Big shoes to fill
What’s up, Sekou readers?
Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for your patience in waiting for this blog to get churning again. My name is Ken Sugiura, and I have the unenviable task of following up the master. Sekou, if you weren’t aware, took a job down the street at nba.com after five years of excellent Hawks coverage for the AJC. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, but Sekou is a great guy, a great reporter and we will miss him plenty.
I’m going to be filling in on the Hawks until a full-time replacement is hired. I’ve got a good bit to learn, but I’m looking forward to it. As Sekou shared with me, it’s a good group to cover and the team, obviously, is on the way up. Hopefully it’ll be a fun ride, however long it lasts.
Anyway, I’m here for you guys, so fire any questions at me you’ve got, either on the blog or e-mail. I don’t have the wealth of NBA knowledge that Sekou does, but I’ll do my best to get you answers.
Enough blathering – on to the two-game trip to New York tonight and Boston Friday.
From Mike Woodson on down, the talk Monday and Tuesday was about defending better, which obviously will be a factor in both games, against the “Seven seconds or less” Knicks and then the three-headed monster in Boston.
Different guys were saying they need to get back to defending the way they did last year. The sample size for this season is small, obviously, but some numbers for comparison – 2008-09 – 96.5 points per game, 45.4 FG percentage from the field, 35.3 percent from three-point range. This year, 102.1, 46.0, 40.0.
One thing I heard a few different times was that the players aren’t doing a good job of communicating – calling out switches and the like.
Said Joe Johnson, “When we’re guarding our man and we’re supposed to switch, we’re not calling the switch. I think we’re assuming more than anything. It’s just guys not on the same page. Therefore, two guys are going on one man and another guy’s laying it up.”
Al Horford also mentioned the communication lapses, but added that “I think it comes down to effort.”
So, something to be watching for tonight (Wednesday) and Friday.
You may find this interesting …
Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague and Horford all mentioned looking forward to playing at Madison Square Garden. For Teague, it’ll be his first trip. Horford said it’s probably his favorite place to play, citing the arena’s history.
Said Crawford, who played a little over four years there, “It’s like you’re on stage. … The court’s lit up and the crowd’s kind of dark. It’s like you’re on a stage performing. So it’s really cool.”
Crawford also mentioned that over his time there, he became friends with Knicks fans such as Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Adam Sandler and Fat Joe.
Said the rookie Teague of going on the road, “Flying from city to city, you’re getting on planes, carrying bags and having so much luggage. It was kind of difficult at first, but now I think I know how to pack a lot better. I took too much stuff last time.”
One big difference between college and NBA road trips: “No homework at all. That’s a good thing.”
Your take
Anyway, let me hear from you, readers – Is 1-1 a successful road trip? Woodson has mentioned multiple times that he wants the team to go .500 on the road, so he said that the West Coast plus Charlotte trip was good, because it was 2-2, despite the trip-ending disaster in Charlotte.
What do you want to see from the Hawks?
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460 comments Add your comment
BONE
November 11th, 2009
10:06 pm
MARVIN’S STATS FOR THE YEAR PEOPLE
10 PTS 5 REBS 0.4 AST
Blast
November 11th, 2009
10:07 pm
Cleveland finally has a breakthrough win versus Orlando, a contender!
Tbird
November 11th, 2009
10:09 pm
Joe at 44 minutes and just horrid decisions…he monoploizes the ball waaay more than guys waaay better than he is…and is Woody just gonns destroy Teague…did you notice his body language??? If Toney Douglas played for the Hawks his line would read dnp while Teague probably would have had 20 and 8…unreal!!!
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
November 11th, 2009
10:11 pm
Seriously, have you guys ever saw marvin when he’s on the bench during games with that towel on his head, clapping his hands, full of joy and excitement? Cheering his a$$ off
He has more energy on the bench than he does on the floor.
now THAT’S the kind of guy I want on my bench!!!! Great Guy!!
BONE
November 11th, 2009
10:13 pm
Yea Teague’s confidence is being destroyed by the master idiot woody.
