Mike Woodson is out because Hawks have raised the bar
It had become clear that Hawks players were tuning out Mike Woodson in the playoffs. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Firings shouldn’t be celebrated. But the message that a firing sends can be.
Mike Woodson is out as Hawks head coach. Don’t celebrate a man’s unemployment. But celebrate why.
“This wasn’t an easy decision,” general manager Rick Sund said Friday night, his eyes a bit red at the end of a long day of meetings and interviews. “But at the end of the day, I thought it was time for the players to hear another voice. Change in sports is sometimes good, and I felt we needed change.”
Sund didn’t feel a need to get into the specific of the whys and hows. But this was the message: The bar has been raised.
The Hawks are not calling Woodson’s exit a firing. They don’t have to. His contract was about to expire. But this is semantics. They no longer wanted him to coach their team. Regardless of what’s legally correct, it’s a termination.
Why? Because tere’s a mandate to win now and win big. Imagine that –a pro sports team in Atlanta shooting for something higher.
Would Sund have kept Woodson if he had a year left on his contract?
“I don’t answer hypotheticals,” he said.
I think we know the answer.
The Hawks’ regular season win totals increased every season under Woodson. He took the team to the postseason three straight years. He won first-round series in the last two, and in neither year were the Hawks expected to get past their second-round opponent (Cleveland and Orlando).
But winning 53 games and a playoff series isn’t good enough anymore.
Few expected the Hawks would defeat Orlando. But getting stretched to seven games by Milwaukee in the first round and losing four games to the Magic by an NBA record composite of 101 points — including an embarrassing 30 points in the desperation Game 3 at Philips Arena — was unacceptable.
Sund thought so. Atlanta Spirit owners thought so. Certainly, the thousands of fans who booed the Hawks early and often during Game 3 — and the thousands who didn’t show up for Game 4 — thought so. The Hawks had gone as far as they could go under Woodson.
All of the Hawks’ ills are not Woodson’s fault. This roster has flaws. There is no true center (Al Horford is playing out of position). The starting point guard (Mike Bibby) declined significantly this year — after getting a new three-year contract, oddly enough. The team’s most dynamic player (Josh Smith) is a Hall of Famer one minute and the epitome of a petulant professional athlete the next.
But it had become clear in the playoffs that players had stopped listening to Woodson. A new voice was needed before the direction of the organization started to turn south again.
The Hawks played two playoff series this year and Woodson was outcoached in both. Scott Skiles, whose Milwaukee team lost one starter (guard Michael Redd) early in the season and his best player (center Andrew Bogut) three weeks before the playoffs, nonetheless got his players to believe in themselves and their head coach. The Bucks pushed the Hawks to the brink of elimination before Atlanta players woke up in a cold sweat and won the last two games impressively.
Question: Why did it take being pushed to the edge of a cliff before responding?
A focused team plays with equal parts confidence and desperation in the playoffs. That goes back to preparation. That goes to coaching. Yes, players share in the problems. Even Horford questioned the effort level of teammates after the third game of the Orlando series. But it also goes to players listening to, working for and following their coach.
The first game against the Magic was an embarrassment. The Hawks lost by 43. Sund said he didn’t put much stock in that result because the Magic were rested and the Hawks were coming off a grueling, seven-game series. Left unsaid was the cause of the series going seven games. Regardless, there was no reason for Game 3 faceplant at home.
The half-court offense was too predictable (we’ve all seen enough of “Iso” Joe Johnson). The defensive effort was inconsistent. Rookie point guard Jeff Teague sat on the bench for most of the season, a not uncommon fate for a young player under Woodson.
In all matters concerning Woodson, stubbornness reigned. Flexibility, creativity, objectivity — not so much.
Woodson’s six year record (206-286) will not rank as one of the best in franchise history. His impact will be debated. Defenders will say he can’t be blamed for going 13-69 because he didn’t have players. Critics will claim he received too much credit for going 53-29 because he had players.
We’ll find out soon enough who was right. But there’s no question the right message is being sent.
