Would you rather have Woody back instead of LD?

[AUhawksfan]

We went from Woody not making any changes and sticking to his guns to LD saying he will make changes and not doing it.

Only reason I gave LD the nod was because at least you can tell where he's coming from in interviews and answers questions better than just saying "the sh#$ works!" He actually has a game plan and ideas though he doesn't always live up to them.

[terrell]

I'm going with LD at this point just because we saw what Woodson's inability to adjust did to the team. At the same time LD's apparent lack of a spine is going to kill the team as well. Essentially we've gone from a statue coaching the team to a jellyfish.

What this club needs is a motivator and tactician who has the stones to tell the players it his way or no way.

Laimbeer perhaps?

[Diesel]

What this club needs is a motivator and tactician who has the stones to tell the players it his way or no way.

For a minute there, I heard Hawks fans chanting "Bring in Fratello".....

Fratello Likes Josh.

Mike knows our team...

[Admin]

For a minute there, I heard Hawks fans chanting "Bring in Fratello".....

Fratello Likes Josh.

Mike knows our team...

Ugh not this again ... I like Fratello, as an announcer, but he's got not place in the modern game of basketball. This team needs someone like Skiles who won't put up with any of their crap and will put them on the bench for not doing what they're supposed to do.

[Superiorblogman]

Woody is 10x's better than Drew. Woody actually had a backbone. There is a reason I don't fit nice and neatly on this board

Edited March 15, 2011 by Superiorblogman

[batfanjordanv]

I would take Woody back in an instant. LD has proven to be a huge downgrade from Woody. Woody was an above average coach with the ability to run a basketball team. LD is a joke.

[APE]

In short, it doesn't matter which one of them is coaching this team there would still be the same problems: no accountability, no leadership, no discipline, no heart, no passion, etc

[Atlantaholic]

Larry Drew is a worse version of Woody. People can talk about adjustments and Woodson's apparent lack of BBall IQ but you'd never hear him bend over backwards defending Josh's blatantly obvious ego inflated head scratching play. Seriously, the guy could average 20-10 with three blocks blindfolded if he just focused 100% of his energy on attacking the basket and crashing the glass, but instead he floats around on the perimeter and embarrasses himself routinely in running our fast break. This team plays with such a complete and utter lack of discipline that it is often times spellbinding. Furthermore my biggest criticisms of Woodson, which were how he handled our rotation (benching players who are NOT in foul trouble, not giving players consistent minutes, playing Mo Evans), and how he failed to develop a promising player in Teague have been COMPLETELY duplicated by Larry Drew. Every metric out there shows we are playing like absolute crap this season, and now that the schedule is getting harder our record is starting to demonstrate that. I know we have had injuries but injuries alone don't account for the unbelievable decline in our play this season. To be honest Joe and Jamal;s insane decline in productivity are definitely the main culprits but Larry Drew has done nothing with this team. Only thing he did is beat Orlando, and to be honest that has 100 times more to do with the fact that Orlando is no where near as good as last years version than any damn adjustment LD has made. Like starting Collins and playing him 10 minutes is the main difference. Give me a break. Larry Drew is crap, just like Woodson was.This team clearly has management issues from the very top, down to coach, and finally trickling down to our "captains" and the rest of our players. We have talent enough to compete with the Geriatric Celts and the two man team Heat, but our players would rather party it up in Atlanta and enjoy their pseudo celebrity life-styles, than win a championship. It is the main reason that outside of the hardcore fans nobody has any interest whatsoever in watching this team play. They play with such a lack of interest in winning most of the time that it is depressing to watch. In fact this season has been the one I've seen the least games since probably our 13 win season. It's just boring uninspired, unexciting basketball.

/End Rant

[APE]

Is that why he tried to defend him last year in the 2nd round when he didn't even get back on defense? Even Hubie called him out.

[Atlantaholic]

Is that why he tried to defend him last year in the 2nd round when he didn't even get back on defense? Even Hubie called him out.

Great point. Have you seen Smith play this season by any chance? He does s*** like this every game. Have you seen his three point attempts compared to last year? Have you seen his PER compared to last year? His BPG? Oh and there's a plethora of quotes where Larry Drew defends Josh's deteriorating lack of good shot selection, which at the very freaking least Woodson never did.

We rank 20th in offensive efficiency (2nd last season, first time since 2006 we are 20th or lower)

We rank 26th in attendance (18th last season... in fact this is the lowest we've ranked since 2005)

13th in defensive efficiency (a vast improvement over last season... no not really, we ranked 13th under Woodson's ridiculous switching defense)

Yes injuries are a problem, though even when we have had a fully healthy team we have looked shitty. Even when we win we look shitty. We've had literally maybe two or three truly impressive wins this season. One of them we played like utter garbage the first half (Chicago). Larry Drew is an abomination of a coach, there is no discipline and his rotations have been consistantly horrific. Why, oh why, oh why did Mo Evans play a single minute more than Damien Wilkins??? Why couldn't Teague see the floor the entire season when Mike Bibby was arguably the worst starting PG in the NBA? Why the f*** does the team trade for a PG and then subsequently increase Jamal's Crawford workload at the PG position. Larry Drew has at best done as good as Woodson would have done. And that is being mighty kind if I'm being totally objective and honest.

