Zaza, the Jazz and some links
Hey, folks -
Hope you are well.
Had a few things for you. I talked to Zaza Pachulia Thursday about his alley-oop pass to Al Horford in the Memphis game. (If you didn’t see it, he forced a turnover, started going upcourt and then lobbed to Horford on the break.) I’ll have that Q&A – not terribly newsworthy, but kind of fun and interesting, I thought – and then some stuff from Mike Woodson about Utah, my brief take on Friday night and a couple links.
Q&A with Zaza
Q: What happened on the play?
A: I took a couple dribbles and I saw that nobody was guarding me so I took it all the way. I was just trying to read the defense and Al Horford did a great job. He ran on the fast break and he was ahead of everybody. Rudy Gay was kind of in between and I just threw the ball up. Al is very athletic and I knew he was going ot get it. It was a great play. Al made it happen because he ran.
Q: When you let it go, did you think you might have thrown it too high?
A: It felt good. But still every once in awhile, I do those kinds of things. When I let the ball go, it was good. I knew Al was going to get it. Those are two people I’d throw the ball to (on an alley-oop), Al and Josh (Smith). Even if it isn’t (on target), if you throw the ball maybe left or right, they’ll catch it and dunk. … It was right at the rim, so Al just had to catch it and dunk it. It worked out.
Q: I’m guessing you don’t get to practice that much.
A: No, not lobs. I lob passes and I have done it before too, but not from that far away. Normally, I don’t bring the ball up. (I think this is my favorite line in the interview.)
Q: You looked really happy after that play?
A: It’s something that doesn’t happen a lot (note: he meant the play, not him being happy). People got excited. Fans liked it. My teammates liked it. It was an exciting moment.
Q: What’s next, going between the legs?
A: I don’t know. Next is Utah Jazz. (Second favorite line) That’s not a big man’s job. If it happens, it happens. Normally, a big man doesn’t do that.
Woodson on the Jazz
The question, asked by sideline reporter and Bayou legend James Verrett when the two of us met with Woodson Thursday, was if the Hawks already know what’s coming from the Jazz because they’ve done the same things for so long:
Woodson: They have, but they do it fundamentally. They do it better and harder probably than any team in the league. (Coach) Jerry (Sloan) basically coaches how he plays. He played hard and his players, they play hard. They physically get after you. If you don’t meet them head on, they will embarrass you.
James: So it’ll be a test of your toughness?
Woodson: Sure it will. Every time we play them.
My brief take on Jazz-Hawks
The Hawks have done pretty well in the two games they’ve played against pure point guards (Boston with Rajon Rondo and Dallas with Jason Kidd). Rondo had three points and nine assists, Kidd had three points and six assists, and from my vantage point, it looked like the official scorer in Dallas was on a mission to pad Kidd’s stats.
So, while a lot more goes into beating the Jazz (and Boston and Dallas) than defending point guards, that bodes well for the Hawks against Deron Williams.
(This is off topic, but did you realize that LeBron James is averaging 8.0 assists per game? That’s ridiculous. Though, as regards the point about Kidd, he averages 8.8 assists at home and 7.2 on the road. I think that would make for an interesting article. Assists are very subjective in my opinion.)
Anyway, the Hawks’ defensive field goal percentage in the last three games – 48.6, 50.6, 50.0. Part of it is that the games were blowouts – Memphis shot 55.6 percent in the fourth quarter – but they were shooting 48.3 percent through three quarters. Utah is one of the best shooting teams in the league and also does a good job at holding onto the ball, though the Jazz don’t rebound all that well.
Links:
Dime magazine thinks that Woodson has been the best coach in the league this year.
“…he has been able to keep everyone on the roster happy by keeping the focused on sharing the ball, defense and winning.”
Jazz notes from the Deseret News.
My story today about how the Hawks look at the multitude of statistical measures that have become increasing popular.
From the last post:
Coleco - I asked Marvin that around the Boston game. He said he didn’t feel pressure because of the contract, that he felt pressure last year playing for this contract. He generally seems to be pretty upbeat whenever I talk to him. For what it’s worth, he does as much extra shooting as anyone on the team, as best I can tell.
Lastly, thanks to those who have offered up your kind words about my efforts. I sincerely appreciate all of them. It’s trite, but it means a lot.
