BK TRIED TO FIRE WOODY 3 TIMES! (AJC)

[DJKadafi]

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Attempts to fire Woodson failed

Hawks GM Knight rebuffed three times by team's owners

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 02/28/08

Hawks General Manager Billy Knight recommended to ownership on three occasions, most recently two weeks ago, that head coach Mike Woodson be fired, two people familiar with the situation told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That recommendation was rebuffed by team ownership.

Knight last recommended that Woodson be fired and replaced by assistant coach Larry Drew after the team traded for point guard Mike Bibby on Feb. 16 during the NBA's All-Star Weekend.

Your Turn

Who should go first -- Mike Woodson or the Hawks' ownership?

Woodson. He's had enough time to win.

The owners. They've made a lot of bad moves.

Doesn't matter at this point. They all should go.

Let everyone stay. The playoffs are within reach.

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Knight declined comment.

Woodson insisted Thursday that he's never been approached being fired. He was relaxing in his office after practice and said he would be glad to talk about his team and their preparations for tonight's game against New York at Philips Arena.

Anything related to his job, however, he refused to discuss.

"I'm the coach of this team until someone tells me otherwise," said Woodson, who has compiled a 91-209 (.303) record since taking over the Hawks before the start of the 2004-05 season. "I'm going to get these guys ready to play and we're going to keep plugging away at this playoff chase. Because we're right there."

The Hawks, 23-32, are currently in ninth place in the standings and a game behind New Jersey for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff slot.

Woodson's job security has become a greater issue since the team's 9-19 slide to start 2008.

The Hawks own the NBA's longest playoff drought, eight seasons, and are in a position to control their own destiny for a postseason berth this late in the season for the first time in nine years.

After starting this season with a promising 15-13 record, the Hawks have been unable to maintain any consistency, winning consecutive games just three times since the Christmas.

With every ugly stretch of losses, the calls for Woodson's head have grown increasingly louder, to the point that the players could no longer ignore them.

"It's been kind of hard to ignore all the talk because you know in a situation when you're not winning a lot somebody always has to go, and unfortunately it's usually the coach," Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said. "With that being said, I think everyone agrees that getting Mike [bibby] in that trade certainly helps us.

"The only bad thing is that we got him right before our West[stern Conference] road trip and that's a tough spot for anybody to be in. But now that we've got a chance to get back home and refocus with everybody on the same page, we have an opportunity to get back on track. And I don't think there's any doubt that we're a team capable of making that push to get to the playoffs."

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h...hawks_0229.html

[GST]

The way this got leaked makes me think BK is getting frustrated with the owners.

[Guest Walter]

Sekou Smith

Quote:

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Hawks General Manager Billy Knight recommended to ownership on three occasions, most recently two weeks ago, that head coach Mike Woodson be fired, two people familiar with the situation told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That recommendation was rebuffed by team ownership.

Knight last recommended that Woodson be fired and replaced by assistant coach Larry Drew after the team traded for point guard Mike Bibby on Feb. 16 during the NBA's All-Star Weekend.

Are we not the most inept franchise in history? When if ever will the drama stop here? First BK's decision on JJ splits ownership, then we hold onto Harrington for a month extra, now we can't even fire people correctly or keep it quiet when we try to.

All this and a grounded rebuild to boot.

Sigh.

W

[GST]

Could it be that Woody's doghouse was because Woody was being vindictive against BK, trying to make BK look bad? I kind of think the Shelden pick was done to satisfy Woody, then Woody turns around and screws BK?

[Nicholasp27]

this shows that BK isn't clueless like some would say

sure he's made some mistakes in draft, but so have pretty much every gm

sure he's not made a huge splash in facy, but he did at least not handcuff the team like many gms do

the fact is that he has assembled a young group of guys that on paper should be a top 5 team in the conference even at this young age

does the group have flaws? of course...as do 99% of nba teams every year

woody needs to go, but bk hasn't shown yet that he deserves to go...he's better than our last gm and he's at worst an average gm

it is now 4 years into rebuilding...and how many other teams would u trade our roster for theirs straight up for the future?

[Packfill]

Quote:

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The way this got leaked makes me think BK is getting frustrated with the owners.

The way this leaked is probably a move by BK to save some face when the owners fire him.