♦
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Summer of Sund begins | Atlanta Hawks: Fan Nest
May 14th, 2010
2:00 pm
[...] Also, here is more detailed reporting and opinion from AJC sports columnist, Jeff Schultz: http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2010/05/14/mike-woodson-is-out-because-hawks-have-raised-the-… [...]
Sid
May 14th, 2010
2:01 pm
A mandate to win now? …………………..oh bejesus………..pick me up off the floor, I’m rolling around laughing so hard I might injure myself……!! Oh, this isn’t Minneapolis………….whoops, sorry, wrong blog……
All I'm Saying...
May 14th, 2010
2:01 pm
Schultz, I agree with you. Woody and the team grew up and got better each of the past six years including finally winning a playoff series but now the city and the team have outgrown Woody’s capabilities.
If the Orlando debacle wasn’t enough, the Milwaukee series this year told us all we needed to know about Woody. No way that series should have gone seven games (bogut and redd unavailable), no way we should have been down 3 games to 2 (we were up 2 games to 0 people), no way we should have blown game five at home in the final couple of minutes (hello, how about several timeouts and/or some adjustments), and no way he should have tolerated players not hustling back on defense and/or taking bad shots (that’s what the bench if for).
Scott Skiles out-coached Woody starting with the second half of game one and only our sheer talent enabled us to win that series which we won in spite of Woody.
So thanks Woody for what you did but we must move on in order to move up.
Who is next?
I say Byron Scott. He was a guard and ought to be able to develop Teague and get the most out of Bibby and the rest of the team will instantly respect him because he took a team to the NBA Finals twice.
I also like Avery Johnson. Again, former guard and ought to be able to help Teague and work with Bibby and took the Mavs to the NBA Finals.
Either way, don’t dawdle, Rick because the real heavy-lifting is what will we do this roster. I say re-sign JJ, sign Chris Bosh, and go to running the floor fast-break style to take advantage of our athleticism while still having a low post, half court operator like Al Horford and one we’d like to do more of it like J-Smoove to help us score points when we are not fast breaking!
LET’S GO HAWKS!
Timmy
May 14th, 2010
2:03 pm
Tony Parker becomes a free agent after next year…the Spurs might be willing to deal him to add some youth at other positions provided they get a veteran point guard in return to back up Hill. If we could swing something like Childress, Bibby and a first round pick for Parker I would do it. Then let Joe Johnson go and sign Carlos Boozer. That doesn’t solve our problem at center but it adds another big and lets Josh play at the 3.
So we would have:
Parker
Crawford
Smith
Boozer
Horford
Bench:
Teague
Evans
Williams
Pachulia
Then after next year, let Tony Parker go unless it appears we are a championship contender. Teague will take the reigns and it’s possible we could have some money to spend to get a quality shooting guard to let Crawford move back to 6th man in 2011-2012.
Chill
May 14th, 2010
2:05 pm
Coach Woodson,
Nothing personal but you had to go. Besides possibly running the worst half court offense in the Western Hemisphere, you were horrible at using your timeouts, horrible at calling set plays out of those misused timeouts. Failing to recognize the obvious fact that Mike Bibby became a serious liability on defense as well as nothing more than a spot up shooter more suited to come off the bench. However the most egregious mistake you made was failing to develop 1 out of 3 point guards drafted in the 1st round. On a team full of athletic swingmen who can’t create off the dribble, there was a NEED FOR A POINT GUARD WHO CAN DOMINATE THE BALL, PENETRATE, AND GET ALL OF THESE ATHLETIC SWINGMAN THE BALL. In a League full of young, promising rookie point guards its indefensible that Jeff Teague basically wasted a year on the bench. Could you imagine a hawks team with a point guard like Nash, Rondo or even Darren Collison??? Joe could play off the ball, save energy and all these 6′9 swingmen that Billy Knight loved so much would be wreaking havoc on Fast Breaks. Developing that point guard should have been your first priority, instead you made it your last and it ultimately sealed your fate.
nside hawkfan
May 14th, 2010
2:05 pm
Mgibby – Really Bibby starting next year? Puhlease.