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356 comments Add your comment
Big Ump
December 18th, 2009
11:10 pm
Truth Serum thanks for the shout out. You can tell by someone post that they are not a Hawk fan. Hawks and the HC looking great and they still complaining. AMAZING. THEY TALKING ABOUT THE PAST AND TRYING TO PREDICT THE FUTURE.
Idiot Watch
December 18th, 2009
11:18 pm
I think you are right O Brien.Sund will offer 2 with an team option for 3. I dont know how woodson will respond. I still say it would have been wiser to extend him at t ahe current rate.Now its going to cost a lot more
KevinA you are right. one game at a time!
Truth-Serum
December 18th, 2009
11:21 pm
Big Ump its amazing what people will do rather than admit they were wrong. Kevin, Ditto! O’Brien, you may be right. Lets see what happens.
Idiot Watch
December 18th, 2009
11:26 pm
Post Gamer Josh is not the shooter or clutch player Joe is. Dont get me wrong Josh is exceptional and my favorite player. It amazing when you come straight from high school. I know that means In time you will be one of the great players. But jj is a different style of player and is an assassin with his play. Im just glad they are both on our team!
We wouldnt be the same without either.
Ree Roe
December 18th, 2009
11:31 pm
It’s funny how many of you so called Josh Smith supporters wanted to trade him for the majority of his career. Now he’s an All-Star in the making, a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year and the catalyst for one of the best Hawks teams in Hawks history. Only negative in this game was the bench in the 4th Quarter.
When is Joe Smith coming back?
-REEcently Roe!!
Post Gamer
December 18th, 2009
11:35 pm
Good point Idiot watch. Sorry if I came atcha a little bit in my last post. Sometimes I get over-zealous in my responses.
Grandad
December 18th, 2009
11:39 pm
TS:
Merry Christmas
Grandad
December 18th, 2009
11:43 pm
For the ‘Extend Woody’ Fans:
Congratulations & Merry Christmas
Idiot Watch
December 18th, 2009
11:58 pm
Its ok Post Gamer, thats what Im here for to watch idiot!LOL
We cool, Go Hawks!
NBAwiz-o-meter
December 19th, 2009
12:05 am
Who is Josh Childress and what do he do? Let it do what it do? Does his future still lie in Atlanta? Or, will this wunderkind stay in an overseas league? I guess time will be the only teller. Ha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb6iizr1yBA
Post Gamer
December 19th, 2009
12:21 am
Idiot watch,
This link’s for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWBUl7oT9sA
Merry Christmas, dude.
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
12:23 am
Ree Roe
December 18th, 2009
11:31 pm
It’s funny how many of you so called Josh Smith supporters wanted to trade him for the majority of his career.
Our upside is not maxed out, we still have Al to go. In preseason I pleaded for Sund to resign our young players. Including Marvin. My mind has not changed. I have admitted and still admit my concerns about Jamal were overrated – not because of Jamal but my tensions are smoothed by Woody coaching.
In fact the upside does not reside with just Al. I see Rando and Teague as big contributors in the near future. Funny how that works together, Teague getting better at feeding the big fellers. One last upside factor. when Jamal has a tough night like tonight, he has a problem with transforming his ability to break down defenses from shooting to assists through his passing ability. It may take a tough coach like Woody to get him the message. So can these high flying Hawks get better? – yes – do they still have warts in a awesome 6 game run – yes. I would be worried about the Hawks if I were the rest of the League- the best is still yet to come.
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
12:30 am
NBAwiz-o-meter,
I love Hunter and Mo but it makes me cry to think of what it could have been. Josh a perfect fit with these high flying Hawks.
Truth-Serum
December 19th, 2009
12:34 am
Ditto KevinA and NBAwiz-o-meter, Chill is from the west coast and was a conference scoring leader. He is a run and gun man!
doc
December 19th, 2009
12:37 am
kevin a just when i think i have forgotten how chills would have fit this team the last two years for marvin money or maybe a bit less, someone brings it up. so far the only mistake that is obvious on sund’s watch. al, j smash, jj, chills and crawford to end games or like tonight end third quarters. geez just got a chill. heh heh
man, do you realize how many short games we have had this year ended by the third quarter. some kind of record there? how many times have the hawks led by twenty going into the fourth quarter in a row?