BONE
November 11th, 2009
10:16 pm
VOTE MARVIN FOR LEAD CHEERLEADER.
GIMME A B
GIMME A E
GIMME A N
GIMME A C
GIMME A H
WHAT’S THAT SPELL
CROWD: BENCH WHERE YOUR SORRY AZZ BELONGS.
Grandad
November 11th, 2009
10:25 pm
Woody don’t give a crap about J.Teague because he knows he will not be be here to benefit from grooming him. That does not explain the short rotation. Did Joe Smith even play? I’m waiting for the day when Woody is whining/crying/complaing/ about so and so’s injury. Blaming losses on said inj’s, when Teague,Collins,Morris,Hunter,et al…
“do not know their roles.” Another thing; please let Marv go, while we can get something of value in return. I’m not a Marv basher, it just seems he is never going to be able to peak here. Why? 1.System 2.Joe
and 3.Woody doesn’t know how to properly utilize his skill set.
I predict Marv becomes an outstanding player elsewhere, although, most likely never an all-star.
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
November 11th, 2009
10:31 pm
great post@grandad
About atlanta, hawks, york, knicks - Find me About
November 11th, 2009
10:37 pm
[...] Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for your patience in waiting for this blog to get churning again. My name is Ken Sugiura, and I have the unenviable task of following up the master. Sekou, if you weren’t aware, took a job down the street at nba.com …Read Original Story: Big shoes to fill – Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Big Ray
November 11th, 2009
10:39 pm
Grandad tells it like he sees it! Hmmm, some things to think about for sure, but decisions made 8 games into the season are often knee-jerk reactions.
Having said that, I lean toward agreement on why Marvin won’t peak here ….
Ramon
November 11th, 2009
10:45 pm
Ok, 6-2 is the record. I’m curious how many bloggers wish the record was 2-6 if that meant Woody being fired?
KevinA
November 11th, 2009
10:55 pm
I still feel Marvin is making his mark, along with Evans who backs him up. Al and Josh are emerging as offensive weapons. The back court continues to shoot even if they suck (JJ), Vara74 posted the best blog of expiations of players a while bk. It would take 150 pt’s a game to make all the players look good. The problem with tonight was 18 assists instead of 30.Josh are emerging as offensive weapons. The back court continues to shoot even if they suck (JJ), Vara74 posted the best blog of expatiations of players a while bk. It would take 150 pt’s a game to make all the players look good. The problem with tonight was 18 assists instead of 30.
JJ needs to come off the bench, Crawford simply is a better ball distributor and has a better ability to create flow. JJ is a closer and rarely gets going before the first half. If he does get going he is a ball hog. Argue with me.
cp
November 11th, 2009
10:56 pm
Whats going on with Joe and all of this dribbling and forcing bad shots. I cant believe it but he might be dribbling more now than he has in the past. He is forcing some difficult shots too. And you would think he would be a better passer out of the double team by now as much as he sees it. Joe really needs to stop the one on one and selfish play . Cant call ya guys out when you’re the main culprit.
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
November 11th, 2009
10:57 pm
Hey, I think Marvin should in a place where he has a chance to be more of “the guy”
Now, honestly, he did play much better ball when we had injuries to our other core players.
So, lets even look at the team we played tonight.
How would it look for Marvin to go to the Knicks for Harrington or Hughes????
I dont see how it would make us any worse (and with Harrington would give us another aggressive scorer and great one on one players which is IDEAL for woodson’s scheme…which would make us even better IMO) AND Marvin would get a chance to be more of “the guy” being on such a horrible team.
SOS
November 11th, 2009
10:58 pm
Told you already. Joe has to make the allstar team so he is going to take his shots and do his plays. But everybody else needs to know there roles, right.
Big Ray
November 11th, 2009
11:04 pm
Heh.
Complain we might, but we’re 6-2. We won in MSG, something we didn’t do at all last year (yes, that’s right, the Knicks beat us both times in MSG last year).
And that’s with the dysfunctions we have even now.