[vdunkndunk]

FIRE WOODY ALREADY!!!!!

TRADE MARVIN!!!!!

FIRE WOODY!!!!!

[Guest Walter]

Quote:

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this shows that BK isn't clueless like some would say

sure he's made some mistakes in draft, but so have pretty much every gm

sure he's not made a huge splash in facy, but he did at least not handcuff the team like many gms do

the fact is that he has assembled a young group of guys that on paper should be a top 5 team in the conference even at this young age

does the group have flaws? of course...as do 99% of nba teams every year

woody needs to go, but bk hasn't shown yet that he deserves to go...he's better than our last gm and he's at worst an average gm

it is now 4 years into rebuilding...and how many other teams would u trade our roster for theirs straight up for the future?

Name another GM that in three consecutive years picked the 3rd worst out of 3 possible candidates 2 of whom are ROY and all-stars already?!? This was supposed to be BK "strong suit"!

As far as trading rosters. Boston and Portland were both in rebuilding mode at the same time and I would trade with both. BK may not be the Isaiah Thomas or Kevin McHale of GMs but he's god awful.

This leak smells to high heaven, BTW. I bet ownership sees Woody and BK as tied to the hip and will rid the franchise of both of them this offseason. We can only hope.

W

[WraithSentinel]

Is our roster really all that talent or is Woodson really that horrible of a coach to hold them back? I know we got talent on this team. This team has been healthy for most of the year and they are sitting at 23-32 in one of the worst Conference in any sports.

Despite Woodson being top-3 worst coach in NBA History. I would think with the talent and experience this team has now. Also playing in such a horrible conference. They could at worst be a .500 team. While Woodson is to blame for this team being sorry. We gotta also look and see what is working and what isn't.

Changes need to be made to this offseason to take that next step. Something is missing and/or just not coming together with this current team. I dunno what it is.

[NJHAWK]

I will stick to what I have always said, BK IS A GENIOUS....

[DJ_Money]

This is pathetic.

[NJHAWK]

You cant take all the blame away from Bk on the Shellhead pick . We needed an nba ready big. However it was obvious from the start that Woody cried and cried for Shelden, got what he wanted and then didnt play or develope him.

[LOL_Hawks]

Quote:

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FIRE WOODY ALREADY!!!!

That's obviously not going to happen if BK tried on 3 separate occasions to fire the man. If anybody should be removed, it's the Atlanta Spirit. They are writing the book on how NOT to run a professional sports franchise, because everything they've done is unprofessional.

I mean, it's all coming to light now. BK would've made good moves, but obviously he couldn't because he was either blocked by the owners or Woodson overrode his decisions via the owners.

It's all so clear now. The only way this franchise will move forward is in the unlikely situation that the Atlanta Spirit cedes control of the Hawks (and Thrashers for that matter, since they basically use them as their children's birthday party hosts), and Woodson is gone in a bloodless coup. This is getting ridiculous. Who would've thought that people would be on BK's side at any point of this juncture? Crazy.

[pimp]

Anyone Know the ASG's email??

I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY WOODY IS STILL HERE.

[lawman]

Is there any way we can hurry up and get this story to espn so we can try to get woody out of here by the time we play the knicks?

[Packfill]

What is really interesting is that the GM does not have the authority to fire the coach. Who is running this ship? Was BK even involved in the Bibby trade?

[JackB1]

Everyone call and email ESPN to get this story National exposure.

It's time to get OPERATION FIRE WOODY underway!!!!

ESPN - Contact Us

[TheDude]

this has to make it to ESPN....has to...

how can Woody and Bk work together now that this is in the open?

i would love to hear a response from the ownership

i thought the ownership was 100% behind whatever Billy Knight wanted?

3 TIMES! wow, that's really showing what you think of the coach

[oiatlhawksfan]

I wonder if Billy tried to replace him with larry brown, or rick Adelman at one point.

[thesheedera]

Quote:

---

this has to make it to ESPN....has to...

how can Woody and Bk work together now that this is in the open?

i would love to hear a response from the ownership

i thought the ownership was 100% behind whatever Billy Knight wanted?

3 TIMES! wow, that's really showing what you think of the coach

Hollinger will be all over it if no one else will. He lives here, he goes to hawks games and I'd be shocked if he isn't in touch with Sekou in some shape or form.