RLP
December 19th, 2009
12:37 am
KEN STRICKLAND:
I think you and I are alike in on respect – we do not comment on the blog during the games. I am too old and set in my way to try to blog and watch the game at the same time. I have noticed that you and Granddad in particular and I am sure there are probably many others who watch the game and then come here to see what our fellow fans have to say. Normally I try to catch the blog shortly before the game to see what is being said leading up to the game. But tonight I did not. So from the standpoint of what has been going on here I am way behind.
But I would like to go back to your comments today starting with the one you posted at 4:38 this afternoon in response to Astro Joe. As is your normal pattern your discussion mostly had to do with the role of the team’s head coach. As you know Big Ray made a number of predictions about things that would occur during the period of the ten game forecast. One of his predictions had to do with you criticizing the HC. He then went on to predict that others would respond. And then he predicted that I would get dragged into the discussion. I responded to Big Ray that I was going to do my best to make at least one of his predictions fail. So far I have succeeded in not getting involved in the discussion of Mr. Woodson. I am going to continue to try to make this prediction fail.
However in your 4:38 posting today you wrote about how this team’s success has been the result more of free agents and trades than in the development of young players through the draft. I started thinking about what you were saying. I think you are not giving the team’s management enough credit for how this team has been built. When you name the team members you must consider how the trades used draft choices to complete the trades. For instance of the five starters on the team four are either draft choices or were acquired through draft choices. Joe Johnson was acquired by trading Boris Diaw (a first round draft choice on the roster at the start of this management team’s reign) AND a first round draft choice. We did not have a draft choice in the 2008 draft because the choice was used to acquire JJ.
Our management also stole Mike Bibby in a trade that did not require giving up a draft choice. But then the best trade in the NBA this past summer IMO was using one of our draft choices – Acie Law – to acquire Jamal Crawford.
So while it is true that over half of our roster came from either FA’s or trades it is also true that 5 of the top 6 players on the roster have come either because of the draft OR because draft choices were used to acquire them.
I am not sure what any of that has to do with the position you are staking out for yourself viz a vis the question of the HC but I do think you are being disingenuous if you are trying to denigrate his ability because the management of this organization has taken advantage of the draft position and great trades in building this team. Not only do the great young team need applause for how they are developing Billy Knight and Rick Sund deserve applause for securing that talent.
BIG RAY:
Does this post substantiate your prediction? I really did not get involved in the pros and cons of the HC debate. So from my standpoint you prediction has STILL not yet come true. It may yet.
RLP
December 19th, 2009
12:43 am
For the Ten Game Prediction Record -
Five Games Played
5 Wins 0 Losses
The lowest number of wins anyone predicted, I believe, was 5-5. So far no one is out of the running. And I think we had one person who predicted 10 wins. He is also still in the running.
Idiot Watch
December 19th, 2009
12:46 am
Merry Christmas Back at you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMm1Ou3rhIw
Idiot Watch
December 19th, 2009
12:47 am
Post Gamer thats for you!
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
12:47 am
doc,
Have no gripes with Sund, I am just a loyal type of guy. If we had Lakers money Chills would be a Hawk. Not trying to rewrite history or question Sunds motives. He is still a baller and a future Hawk until reality happens. Still cross my fingers.
Idiot Watch
December 19th, 2009
12:48 am
The voice of hate is being silenced!
NBAwiz-o-meter
December 19th, 2009
12:49 am
KevinA
After the season, if Joe Johnson lands a lucrative contract elsewhere, does that open up a spot for J Chills to finally come home? Would Chills even entertain the offer? I don’t know the specifics, but I could see Crawford at the 2 and JC as the 6th man. I’m not saying it’d be easy to replace JJ, but this combo could help smooth the transition.
Don’t get me wrong. I ain’t trying to wish this season away or play fortune teller. Heaven knows this blog don’t like that very much. I’m just trying to think outside of the box.
Go Hawks!!
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
12:53 am
RLP,
I was a 9-1 predicter, tough games on the road with Denver and Clev to come. The way were playing I feal much better.
