Woody will get ridiculed no matter what

[coachx]

Just thinking how Woody has his hands full at the moment.

He has an abundance of depth and talent without a real superstar (so far).

There is a huge challenge to see what players will be most efficient playing together.

There are essentialy 2 roads Woody can take. Which ever road he chooses will cause some ridicule if the wins do not flow.

Route 1:

Stick with one starting line up and develop specific roles and playing time for the roster.

This has its benefits. However, we would be quick to ridicule how some experimentation is necessary. How do you know Smoove and Horford can't start as fowards if you never try it ?

Route 2:

Experiment with different starting line ups and different roles. Let Solo play one night and Shelden another. Start Chills one night and Marvin another. Give Salim minutes one night, then Law. Start Speedy one night, then Law. After 15 games of this Woody could draw some informed conclusions of how players perform togther when the bright lights are on......Of course if he does this he will be ridiculed for having no roles and players never know what to expect.

The right answer is some where in the middle.....Is there even one right answer ? The right answer is the one that produces wins ? Too bad I don't which one that is.

[AHF]

Woody will get ridiculed no matter what...only if he keeps on losing. If the team starts winning there will be plenty of second-guessing and nitpicking but ridicule will be a thing of the past.

[AnakinJoe]

Seems to me that you tinker until you find a winning combination. And when/if that ceases to produce wins, then you look to make changes. I completely disagree with a line-up du jour approach. I'd hope that after the first 10-15 games, we have a fairly static starting line-up and player rotations.

[Diesel]

Coach I think you keep underestimating what Woody has.

He does have a allstar = Joe Johnson.

People would kill to have our young depth.

He does have JSmoove, JChillz, Marvin, and Shelden.

He now has Horf and Law which look to be two solid rookies.

At some point coach, you have to hold someboyd accountable.

[Buzzard]

Quote:

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Woody will get ridiculed no matter what...only if he keeps on losing. If the team starts winning there will be plenty of second-guessing and nitpicking but ridicule will be a thing of the past.

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Exactly. If Solomon were to beat out ZaZa, Horford, and Shelden for the C spot...as long as we are in the playoffs, I could care less.

[BeeSwatter]

Looking at our first six games I wouldn't want to be Woodson. Dallas, Phoenix and Washington at home with Detroit, New Jersey and Boston on the road. I could see us playing really well to start and our record still could be 2-4. Atleast we don't have to go out west to start the season but if you ask me the schedule makers still didn't do us any favors

[frosgrim]

I disagree about Woody not get critised. If the team is winning it will be less, but if he keeps with the strange rotation patterns, forgetting about his best players being on the bench, not running an offense, then he will be held accountable.

This Hawks team will win 35 games in spite of Woodson, the question is, can Woody get the team another 7 wins and get into the playoffs. I do not believe the guy is a headcoach in any sense of the word. He's a defensive assistant that is trying to be a HC. We need better, the fans deserve better, the players have to have better.

[AHF]

Quote:

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I disagree about Woody not get critised. If the team is winning it will be less, but if he keeps with the strange rotation patterns, forgetting about his best players being on the bench, not running an offense, then he will be held accountable.

This Hawks team will win 35 games in spite of Woodson, the question is, can Woody get the team another 7 wins and get into the playoffs. I do not believe the guy is a headcoach in any sense of the word. He's a defensive assistant that is trying to be a HC. We need better, the fans deserve better, the players have to have better.

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I am not sure if you are responding to my post or not. I said that Woody would get criticized but that he wouldn't be ridiculed or criticized out of line if he got the team to start winning. A 35 win season is a losing record (35-47). 42 wins is the minimum for a winning season.

IMO, the amount of heat that Woody takes will be dependent on the number of games we win - not an agenda against him. If the team doesn't step up and show it is going to win 40+ then he is going to be run out of town on a rail. If he does step up, he will be criticized but it will be more critquing in the line of Rick Adelman.

[frosgrim]

I think we are in agreement, AHF. I just misunderstood your post.

With the new court order in place and the apparent settlement of the ownership around the corner (Belkin hasn't appealed as far as I know), a new coach for the Hawks will happen IMO. From reports the ownership is split between keeping and firing him. Now that a new coach can see that the team has stability in the near future, we can get someone better in here.

[DavidSomerset]

Woody gets a lot of criticism from all angles, but we have to ask ourselves...Given the youth of the team ever since he was coach (I believe we have been the youngest team in the league every single year...Correct me if I"m wrong), could anyone honestly have expected us to post a better record than we did??

When judging a coach, many make the mistake of using a universal, objective scale (i.e. did they make the playoffs, how far, etc.) that is simply not fair.

Not every team has the same level of experience and talent...Woody took this position with the understanding that this franchise shouldn't sniff the playoffs for AT LEAST 3 years.

I would say that at least in '05 and '06 this team has OVERACHIEVED from how many wins I would expect given our team and the injuries.

However, that being said, I expect playoffs this year, or else I expect Woody gone.

I am confident he can get us there.