[spotatl]

I'll just stand by my predictions for the season from October 25th:

47-35. First round exit in the playoffs.

The offense takes a big step back and turnovers are a constant issue all season. People blame Woodson for this.

Josh Smith starts shooting more from the outside again as he gets the ball on the outside in the motion offense and just can't help himself. The Hawks crowd starts openly booing everytime he gets the ball outside- instead of him taking the hint he tries to prove everyone wrong. He wins at least 1 game this season by nailing a long outside jumper and in the postgame press conference he talks about how no one believes in him.

Bibby starts over Teague as the offense bogs down when Teague is in the game as teams are content to pack the middle and let the Hawks shoot long jumpshots. Teague looks good in garbage time of some games which causes many people here to still call for him to be the starter. Woodson is blamed for Teague's issues.

Jamal Crawford takes a big step back this season yet continues to complain he hasn't gotten extended even as his numbers regress. He is traded at some point in the season for a veteran PG. Chauncey Billups is traded for expiring contracts plus a pick but the ASG are not willing to pay the tax to bring Billups in.

I was wrong and it was Bibby that was traded for the Veteran PG instead of Crawford- though to be honest I just never thought that the Hawks would trade bother their 2010 and 2011 first rounders in a deal like that. Other than that I think this season has gone pretty much how I expected it to.

[Admin]

I'll just stand by my predictions for the season from October 25th:

I was wrong and it was Bibby that was traded for the Veteran PG instead of Crawford- though to be honest I just never thought that the Hawks would trade bother their 2010 and 2011 first rounders in a deal like that. Other than that I think this season has gone pretty much how I expected it to.

Pretty "spot" on estimate for the season, although I hope you'll be proven wrong in the playoffs.

[AHF]

People can talk about adjustments and Woodson's apparent lack of BBall IQ but you'd never hear him bend over backwards defending Josh's blatantly obvious ego inflated head scratching play. Seriously, the guy could average 20-10 with three blocks blindfolded if he just focused 100% of his energy on attacking the basket and crashing the glass, but instead he floats around on the perimeter and embarrasses himself routinely in running our fast break.

Woodson was the one who engrained these bad habits in Woody. He let Josh run the break. He let Josh float on the perimeter. He let Josh shoot the jumpers.

Even in the most egregious cases, Woodson defended him publicly rather than hold him accountable and make him stop:

“Josh is five years in the league now, man,” Woodson said after Smith’s 5-for-19 shooting effort in the loss to the Rockets. “And it comes down to time, score and situation. That’s the bottom line. We’re not telling him he can’t shoot 3-pointers but if you miss four or five jump shots, something has to go off in his head that says, ‘I have to do something else.’ “

That was Woody's tough love. "You just had a historically poor game shooting way too many J's? We're not telling you not to do that, just be smarter about it." Ugh.

Drew has been just as bad.

Have you seen his PER compared to last year?

2007-08 19.0 PER

2008-09 17.2 PER

2009-10 21.0 PER

2010-11 19.1 PER

Am I supposed to see some big difference between Josh's PER under Woody and Drew? The last 3 years under Woody average out to an identical PER to this season under Drew.

BPG aren't radically different either, especially considering that Josh has been played at SF far more often:

2008-09 1.7 bpg

2009-10 2.2 bpg

2010-11 1.7 bpg

It has been 3 years since Josh was at his early career level with blocked shots.

Woody set a terrible path for Josh.

Drew has led Josh further down that terrible path.

Both have done him a huge disservice along with the team that employed them.

[bonethugz]

i probably said before here. why are we overpaying a shooting guard and won't pay a dime more for a min paid coach? you get what you pay for. i would actually do the opposite. for example, i'd overpay to get jerry sloan or phil jackson and sign a john salmons

back to the topic, i think i'll take ld.....we're comparing a stubborn old fool to some random guy ... ugh :scratchhead:

Edited March 15, 2011 by bonethugz

[itsslomotionbaby]

+ 1

motivation doesnt nessecerilly come from the coaches, it comes from players and how they impact a game. i think the source of the problem is none other than the 120 million dollar man.

horford said something that got my attention a few weaks ago," these guys at some time are just too laid back, its a benefit at times but its also a detriment". just personifys being too laid back. well its our supposed to be superstar. im not asking him to be a wade or labron but make teams pay every once in a while when they leave you wide open at the 3 point line. hell hit 3 jumpers in a row when your wide open.

i never see joe challenging his teammates to get it together after running back down the court.