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
1:00 am
NBAwiz-o-meter,
Chills will never be a big scorer but he is a great passer and good defender. If Josh and Al can make up for about 7 points that are missing from the JJ loss – we would still be very tough . A step down? – yes but not as much as you would think. PS I think Josh and Al would do well with the extra shot attempts.
doc
December 19th, 2009
1:03 am
kevin, i have a gripe with him, none with your comments. he almost lost us smash too if the sixers hadnt been so stupid and pulled their offer off the table to give it to brand. said at the time that josh smith numbers over the length of the contracts would make brands look pale in comparison. since then the folks here on the blog made him up his game with the ridicule they threw at him kind of how woody got sooo much smarter. heh heh
shoot they ought to be glad they have us for such astute guidance.
Post Gamer
December 19th, 2009
1:13 am
Idiot Watch:
This one’s for you (old school style).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4L4CPfQY8
Hope you get the message. Happy Holidays!!
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
1:14 am
doc,
I would like to think our blogs are read. LOL As far as astute guidance goes it depends on who they listen to. Rick on nba.com called us certifiably elite tonight. I would prefer to look at the Hawks at the end of Jan. Do we need a JJ resign? Chills sign? Al with a big raise? Maybe what we really need is another big pocket Hawks owner.
Post Gamer
December 19th, 2009
1:16 am
P.S. How ’bout Marvin Williams making an appearance at the end of that video? The Duck got moves. LOL.
Grandad
December 19th, 2009
1:18 am
You lose so much more with Joe than 7 points. Defenses are stacked against him, he is a vital defender, top assist man, and he gives the team confidence. Childress could provide some of that but not in abundance. Besides he could be a part of all this fun and more importantly this TEAM if he had wished. That last item I mentioned
‘confidence’, well that has to be earned, much like respect. I’m not talking about Joe’s confidence but the confidence the team has in itself which is derived from Joe. Parcell’s said: “confidence comes from demonstrated ability” [Joe]. ‘Nuff said.
Childress greatest value to this team will come as trade bait.
doc
December 19th, 2009
1:49 am
granddad he aslo wished for more than 30 cents on the dollar for what he could have made and would have probably settled for 70 to 80 cents on the dollar if offered and dealt with. he was back burner for the hawks, expressed it to him he would have to wait and he say other opportunities. cant blame him a bit for wishing to be treated right as well. i guess maybe you work a job at 30 cents on the dollar for what you could have made on the open market, right?
elite for rick sund is a 50 win team, if he said that then that is one of the markers woody will be graded on. looks like he should surpass it with ease. i thought so as well at the beginning of the season. 54 or more up to maybe even 60 if all falls into place as some teams are truly dreadful with more teams to fill that bill within the next month.
my best guess now is woody will meet all the requirements for getting a four year contract ofer and it will be his to accept or reject just like the last time.
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
1:51 am
After watching the JJ interview i think he is lost. He is still trying to adjust to the Hawks great play. He is missing his big numbers because of the big blow outs. Does he want money or success. I don’t think he knows. I love the confusion. Josh and Al just talk about the team being unselfish. The more JJ does it the more bench time he earns. lol
KevinA
December 19th, 2009
1:53 am
doc, –
thanks – I just did not want to go there.
Nothing personal Grandad
MyView
December 19th, 2009
2:16 am
I have never said this about any team that I root for. However I feel this way about the Hawks, and I don’t know if its good or a bad thing but…..The Hawks are playing at Maximum performance right now. I’m not sure they can play any better consistently than they have for the past 5 games.
That is the reason that I am so exited about this road trip plus the home and home w/ the LeBrons. After these 6 games, I think I will know for certain whether this is fools gold, or are we truly legit? And I’m talking about1st or 2nd in the east, reaching the ECF or Finals. For me right now, its all about the next 6. Then we can talk about a rough January…
Ok maybe the Braves have peaked a few times and the ‘98 Falcons too. But thats it.
MyView
December 19th, 2009
2:25 am
Looking at the way Jennings is performing as a rookie w/ one year overseas, I would love to have Chills back in a Hawks uniform if he comes back. I think he will be improved in every aspect.
supa
December 19th, 2009
2:33 am
Man – this is one exciting team to watch. While it doesn’t supersede talent or hard work, team chemistry defintely has contributed to this team’s hot start.
TheAntiMe
December 19th, 2009
6:31 am
Don’t sweat it, Ken. We all miss Sekou, very much, so, you had a very unenviable task and handled it very well, IMHO.