KevinA
November 11th, 2009
11:04 pm
Lets say we lose JJ and sign Chills. Jamal is the man – unselfish and no problem with passing. Chills will get you marvins numbers and we get the ball to where it needs to go to. Josh and /Al – millions left for whatever
KevinA
November 11th, 2009
11:07 pm
I do not want to throw JJ under the buss, or Woody, it is fair to raise speculation.
JeJe
November 11th, 2009
11:10 pm
We had a positive +/- for every 4 starters + Jamal Crawford tonight. Who is the starter we had a negative for? Yes — Duck Williams
TheeYo
November 11th, 2009
11:10 pm
I’d like to see the AJC hire me as the Hawks new Beat writer. Where should I apply?
Grandad
November 11th, 2009
11:20 pm
Big Ray: Observations are not from 8 games but from the length of woody’s tenure. When he came; he was my choice and ‘he’ had to, over the course, cause my negative reactions.
Same with Marv – when we drafted him; he was my choice.[ at # 2 ]
Two problems:
1. I didn’t realize he was only 6-7 and a fraction/sock ft.
2. I did not realize how un-athletic he is. Particularly:
a.quick twitch muscle fibers which explain his lack of
vertical leap and ability to bounce quickly
b.his lack of both agility and coordination.
Having said all that I am much more of a Marv fan than Woody. I suspect
Marv will come back and bite us in the rear if and when we move him.
Ree Roe
November 11th, 2009
11:22 pm
If I had to rank tonights game by hotdog flavor, i’d call tonights game Kroger brand & I don’t mean that in a good way. We need at least Hebrew National level basketball to beat BOS. We’ve gotta play better defense & get something outta Marvin. WTF is up with him?
-REEcently Roe!
Rod from College Park
November 11th, 2009
11:23 pm
Marvin is a bum. Simple and plain. Stop making excuses for him. He would not be any better on any other team in the league. All he has to do in Atlanta is stand in the corner and hit wide open jumpshots, and he can’t do that. He plays with no effort, and desire. Some of you think that being the man on a team is easy. Marvin can not make a shot with a hand in his face, and do you actually think he could score if he was double teamed. He would not have been the man on my high school team, and I am not joking. He has no handles, is a terrible defensive player, and should not be starting for any playoff caliber team, if any team. I don’t want to say I told you so, but I did. I actually argued with clowns on this blog that he was not better than Josh, Granger, Ariza, even MELO. Again, lets get rid of this guy now before his value is nada. Hell I’d take Wilson Chandler. Go get Captian Jack. I hate to say this, but I really think Joe is setting us up. HE is becoming a true ball hogg.
Ree Roe
November 11th, 2009
11:25 pm
LMAO @ “Duck Williams”. JoJo is hilarious
-REEcently Roe!
Grandad
November 11th, 2009
11:30 pm
I would not let Marv go for anything less than a young big with lots of potential as a defensive stopper. Absolutely no retreads such as: A.Harrington/S.Jackson/and Hughes, your kidding right/and Childress will want more money than he’s worth.
About horford, knicks, hawks, al, york, atlanta - Find me About
November 11th, 2009
11:30 pm
[...] This one has to be quick since I am half watching my oldest boy bathe, and I have to read Green Eggs and Ham to the youngest right at tip off! Parenting is great. You can check the four factors for the Hawks here and the Knicks here. …Read Original Story: 2010 Game Preview and Thread:Hawks at Knicks – KnickerBlogger (blog) Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for your patience in waiting for this blog to get churning again. My name is Ken Sugiura, and I have the unenviable task of following up the master. Sekou, if you weren’t aware, took a job down the street at nba.com …Read Original Story: Big shoes to fill – Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
rusty
November 11th, 2009
11:31 pm
we will not get away with such a crappy start against boston. with our present starting line up we have no one to penetrate,our offense is stagnant. i blame most of this on jj forcing the ball, turning it over ,eating the clock up , i dont care if he had a good second half only because he started to make a lot of forced shots. he destroys all ball movement & has the team playing one on one,trade him.between woody & jj they will destroy jc offensive game. woody didnt play him much in the second quarter,he pulled josh out with 4 fouls in the last quarter how dumb is he,he lets marvin play with 4 fouls. why the hell is he giving so many minutes to marvin when he is doing nothing right.