David McDavid
May 14th, 2010
2:06 pm
Hire Hubie Brown as coach and Bill Willoughby as his assistant.
truthspitter
May 14th, 2010
2:06 pm
Well, I can not say that I am happy. I don’t know any other business that guys get fired for improving on the bottom line. The bottom line for a coach is winning and he improved on that every year to 53 in his last year. The Hawks are extremely cheap franchise and they will not spend money for a name. We will end up with the leftover guy after every single other team looking for a coach picks there guy. We will lose Joe and be back in the lottery next year. The good part is Sund can now start taking the blame as he has to hire a coach, come up with a starting PG, SG, SF, and C. Let’ s see this is his what 3rd year. So, I guess he has 3 years to do all of those and advance atleast to the Eastern Conference finals or he should be fired.
Jerry West
May 14th, 2010
2:10 pm
“1. Package Marvin and Zaza( and a draft pick if necessary) and send them to the lakers for Andrew Bynum.”
best trade ever suggested on here. love the “if necessary” on the draft pick.
NineOhTheRino
May 14th, 2010
2:11 pm
AJC should fire your sorry ass next
Mr. Phil
May 14th, 2010
2:12 pm
Has anybody mentioned Bob Hill? Anybody know what he is doing?
SOUTHGADAWG88
May 14th, 2010
2:12 pm
The talent is not championship quality period…It doesn’t matter who the coach is…can’t win without the players especially in the NBA.
King James
May 14th, 2010
2:15 pm
I would love to come play in Atlanta. I’m also rewriting the
King James version of the bible so that any time the word “are” comes up it’s replaced with “was” and the word humble and its variations are used in excess of 6000 times (usually used incorrectly).
craig donahue
May 14th, 2010
2:24 pm
Wake-up They need a Big true center. Even if they had Phil Jackson they wouldn’t go far. The coach doesn’t play just coach. They need a big body on howard! A center to go inside with instead of the perimenter outside game. Especially when the shots aren’t falling.
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
May 14th, 2010
2:27 pm
“Right, we have reach our plateau with Woodson and must go to a higher level with a new coach who is going to develop rookies and use the bench.”
Rankin Smith is twirling in his grave.
GT65
May 14th, 2010
2:32 pm
Sliderule…I get your point about Rads…I wouldn’t hire Paul Hewitt to walk my dog. But lets hope he leaves Atlanta ….Fire Hewitt.
where to find a center
May 14th, 2010
2:37 pm
there aren’t many true centers but I think phil Jackson won 6 titles without a true center (never mind he had jordan) but he won 4 with (oh wait he had Kobe all the time and the real Shaq (a true center) for three. hey he had superstars for all of his titles so the answer is simple , spend whatever it takes to get Jackson and Lebron and you have your title Atlanta. phil will have his tenth title after this year
Justafan
May 14th, 2010
2:37 pm
Agree on Woody. Now Fire Coach Hewitt for same reason ,to raise the standard, higher level.
Go Hawks .
scoop
May 14th, 2010
2:40 pm
brown hired by the hawks , Calipari hired by the cavs , that will be the headlines in the next few days
PlusSizeModel
May 14th, 2010
2:42 pm
Given this franchise’s track record I would not be surprised if they hire Mike Brown at this point.
Gen Neyland
May 14th, 2010
2:46 pm
Let’s hope the peg they pick to raise that bar is capable of doing so…else we’ll get Ted Turner to coach ‘em up…
Coach AL
May 14th, 2010
2:46 pm
Mr. Schultz…..Whats The Right Message Being Sent???? That This is the beginning of the Hawks return to Meritocracy as a NBA Franchise….Believe it! How do you improve season after season and get fired??? Only in professional sports is the consistency of improvement not enough.
northcyde
May 14th, 2010
2:48 pm
We’ll see if this team has “raised the bar”, depending on what coach they bring in here.
If they bring in another assistant coach, or a coach who has failed miserably somewhere else, then they have NOT raised the bar. They simply made a coaching change.
“Raising the bar” means that this organization will do whatever they can to get us to the next level. We’ll see what this organization is all about when the summer comes.
