an up-tempo game...only to see Woody plug them into an old-school E.C.-style offense.

Reminds me of that dumb@ss Mora making Vick run the W.C. offense. Let's see...why not take the most athletically gifted quarterback in the league and try to make him into a pocket passer. MV likely got so frustrated that he turned to dog fighting for a relief valve.

(rumor has it the one they electrocuted was named "JimmyM".)

...just kidding - sorry to get off-topic there.

[Zone034life]

Yes sir you are correct! Just think of the games at the beginning of the season.There is no way the Hawks will beat the Suns or Mavericks if Woody coaches like he has since he has been the head man.How he handles his personnal will be crucial.There are games where Salim should get more run than Chill at the two.Also there are games that Solomon might do better than Sheldon. Phoenix,Dallas and Golden State come to mind.Hopefully he will realize that whatever he has been doing just hasn't worked!

[Gray Mule]

What did we expect of our Hawks two years ago?

To learn the N.B.A. game and not have too many 40 point

losses. To be competetive most of the time. To have

some of those, "WOW! Did you see that!" type plays

every night.

Last season, what did we expect?

Much closer games, with those occasional blow out games

limited to the 15-20 point losses, as opposed to 40.

To be competetive in all the other games, to keep things

close and win our share of them and double our win total

from the previous year. Mission accomplished, even

with all those injuries. More of those "WOW!" plays.

Playing together as a team.

We have raised the bar again. Right now, we are ready to

enter the season with the entire roster healthy. We

have players who have been together long enough to

really play as a team.

That "WOW!" factor is still present.

Our coach and his staff must be able and willing to

adjust - To fit the round peg in the round hole and

the square peg in the square hole.

Use the bench. That's what it's for. Don't run the

starting five ragged. Give them some bench time so

that the best five are rested and able to finish each

and every game with energy.

Play the style that best utilizes the talent on the floor

at any given time and be willing to change when the

situation demands.

We expect to be blown away occasionally - It happens

to all N.B.A. teams. Nothing goes right for us and

nothing goes wrong for our opponent. We expect to be

on the other end of some of these games, too.

We haven't been on the winning side of too many of those

games recently - We're due. Some few games, you can't

win, no matter what you do and some you just can't loose.

My personal expectations?

A winning season. Playing over :500. Going to the

playoffs. We now have the players who are capable of

doing this. They have the talent to win. They have

the experience to win. They now have played together

as a team long enough to win. They are hungry for

victories.

Two years ago, the sudden, tragic loss of a teammate

devistated our young players and they never recovered.

Last season, injuries played a big roll in our record

for the season. We had only three or four games the

entire season when someone was not on I.R.

We've waited long enough. We've rebuilt the Hawks.

The roster is full, healthy and ready to make some

noise - NOW!! It's time to shed that label, "But,

you know, they are only the Atlanta Hawks."

Now is the time for all our opponents to have that

worried look, "Dang, we gotta face those Hawks.

They're tough. Could be a long night for us."

Yep. We're there!!

GO HAWKS !!!!!

[Zone034life]

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We've waited long enough. We've rebuilt the Hawks.

The roster is full, healthy and ready to make some

noise - NOW!! It's time to shed that label, "But,

you know, they are only the Atlanta Hawks."

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[Jdawgflow]

Inspiring as usual GM. Very nice! Makes it hard to wait for the season to get here.

[T21]

I think that coaching is probably our biggest weakness right now. I don't see Woody as a good head coach with future in the NBA. I question his knowledge, B-ball IQ... he is not a good teacher or motivator, and those are the things this young group of players really need...

Some time ago, I wasn't exactly the greatest Rick Adelman fan, but boy I wish we signed him somehow! I believe that he has the right tools and set of mind to take this team to another level, but...

[Swatguy]

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I think that coaching is probably our biggest weakness right now. I don't see Woody as a good head coach with future in the NBA. I question his knowledge, B-ball IQ... he is not a good teacher or motivator, and those are the things this young group of players really need...