why the hell is he giving jt no playing time. he oftens comes up with some of the worst combinations.
any one who thinks he is a good coach is crazy. our iso offense & switching defense sucks.
red
November 11th, 2009
11:33 pm
we should’ve given CHILLZ marvin’s money. DAMN!!!! or we should’ve just traded him for rudy gay when we still had a chance…
Ken Strickland
November 11th, 2009
11:38 pm
RAMON-Developing a playoff and title contending team, which I hope is your focus, is about more than just wins and losses. The Cavaliers(66wins)and Celtics(62wins)won more regular season gms last yr than the Magic. Yet, in the playoff, the Magic whipped them both and went to the NBA finals. Do you think either of those teams would hesitate one bit to take the Magics lower win total and a trip to the finals over what they accomplished?
You can’t judge Woodson strictly by this teams wins and losses, and it should be obvious by now that GM RSund understands that perfectly. He obviously wanted to know if Woodson is contributing significantly to the teams progress, is he holding it back, and/or is he being carried by the team. It’s obvious Sund had questions about Woodson’s overall contributions to the Hawks making the playoffs 2 consecutive yrs, gaining the 4th seen with 47wins, and advancing to the 2nd round of last yrs playoffs. Otherwise, he would have given him a contract extension. It’s obvious this yrs team has improved.
We’ve seen an improvement in overall talent, depth, maturity and experience of this yrs team and its players, but has Woodson improved enough as a HC to show he can manage the improvement of this team and its talent after 5yrs? THIS TEAM COULD VERY WELL BE WINNING INSPITE OF HIM. Tonight, he did a horrible job of coaching and utilizing his players against one of the NBA worst teams no less.
Grandad
November 11th, 2009
11:42 pm
Rod: No excuses for Marv. Your right he can’t put it on the floor
(antiquated terminology). I still contend that on a team where he does not or is not encouraged to drive to the basket, but rather learn to move w/o the ball, that would greatly improve his game offensively.
On def. I completely disagree and think he is a pretty good on ball defender ,although, he should rebound better. Marv also has a great team attude and that should not be overlooked.
KevinA
November 11th, 2009
11:45 pm
Rod – Bibby has been all of our vote on the bum list. What did he do tonight. 6-8 with 18 pt’s. 9 assists. Guys like bibby and marvin are the glue.
Josh is an all star.
I agree JJ is a ball hog but that is what he was hired to do. It will take time and Woody coaching to convince him otherwise. It is contract year. All said we will be fine. Problems like this is why it takes years to win. We are fine. Still look for 50-54 wins.
MannyT
November 11th, 2009
11:46 pm
We may have to relabel this as the Chicken Little blog.
A quick skim makes you think we lost or almost lost a game that we won by 13 points. Marvin had 5 fouls and a bad night. We didn’t need him to be on, so I can live with it. He needs to show more when we play the stronger SFs in the league (on Friday at Boston.)
I have not been a Woody fan, but I do recognize that he’s making progress. In past years, if we were down at the half, the fat lady took Woody’s seat in locker room and started warming up her game over song. Tonight we came out strong in the 3rd quarter.
Most of us do not like his coaching style, but the more wins he gets, the more I’ve learned to accept his ways…even though I don’t agree with them. It just shows that there are multiple ways to achieve a goal.
I am sure there is a drinking game in his coaching style, but I know I cannot afford it at Philips Arena. I’d pay more for the drinks than I did for the tickets…unless it had something to do with playing time for rookies
…Ken welcome to the Hawks blog. I think we will keep it interesting for you as long as you don’t take us as seriously as we often take ourselves.
BWAF (as in Bald Woody, Arms Folded – his official coaching position and my usual sign off.)
cp
November 11th, 2009
11:47 pm
Woodson asked for a bench and still cant utilize it. At this rate guys are gone be tired around the all star break. Travis Outlaw wants to start and Marvin might be more comfortable in the Portland area. I say we do a even trade and call it a day. Outlaw does all the things I wish Marvin would do. He can create his own shot, knock down the 3, get in the lane, and has no problem taking the big shot. I know its early in the season but I think Ive seen enough of Marvin to know that he just wont get any better as a Hawk.