Ken Strickland
December 19th, 2009
9:46 am
RLP-you’re correct in your assessment of me not wanting to blog during gms, although I’ll occassionally make a comment during a break. When watching gms, I like to focus on certain aspects that I think are either hurting or benefiting the team. I like to compare how we fair when we’re playing our constantly switching DEF vs us playing straight man to man with limited switching.
I also like to see how Bibby does playing each type of DEF, and he actually does a good job when playing man to man, as long as he gets help getting over the screen. Having Crawford, who’s a definite OFF/DEF upgrade over FMurray, and giving Teague extended mins, has caused Bibby’s mins to be reduced and has had a positive impact on our overall DEF, especially our on the ball DEF.
You’re also correct in your assessment of the teams ability to get good value in trades for our picks. However, when BKnight became GM, he stated his intent was to build and develop primarily through the draft, not FA. We’ve had success making trades because teams have felt our players had talent and potential that was underutilized by Woodson. It didn’t hurt that we were willing to send multiple picks, along with expiring contracts, in return for one player.
Bottomline, Woodson’s unwillingness or inability to develop the vast majority of our draft picks forced the team to adjust it’s goal and concentrate more on trading our picks rather than retaining them. We traded away what proved to be some pretty good FA talent(JTerry, RWallace, JPryzbilla, AHarrington, SJackson etc)in order to acquire the draft picks we acquired.
All of that wheeling and dealing wasn’t done so we could end up replacing them with more FA’s. When BK made the trade for JJ, it started a long running and very heated debate over BK including 2 1st rd picks in the trade, along with BDiaw. Based on Woodsons poor overall track record in developing talent, those picks most likely would have ended up being traded away for something much less valuable than JJ.
Fortunately, we’ve had 2 GM’s that have been very good at getting this team what it’s needed through trades and FA signings, despite the lack of effective overall player development. We now have a damn good team and a HC that finally seems to be getting it. How well he does in the playoffs will determine if his contract in extended, or for how long.
One other thing. The Wizards and Warriors have decided to breakup their current rosters. Both teams have some quality talent we might be able to use, especially if we fail to resign JJ. If Woodson is retained, we might as well include our present and future draft picks in any trade. Otherwise, we’ll just end up trading them later, if not releasing them outright when their rookie contracts expire.
Ken Strickland
December 19th, 2009
10:05 am
IDIOT WATCH-Now, if only we could silence the voice(s) of ignorance and stupidity. But then again, that would leave you and yours with nothing to say or talk about wouldn’t it.
KEVINA-cosign your 12:47am post. Plug Chills in our lineup in place of MEvans and we’d be solid, and give us far more consistency and versatility. In fact, Chills is the only player I’d consider using to replace Marvin as a starter. There would definitely be no chemistry issues and he’s more effective than Marvin without having plays called for him. He’s a better passer, ballhandler and penetrator. He’s the jack of all trades, master of none, but he gets the job done very efficiently.
I wish you hadn’t mentioned his name. Man, I love everything about the way he plays the game, as well as his overall demeanor. Chills, Marvin, Smoove and Horford remind me of the original YOUNG GUNS of the Braves.
ILL-logical
December 19th, 2009
11:04 am
Now that the Falcons have done the best thing with Warrick Dunn, maybe the Spirit Group will offer a piece of the action to someone like Chris”Ludicris” Bridges, who has the resources and committment to the community that would increase the franchises value substantially.
Good win against a good team that doesn’t generally play well on the road but rarely gets beaten badly.17,000+ for the Jazz is a very good sign; hope that this is sign of future fan interest.
When Josh develops a consistent 15 foot shot and Randolph Morris develops some aggressivness and upper body strength , the team has an even higher ceiling over the next couple of years.These guys at 23-4 years of age hold a substantial part , along with Calypso Al ,of the teams future in their hands.
Now on to the Windy City.
IDOIT WATCH
December 19th, 2009
11:14 am
Post Gamer thats a cool video!
I said silencing the voice of hate, and ken responded – GO FIGURE!
WHAT UP HAWK NATION?!