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
May 14th, 2010
2:48 pm
If Andruw Jones had wanted to be THE greatest center fielder of all time, both hitting and fielding, he could have been. I think he enjoyed playing, just didn’t possess that inner drive to take it to the highest level. Guess I really shouldn’t lump fielding in there, his defense was HOF caliber as it was, a magnificent natural gift.
Josh just lacks a groin population.
I'm Gumby, dammit!!
May 14th, 2010
2:49 pm
JVG, if he’s crazy enough to take it!!
Yup!
May 14th, 2010
2:52 pm
MIKE BIBBY MUST GO NOW!!!!!!!!
The Dogfighter Returns
May 14th, 2010
2:53 pm
why would the lakers trade bynum for two underachievers when bynum just signed a long term contract?
try that trade with memphis for one of their centers.
James
May 14th, 2010
2:53 pm
Now that Woody is gone the next move should be planning to not re-sign Joe Johnson. The Hawks need leader that has a killer instinct and Joe Johnson doesn’t have that so they need to shake the team up they already gonna have a new coach so getting rid of Joe should be next.
washedup
May 14th, 2010
2:55 pm
what’s up with the time on this blog? Has the earth shifted to a new time zone? damn global warming!
RA
May 14th, 2010
2:55 pm
Woody Fired! Happy?
NC Braves Fan
May 14th, 2010
2:59 pm
northcyde @ 2:48pm agree totally. Today’s dismissal is a recognition of reality by the ASG. It says nothing about their ability to solve the problems and challenges the team faces.
That said I do wish Woody all the best and thank him for all he did to teach, tutor and get the players to where they are today.
Firings are hard, but they’re part of the business. Most if not all the names being bandied about as replacements have been fired elsewhere. It’s a cruel twist on the saying, “No matter how good he looks, somebody somewhere is tired of his s**t!”
LeBron James
May 14th, 2010
3:01 pm
Hmmm Interesting I might want to come and play in Atlanta with Joe Johnson and Al Horford.
BrianFlannery
May 14th, 2010
3:05 pm
Bring us Dominique Wilkins (as player/coach) and Patrick Ewing (as assistant coach) to help guide the Hawks to the NBA Finals. The nucleus is already in place. We just need a couple of talented ex-players to help us get to the next level. Stay tuned.
Marcus
May 14th, 2010
3:06 pm
@northcyde (2:48 pm response)
eh, think we get another asst. coach or a low-rent retread as new coach. No one who costs millions.
BTW, this is ESPNs John Hollinger’s take:
http://espn.go.com/blog/TrueHoop/post/_/id/15923/woodsons-tenure-unusual-til-the-end
Nothing new, but I guess just more opinions.
atlienforlife
May 14th, 2010
3:08 pm
Avery Johnson would be a perfect fit for this team. People wanna say his dallas team falled in the finals. But, that was against a Dwayne wade who just went off. Furthermore; look at what has happened to dallas since, with a much better team then that one I must add. He coaches an uptempo style offensive, with a lot of ball movement, that would suite our team greatly. Also, his defensive schemes involve alot of man to man and zone, which would be strengths for us too. Sund, please throw the kitchen sink at Wade and hope he bites, if not there isn’t a better replacement then Johnson out there. Which isn’t bad, because avery would eliminate the iso crap. Plus, do what you have to do to bring J-chill back and please go sign a knock down 3 point shooter to come off the bence (maybe jason kapono)! I just don’t believe this team needs to be dismantled!
jesse james
May 14th, 2010
3:10 pm
It is always the coaches fault. You got a fool that says he doesn’t care if the fans show up. Put alot of the blame on the players. I wouldn’t coach in the NBA (Not Basketball at All) if they gave me a team. How in the hell did he win 200 games with this organization? I don’t know of an NBA team where the players do listen to the coach. Heck if they come down on the players they get fired because of the militant attitude of the players. I have had enough, god bless Mike Woodson and thank you for what you did. Deep down you probably want out anyway.