MyView
November 11th, 2009
11:48 pm
Remember when the Hawks were that team, that could compete with anyone in the league in the 1st half of most games only to see it fade away at crunch time. Well now we are starting to do that to teams. Look bad for a half or 3 qtrs. then turn it on and get the W.
I wonder did it drive opposing fans crazy when they would struggle with the Hawks for a half. It sure does seem to drive us mad watching these 1st half performances.
KevinA
November 12th, 2009
12:13 am
Only JJ and Al played to many minutes. Bad coaching – maybe. One thing for sure is we have a good back up for JJ. His replacements we could argue are more effective and well rested. Did we play Al to much? – once again we have well rested players that can play. I think tonight was a starter chemistry statement by Woody that he wanted to emulate. Just get the win. Just to massage egos. Against the best team in the NBA why do I have a feeling that he will play the whole rotation. He locked down that first win and his hottest player is fresh as the daisy. Well except for Smooth who is as hot as any player in the NBA.
Ramon
November 12th, 2009
12:13 am
Ken, I honestly want Woody gone as of yesterday. And honestly I wouldn’t be too upset if JJ was right behind him (for equal talent to replace him). I even love the way Fratello sounds when he’s commentating on the Hawks games. And I was never a huge fan of Fratello’s. I don’t see Woody being able to coach this team past the second round unless a major injury comes up. I really don’t see Woody being able to coach any team past the second round.
Traceman
November 12th, 2009
12:28 am
Let me get this straight:
1. Our coach is a rookie-killing idiot with no offensive scheme and no defensive scheme.
2. JJ is an overrated, ballhogging, selfish troublemaker who’s not even our best player.
3. Bibby is a slow, one-dimensional, no defense-playing bum.
4. Marv is a worthless, unathletic, no talent-having duck who shouldn’t be in the NBA.
5. Smoove is an idiot who can’t shoot and continues to make dumb plays in his 6th season.
6. Horford is undersized at Center and can’t play with the big boys.
And that’s just our head coach and starters.
Despite all these “problems,” we have the 5th best record in the NBA at 6-2 after having played only 3 home games (with double digit wins in all 3 home games). If we suck so bad and yet we are 6-2, what does that say about the rest of the NBA?
This is the NBA guys! There are NO sure wins on the road in ths league. ANY road win is a good win.
Woody was CLEARLY determined to get this win at all costs and I can’t say that I blame him. We can play GREAT on Friday against BOS and still lose and you don’t want a 2 game road losing streak to kill the momentum you have built so far.
I’m sure Woody planned to play Teague (and probably Zaza) more than he did tonight but after we got down early, he couldn’t take the chance of letting the game get out of hand. Woody is not the first coach who won’t play rookies in that situation. Heck, D’Antoni won’t even play Jordan Hill despite the fact that he was a lottery pick and the Knicks have NO chance to make the playoffs. They are just hoping for a high lottery pick to pair with LeBron.
It’s so funny to me to find myself defending Woody (who I have routinely screamed at at some point during virtually every home game over the last 5 years). He’s no Phil Jackson but he has improved and he definitely deserves some credit for getting the guys described above to win.
About horford, knicks, hawks, al, york, atlanta - Find me About
November 12th, 2009
12:30 am
[...] Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for your patience in waiting for this blog to get churning again. My name is Ken Sugiura, and I have the unenviable task of following up the master. Sekou, if you weren’t aware, took a job down the street at nba.com …Read Original Story: Big shoes to fill – Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
KevinA
November 12th, 2009
12:33 am
Ramon,
Mercy son, we are 6-2 No team is undefeated. A little to early go overboard? Woody has always played what he thinks are his best players. We may not like it but he is a winner and will increase his wins this year. (my opinion).At the end of the day our opinions don’t mean squat. Only Sund, Woody and the owner get to vote.