O'Brien
December 19th, 2009
12:00 pm
Speaking of Chills, we are paying Marvin ~$7.5 mil annually. Would you prefer to pay Chills that amount, or Marvin that amount? (If I’m not mistaken, Chills was offered less than $6 mil per before he went to Greece).
One thing Marvin has over Chills is he is a better shooter. However, in my opinion, Chills has more versatility, and we dont have to worry about his aggressiveness or running plays for him. I always felt like he had more impact on a game than Marvin.
Ken Strickland
December 19th, 2009
12:09 pm
I said silencing the voice(s) of ignorance and stupidity, and IDIOT WATCH responded-GO FIGURE!
Samuel
December 19th, 2009
12:21 pm
Ken,
Give me a name of these “quality” Head Coaches that are out there or STFU. (And please don’t tell me Mark Jackson or Avery Johnson). I’m tired of your senseless crap. If you were a man, you would admit that you were wrong about Woody and tell it like it is. The man deserves a contract, period.
Doc, What if Woody had done what Sloan did last night and recognize the obvious, that we are a better team. Isn’t Sloan supposed to be some guru coach with all this ball movement and inspiration ability. It don’t mean crap when you’re out-manned and out coached. I’ve been telling yall that for the past 5 years now. Wake Up.
Woody has developed this team into an elite squad and it’s time all you haters recognize that.
Woody=COY
Josh=DPOY
JJ=All NBA
Jamal=SMOY
How you like them apples?
Melvin
December 19th, 2009
12:22 pm
The Hawks are having one of their best season ever (well, maybe since moving to ATL) and I can’t believe some of these post. What happen to enjoying and cheering this team on while they are playing some of the best basketball in the league???
newkid
December 19th, 2009
12:32 pm
Improved gate success over the next 28 home dates, coupled with a deep and exciting run in the playoffs and the ‘cap friendly’ deals signed by Bibby, Marvin, and Zaza, could net the ASG the financial resources needed to consider re-signing both JJ and Chills next summer. A 5 year, $80M deal for JJ (starting @ $14M) and a 5 year, $40M deal for Chills (starting @ $6M) would land the Hawks almost $3M below the current luxury level, enough to sign a few end-of-the bench players (e.g., Joe Smith, RadMo) before hitting the luxury penalty. And with JCross’ $10M and Mo’s $2.5M both coming off the books after next season, re-signing Al to market money in ‘11 won’t be an issue. Financially, it may be a no-brainer for the ASG to marginally break the luxury threshold (by ~$1M) for one year (to sign our ‘10 late 1st rounder) to field a team of this calibre, if this is what it’ll take to challenge the Lakers for the O’Brien in ‘11, ‘12, ‘13, and ‘14. Re-signing JCross short-term for ~$5 (or a M. Redd for something similar) in ‘11 would round out the perimeter scoring needs.
Ken Strickland
December 19th, 2009
1:17 pm
Allow me to give everyone a couple of examples of how this team has affected the attitudes of most of us.
(1) In the past we all dreaded seeing the team having to face back to backs, or 3gms in 4 nights. But now, we are all so excited about the way this team is now playing, along with its potential to get even better, we’re actually so anxious to see them play we’re starting to look forward to back to backs. I know I do.
(2) Again, we’re so excited about this team, we’re starting to look forward to seeing them go up against quality teams, or go on long road trips, or see certain scheduling situations just to see how they handle it.
As this team matures and starts to perform at a much higher level, along with its HC, certain arguments are starting to be exposed.
(1) There’s the camp that ignores the obvious and wants to credit Woodson with being the sole reason for the teams overall success.
(2) There’s the camp that rejects that premise(I’m in this camp in case you didn’t know) and attributes the teams overall success to more influential factors, while still acknowledging Woodson’s contributions.
(3) There’s also the camp that prefers to straddle the fence.
Although the results may appear to be the same, our current win streak is different from our previous win streak(s). During our earlier win streak(s), we played the same type of uptempo, fastbreaking, attacking the basket style of ball. However, Woodson primarily used a 7/8 man rotation, played most of his starters and JCrawford in the mid to high 30MPG range, and consistently played Teague, Evans and JSmith limited mins or not at all.
When fatigue set in we started seeing WOODY BALL, with it’s accompanying ISO, guard dominated, perimeter oriented halfcourt OFF, and everything seemed to come to a screeching halt, especially our winning ways. When asked why the starters were playing so many mins and the overall OFF had dropped so drastically, we got Woodson’s infamous response, which was that he didn’t pay attention to the OFF or players mins.