Some time ago, I wasn't exactly the greatest Rick Adelman fan, but boy I wish we signed him somehow! I believe that he has the right tools and set of mind to take this team to another level, but...

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I disagree. A guy sucessfully in 4 years of Bobby Knight's system has to have high BBall IQ. In fact to be recruited into that system alone evidence high bball IQ. You do not play 10-13 years in the NBA and have not "high bball IQ". You are not the Head assistant under Larry Brown and Not have "high bball IQ". When you see a team quit on a coach it means they are not motivated. The Hawks have lost but Never Quit.

I believe Woodson is a good coach. I believe these last three seasons have undergone an unprecedent learning curve of talent in progress under fire. I believe we will see the fruits of three years of nurturing and teaching as a strong team.

[AHF]

I think we can all agree that the proof is in the pudding this year for Woodson. He has had young and inexperienced rosters but he now has enough talent and enough experience to start winning games. I hope Woody steps up but I have not been impressed with some of his decisions in the past. Notably, I have disagreed with his purposeful decision to implement a "walk-it-up-the-court" mentality that led to us being a half-court jumpshooting team offensively. I don't see how this team can succeed as a half-court team with this much youth (i.e., lack of sophisticated post skills, dribbling and passing skills, etc.) and this spotty a range of jumpshooters. On the other hand, with our stud athletes I can easily see us excelling offensively in a faster pace game. This is probably why some of our biggest upset wins last year were against teams that played at a faster pace (such as good games against Dallas, Phoenix, Golden State, etc.)

[Peoriabird]

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I disagree. A guy sucessfully in 4 years of Bobby Knight's system has to have high BBall IQ. In fact to be recruited into that system alone evidence high bball IQ. You do not play 10-13 years in the NBA and have not "high bball IQ". You are not the Head assistant under Larry Brown and Not have "high bball IQ". When you see a team quit on a coach it means they are not motivated. The Hawks have lost but Never Quit.

I believe Woodson is a good coach. I believe these last three seasons have undergone an unprecedent learning curve of talent in progress under fire. I believe we will see the fruits of three years of nurturing and teaching as a strong team.

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Good post! People act like players were not working hard, not playing together, not rebounding and not getting open looks. In other words not put in positions to succeed which is not true when you look at the games. The Hawks were in most games because of their scrappiness on defense & their tenacity on the offensive glass. They would lose games because of their terrible shooting and limited man defensive abilities. The Hawks were getting good looks most of the time on offense but were just not hitting shots. Hopefully that will change this year. The only coaching philosophy that I would tweak is the transition offense. They definitely need to run more!

[T21]

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I think that coaching is probably our biggest weakness right now. I don't see Woody as a good head coach with future in the NBA. I question his knowledge, B-ball IQ... he is not a good teacher or motivator, and those are the things this young group of players really need...

Some time ago, I wasn't exactly the greatest Rick Adelman fan, but boy I wish we signed him somehow! I believe that he has the right tools and set of mind to take this team to another level, but...

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I disagree. A guy sucessfully in 4 years of Bobby Knight's system has to have high BBall IQ. In fact to be recruited into that system alone evidence high bball IQ. You do not play 10-13 years in the NBA and have not "high bball IQ". You are not the Head assistant under Larry Brown and Not have "high bball IQ". When you see a team quit on a coach it means they are not motivated. The Hawks have lost but Never Quit.

I believe Woodson is a good coach. I believe these last three seasons have undergone an unprecedent learning curve of talent in progress under fire. I believe we will see the fruits of three years of nurturing and teaching as a strong team.

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Well, I hope you're right! However, being a part of a successful and established program doesn't necessarily translate into your own success... Remember that Brown himself was guilty of depriving Pistons of at least one ring...

Don't get me wrong, I understand that past few years were hard on everybody, including Woodson, and under such circumstances you can't just look at the record and start pointing fingers at people... All I'm saying is that I do not believe he's the right coach for our team, not the right match... Again I hope I' wrong...