KevinA
November 12th, 2009
12:36 am
Traceman,
You must be wrong – makes sense to me.
Traceman
November 12th, 2009
12:38 am
For all the Marvin bashers, he has had a poor start to the season but I think he will turn it around and play like the 14/6 guy he was last year. He was CLEARLY pressing tonight (as he has for most of the season) rather than waiting for the game to come to him.
That said, could it be possible that he is struggling because he is putting pressure on himself due to the signing of that long term contract? Smoove struggled last year after signing his new contract as if he didn’t know where he fit in. Smoove certainly seems to have figured out his role now, I just hope if that is Marv’s problem, it doesn’t take him the whole year to figure it out. We are winning now but that may not continue if we can’t get more production from him.
Big Ray
November 12th, 2009
12:44 am
Grandad ,
I hear you. And I tend to agree….
MannyT ,
See my 11:04 p.m. post from above. I agree that Woody has improved…in some things, not quite across the entire spectrum. Still, an improvement is improvement. It’s true that there are multiple ways to achieve a goal. What is the goal for this year? More regular season wins? A victory in the 2nd round of the playoffs? A better showing in the second round? The question isn’t so much about which way to achieve the goal. The question is will the same methods used to achieve last year’s goal be sufficient to achieve THIS year’s goal, and thegreater goals beyond that?
RLP
November 12th, 2009
12:44 am
I have been out of the country for most of the season. So for the past couple of days I have been catching up on the Hawks by reading this blog. If I did not know the actual record I would think that the Hawks had not won a game if I deleted the postings which acknowledged the actual results. Last year the Hawks won their first six games but then promptly went into a funk after playing a great seventh game only to lose at the buzzer. Something tells me that there has been organic growth plus the addition of more talent in the form of JC and JTO. Because of that additional talent and the continuing maturation of our young guys this year’s team is better than last year’s team. The improvement in the team does not necessarily result in a better record because of the unforeseen possibility of injuries or lack of team chemistry. But to read the blog you would think we were back at 13 wins for a season. It is ironic that as the team improves the blog becomes more critical.
There was a great deal of discussion about the number of road wins for this team. I agree that the great teams win on the road. But the Hawks are not yet a great team. There has been incremental improvement each year that Woody has been here. I think for a team that won 39 per cent of the time on the road last year a .500 road record is a good goal for the team to build on. I think all of us would want better but then again all of us will never be satisfied until we win all 82 regular season games and then sweep the playoffs. But if that happened then this blog would not exist would it?
there has also been a lot of discussion about playing time. I, for one, was not upset with the playing time tonight because the team has not played since Saturday. There will be an off day tomorrow. The Hawks are still a young team except for Bibby so from the standpoint of this road trip the starters minutes do not concern me. If we were a team that did not have a history of struggling on the road then giving more playing time to JTO and sharing time for others on the bench would be a bigger issue.
There has also been a great deal of discussion of the HC – mostly negative. I see a team that did not run the ISO Joe much tonight until the fourth quarter. And in the fourth quarter JJ was hot. I would prefer not to see the pounding at all. But we did win the game and JJ’s game in the fourth quarter really did not kick in until after the turnaround had been accomplished. So I am not as negative on the HC as most of you – yet. I understand the negativity. I just don’t really think I can reach a judgmental on this guy even after all of this time. I agree with the decision to delay any contract extension until after this season. And to really judge him may take a few more seasons to see what the team accomplishes when it reaches its peak years. I don’t think they are here yet. I also do not think the team can become an elite team except through incremental change and organic growth because the team does not have the resources needed to gain greatest by purchasing superstars.
It has been less than a year since I joined this blog. Once the season was over I returned for the draft and the preseason but I just lurked. There have been some really good analysis to go along with the usual useless trade speculation that is, unfortunately the bane of the blog. Either new posters have surfaced, changed their alias, or rejoined the discussion. It is good to see them. Losing Sekou was a blow. I join all of the others in wishing him well. And I also welcome Ken S. to the scene. I hope you enjoy the ride.
