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Home > Terence Moore > Archives > 2008 > November > 15
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Woodson vindicated, but won’t say ‘told you so’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rarely in the history of the earth has a coach or manager taken as many sucker punches as Mike Woodson.
Throughout his four seasons with the Hawks before this one, media types kept jabbing him. Some of his players did the same. Even the guy who hired him suggested to his bosses last season that they should throw him out of the Hawks’ ring sooner than later.
He’s still standing. He’s still the same regarding X’s and O’s, the handling of various locker-room personalities and operating as a person in general. Mostly, he’s still significantly better than his detractors thought, which is to say he’s pretty good.
That the Hawks entered Saturday night’s game at Philips Arena against the New Jersey Nets among the NBA elite was surprising only to those who haven’t been paying attention. Despite all of those issues that Woodson had to ignore or overcome (I’ll explain in a moment), his Hawks nearly kept Boston from its world championship last season by battling the Celtics dribble for dribble in a seven-game series.
Now, even with an ugly 119-107 loss in this one, Woodson’s maturing team has spent the early season flashing signs of remaining a significant force down the stretch of the Eastern Conference. As a result, Woodson has every reason to scream the truth from the top of his lungs: I’ve been vindicated, and my Hawks will only keep improving at an even quicker pace, and it’s time for my critics to shove some dirty sweat socks down their throats.
“Nah, I would never do that,” said Woodson, shaking his head. “I’m too professional to do that. Telling them ‘I told you so’ would be winning an NBA title. That’s telling them so. We’re not in that category yet.”
Take the Hawks’ past three games, for example. They were all losses, and they were all winnable — if you’re at least within a fastbreak of that “category.”
Let’s start with Wednesday night in Boston. Until Paul Pierce’s improbable game-winning shot near the end, the Hawks had the Celtics beaten, but here’s the bottom line: The Hawks failed to resemble a truly elite team by closing the deal.
Then you had their trip to New Jersey, where they were pushed around by a couple of rookies with much help from a lack of energy. The Hawks were at the close of a four-game road trip. It’s just that truly elite teams discover that second, third and fourth wind during such times.
That led to Saturday night, when those among the sellout crowd of 18,729 were as lethargic as the Hawks. The loudest cheer was for hip-hop artist Ne-Yo, famous for a song called, “Make Me Better.” And, no, it wasn’t about what each of the Hawks players has whispered in Woodson’s ear since he came to town. Then again, it could have been, because he has helped them improve as a whole.
Despite court battles among team owners, a key player dying before the start of a season, management failing to acquire a true point guard until earlier this year or a bench until recently, Woodson kept to his plan that helped the Hawks improve in victories at the end of each season from 13 to 26 to 30 to 37.
And that plan? “Defend, rebound and run,” said Hawks splendid guard Joe Johnson, who trusted Woodson from the start. “That’s the only thing he keeps stressing to us, and until we consistently do it, he’s going to keep stressing it to us.”
Exhibit A: The improving Hawks. And hear that sound? It’s the silence from Woodson bashers.
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