However, even though he actually made that stupid remark, it appears obvious the question struck a nerve, the light came on and a fire was obviously lit. We came out of the funk that WOODY BALL creates and out of the gate playing the style of ball that created that original 7gm win steak. The biggest difference in the 2 streaks has been Woodson’s sudden willingness to consistently pay attention to details he’d previously admitted to ignoring. He now uses his bench extensively, especially during the 1st half, monitors his players mins and doesn’t overplay his starters. Teague, Evans and JSmith now consistently get extended mins instead of periodic DNP coaches decision next to their names.
This team has responded to his personal adjustments/improvements in a big way. We’re not just winning like before, we’re absolutely dominating whoever we play whereever we play them. IT CAN HONESTLY BE SAID THAT WOODSON IS PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUCCESS THIS TEAM HAS EXPERIENCED SINCE THIS CURRENT STREAK BEGAN.
Ken Strickland
December 19th, 2009
1:48 pm
SAMUEL-it’s truely revealing when someone has to lie, deny, ignore the obvious, embellish and/or misrepresent the facts in an attempt to make their point or support their usually unsupportable position. You ask me to give you the names of some of these quality HC’s out there, then in the same sentence you tell me not to mention them, WOW!
Why does Woodson need a new contract? Isn’t he already working under a contract he willingly signed almost 2yrs ago?
Your attempt at trying to use HC JSloan to make an analogy is weak, as usual. You see, if you use that analogy, then right after that embarrassing loss to the Knicks a couple of weeks ago, wouldn’t Woodson have to admit what appeared to be the obvious, that D’Antoni is a better HC and the Knicks were a better team? Unless you’re willing to accept that, then you analogy is, like said, weak, as usual.
Ken Strickland
December 19th, 2009
2:10 pm
NEWKID-If we let JCollins(.825M), MEvans(2.5M) and OHunter(.736M) go, we’d save 4M. Add that to their current annual salaries and it should be enough to resign JJ and Horford. If we could resign JSmith and RMorris to simular contracts, that would leave only JChildress to consider. I honestly believe Crawford will resign for simular to less money if offered a longterm contract, especially if we do well in the playoffs.
STARTERS C-Horford, PF-Smoove, SF-Marvin, SG-JJ and PG-Bibby.
BENCH C-Zaza, PF-JSmith, SF/SG-Chills, PG-Teague, C/PF-RMorris
That would be an excellent 10man rotation.
doc
December 19th, 2009
2:43 pm
samuel, i thought many times woody was stupid to not rest his folks on the outside chance of rallying back from 30 down the last few years. you know live to fight another day is a reasonable choice in the full context of a season especially when part of the reason was they had no legs. i dont know what to make of sloan’s choice last night but it was really fun to watch and that is the essence of what i posted. i also said i hope woody’s career comes close to that of sloan since that will mean good things are happening for the hawks, if you remember. anyway your posts and others in the hire woody group are getting just as boring as the others in the opposite group, i told you so’s with every post is redundant, maybe?
i have said i like woody in the past and one of his first supporters four years ago and what woody is doing now is great want to see it continue. personally i think you have got much more to say than that of repeating the obvious … this team and woody are off to a remarkable start. i am happy to share just that. i marveled at that third quarter recognizing it for what it was and trying hard to put it into words to how special it was with my daughter.
as far as the coy thing there are probably several coy folks that arent employed as coaches now. me i prefer the sloan thing of good basketball in my lifetime without a coy award which he has never won. serious oversight there. anyway woody doesnt quite have the track record to put him in the elite category just yet, though i hope he makes it. i want to enjoy the body of work he has to make it so. win a few more playoff series, have a few 50 win seasons and maybe a division championship or two then he gets it. i dont even need for him to win it all, maybe i am a more discerning customer.
Melvin
December 19th, 2009
2:56 pm
For all the hype about UNC big men, this big guy for Texas (Pitman, 6-10/11 290) is dominanting them all… Too bad he can’t play more than a 5 mins stretch or he would be a top 5 pick in next year draft…. Hmmm, he may not be a bad late 1st round pick….