Ramon
November 12th, 2009
12:50 am
Kevin, if he increase his regular season wins, and still gets put out in 5-6 games in the second round, is that a successful season and deserving of his contract renewal for you? When you look at the starting lineup, with most starting lineups in the East, there are only three teams who have better starting line ups. And I would argue that Cleveland with the subtraction of Lebron doesn’t. And on paper in the East, the Hawks have the fourth deepest bench (I actually think its deeper then Cleveland, but I’ll say fourth). So you expect them to be the fourth best team record wise. Now the definition of a good coach is a coach who gets more out of their roster than is expected. Jerry Sloan, Rick Adelman, George Karl, Alvin Gentry, and even Paul Westphal, are coaches who are good at what they do. You expect your coach to at least win you three or four more games during the season just based on his adjustments. Doc Rivers proved in Orlando how good of a coach he was. And can you honestly say, based on in game adjustments, Woody wins more games than he loses? The last two season, anyone could look at the roster and say who the starters would be. And that’s who Woody plays all game. That’s not good coaching. That’s playing NBA Live on Exhibition mode. Everyone can do that. Sorry, replacing Woody will have a better chance to add to the record and accomplishments, than taking away. Matter of fact, when was the last time you heard a national commentator make any good comment about Woody?
Big Ray
November 12th, 2009
12:52 am
Traceman ,
Fair enough on Marvin, though I have to say that his bad start is bothersome. I’d chalk it up to adjustment issues, but I think that excuse works for the offensive side of the ball, and nowhere else. What is preventing him from playing at least average defense? What prevents him from getting more rebounds (JJ manages to do it, and he’s the shooting guard)? What prevents him from getting after loose balls and doing all the “little things” that you need a role player to do?
As far as Woody is concerned, I have only one minor issue with him vs. D’Antoni when it comes to playing rookies. You say Teague wasn’t in that game because Woody wanted to win at all costs, and couldn’t afford to put him in and gamble, basically. You drew the correlation between that and D’Antoni not playing lottery pick Jordan Hill. I understand what you’re saying, but what about D’Antoni’s decision to not only play Toney Douglas…but start him? Maybe it’s because the Knicks have such a bad record and D’Antoni wanted to try something different. I don’t know.
KevinA
November 12th, 2009
12:53 am
To those who like to bash Woody he played Evans more than Marvin. Isn’t that good coaching?
Big Ray
November 12th, 2009
12:57 am
Ramon ,
I don’t know how Sund will look at it. 55 wins is nothing to sneeze at, ever. With that should come another first round victory (only, a better looking one if we’re matched up with a team that is clearly not as talented or well built), and at least a better showing in the second round. Repeat last year’s performance, and I’m not sure you can hang your hat on that as a coach…unless it can be proven without a doubt that it’s a roster issue or something to that effect.
Ramon
November 12th, 2009
12:58 am
KevinA, that was a good attempt. But Marvin was in foul trouble the entire night. He actually ended up with 5 fouls. That’s why Evans played more. When Marvin got two fouls in the first quarter, he took him out and put in Crawford. When Marvin received his third foul in the second quarter he took him out again. He does Josh and Horford the same way when they’re in foul trouble.
Big Ray
November 12th, 2009
1:01 am
KevinA,
That’s a good point. At the same time, how much credit do you get for taking a guy out when he isn’t doing jack sh!t on either end of the floor, and doesn’t seem to be trying to? It’s not my intention to bash Woody, but I think a middle school/high school coach would know to do that .
To me, good coaching is going back to Al Horford in the second half, even after he went 2-8 in the first half, and realizing that he could turn it on and hammer the Knicks the way he did. Last year, that sort of thing never happened. Now, I’m sure somebody could argue that it’s Horford’s teammates who deserve the credit there, but it happened on Woody’s watch….
Big Ray
November 12th, 2009
1:04 am
Ramon ,
Damn. I didn’t even think about that. You’re right, though. The first thing he did was replace Marv with Crawford. He would have done that with Flip last year. Hell, he did do that with Flip last year. Mo was his second option. Hmmmm. Well, I don’t know what to say.