Dr. Warren
May 14th, 2010
3:11 pm
KEVIN LOUGHERY
heartofdarkness
May 14th, 2010
3:16 pm
Interesting thought. Bring Billy Knight back to coach the team he drafted and assembled.
D Hawks
May 14th, 2010
3:17 pm
This could be a pivotal day for the Hawks. The coach is fired, and we get word that investors may be interested in joining the Spirit LLC. Could this mean we’ll have a little more money and incentive to spend to make this team (and the Thrashers) better?
Tmac
May 14th, 2010
3:22 pm
What I want in a coach:
-Make tactical adjustments. (in games, not practice).
-Develop talent and play the young guys in the regular season so they can help in the end of the year! (in games, not in practice. like every other team in the NBA)
-Teach players what is right & explain why. Also explain what the other teams want each player to do. (in games, not in practice)
-Don’t put and un-put players in the “dog house”. This does nothing but create animosity between players & head coach… and then players tune you out (like they have now)
-Rather TEACH them why what they are doing wrong so they can recognize in the games for themselves.
-Not keep a player like Mario West on the roster to help in practice!
These were all character flaws in Woody, but would like them to be character traits in the new coach!
C'mon Hawks
May 14th, 2010
3:26 pm
Josh Smith=Andruw Jones
Love them both, have great talent, but both have something blocking them from being great!!
King James
May 14th, 2010
3:26 pm
“were” is also replaced with “was”
Mr. Phil
May 14th, 2010
3:26 pm
in the “bad day for coaches named mike category” add this line from espn. “Report: Cavaliers dismiss Brown”
Tweets that mention Mike Woodson is out because Hawks have raised the bar | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
May 14th, 2010
3:26 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michael Tucker, Jeff Schultz. Jeff Schultz said: Mike Woodson is out because Hawks have raised the bar (UPDATED) http://bit.ly/9q0AyD [...]
ZeussRichardson
May 14th, 2010
3:26 pm
AVERY JOHNSON IS AN ABSOLUTE PERFECT FIT FOR THE HAWKS JOB. AVERY HAS HAD SUCCESS AS A HEAD COACH AND AS A PLAYER. AVERY IS ALSO AN NBA STUDIO ANALYST AND HAS UNLIMITED WISDOM AND INSIGHT INTO NBA BASKETBALL. AVERY WOULD DEFINITELY COACH THE HAWKS INTO EITHER THE EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS OR THE NBA FINALS. I THINK THAT WOULD SATISFY MOST FANS.
ParkerManhole69
May 14th, 2010
3:37 pm
PAT SUMMITT
S Hawk Fan
May 14th, 2010
3:39 pm
About time!!!! The Hawks,under Woody, play like the guys down the street at the public courts. There is no logic to what either of them do! I pity the city that gets his smug,confused face on the sideline!
This is a great day in Atlanta sports! About three years late but a great day!
Alright Mr. Sund now make a good or should I say a great choice!! The next coach don’t have very big shoes to fill!!!!
THE R
May 14th, 2010
3:40 pm
They fired the wrong guy. They need to fire the entire Spirit Group. Taking Marvin over CP3 and D.Will was a big mistake when the Coach wanted a point guard. Resigning Marvin and Mike Bibby was an even bigger mistake. They should be content with the job he did with them drafting all of those tweeners (J.Smooth, J-Chill and Marvin are all the same player). They can’t keep drafting 6′9 guys Horford and expect to win. Get a real center and a real Point Guard.
Tha Real Hawk
May 14th, 2010
3:42 pm
Hire Mike Brown!
nice
May 14th, 2010
3:53 pm
anyone who doesnt give woodson his credit is a bafoon. the man got the team from 13 wins to 53, and he deserves his due. that being said, he had no offensive midnset whatsoever. did the hawks EVER seem to have an offensive scheme other than whoever makes a shot, they should take the next 4? too much talent to play iso joe, yet no one to push the talent out of them. a new coach is needed this was the right move.
now to everyone who says avery johnson should be the new coach..really? did ANYone see the debacle against miami? did anyone see josh howard quit on him? did anyone else see how all that talent got waisted?…does anyone see the parralells here?…