nba.com: Q & A interview with Woody

[TheNorthCydeRises]

He pretty much speaks on everything, from his contract situation, to the maturation of the Hawks, to the new guys we added to the team this year. Easily the best Woody interview I've seen so far this year. Funny what happens when you win, and you don't have a new contract. Everyone wants to talk to you. They'll probably start talking to Joe Johnson next, to see where his head is, before the trade deadline.

I'll let you click on the link to read the entire interview, but I do want to post one segment of it here.

NBA.com: When a team's best player is headed into free agency, it usually dominates the headlines all season and can become a major pain, if not distraction. That we don't hear as much about Joe Johnson, does that mean he's not as valuable here as LeBron, Kobe or Wade with their teams?

MW: He gets it. There were things said in Chicago a couple of nights ago, about them having money to spend. The bottom line with Joe is, he's going to play on somebody's basketball team and I hope it's here in Atlanta. And I hope I'm here with him to finish the job, because we're not far away. I don't think it's been a distraction. Joe's a tough-minded guy and he knows he's got a job to do. He knows he has to do it in grand style in terms of how people view him, ending this season as a free agent. I don't think there's pressure. He's just got to continue to work and I've got to continue to push his *ss to do the right things on the floor to help us win.

I think that last line is great. I liked the way he said "push his azz to do the right things". Like I've been telling you guys. He coaches JJ like he's a superstar player. To not give some credit to Woody for the development of JJ becoming a star player in this league, just isn't doing the man justice. He knows what he's doing folks, even if you don't like his offensive sets. Anyway, here is the link to read the entire interview.

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/steve_aschburner/12/22/woodson.qa/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

Edited December 23, 2009 by northcyde