AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > November > 14 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMore talent requires the right coach
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
The Hawks, at long last, have assembled a handsome roster. At issue is when, or even if, this will become an actual team. At issue is whether this collection of players will ever be more than a collection under a coach whose career record is 72-181.
The Hawks are 3-4 after a difficult early schedule. That’s not terrible, especially not by recent standards, but they should be 4-3. When you can beat two of the NBA’s five best teams in the space of six days, there’s no excuse for losing at home to the 0-5 Wizards, which the Hawks did Sunday.
This club longs to be taken seriously in its hometown, but a serious club consolidates gains. A serious club tends to business, the way the Hawks did Wednesday against Charlotte. But where was that Sunday? How did the team that scored 37 points in the first quarter against the Bobcats manage just 40 in the first half against Washington?
Watching the Hawks manhandle Charlotte left this resounding notion: The locals can put more good players on the floor — and not just starters; subs, too — than at any time since the late ’80s. Billy Knight hasn’t always (or even often) drafted the right man at the right time, but he has accumulated enough good men to stretch this season beyond the 82nd game. And then you look to the sideline and you see …
Mike Woodson.
Is he the guy you trust with this dearly acquired talent?
Building a roster is only half the battle, the lesser half. With the advent of Al Horford and Acie Law IV, the Hawks now have capable players at every position, not just three of the five. And already we see Woodson letting Law start games but not finish them. (Gee, he seemed to do OK in the last few minutes at Texas A&M.) And Wednesday the coach chose to start the healed Zaza Pachulia over Horford, who has been mostly terrific. (Having Zaza at center is one of the reasons the Hawks became the Hawks; having Horford start is one of the ways they’ll graduate to something better.)
The Hawks keep saying they want to run, and they have the requisite speed. Yet they entered Wednesday’s game 24th among the 30 NBA teams in scoring. Do they go out and just forget? Or is the idea of a man who played under Bobby Knight and who apprenticed under Larry Brown teaching the joys of the fast break contradictory on its face?
“This team is up-tempo,” said Josh Smith, who scored 15 points and blocked five shots before tweaking a quad in the third quarter. “If we play like we did tonight, we can play with anybody.”
That’s the key — the inherent “if.” Asked how the team that ran so hard and passed so expertly (29 assists on 46 baskets!) Wednesday could have done none of the above Sunday, Joe Johnson said, “It’s kind of like we’re ‘sometimes.’ “
And that has to stop. If the Hawks are to make something of themselves, a mesh must be found and a method ingrained. In seasons past we shrugged off lousy efforts because the Hawks were, as a matter of a fact, lousy. They should be beyond that now, and we should accept no excuses. They’ve had long enough to set things right.
That said, the pairing of these energetic Hawks with the dour Woodson seems a lingering mismatch. Young guys cannot be overcoached. They must be allowed to play, and to play through inevitable mistakes. No more Tyronn Lue as default fourth-quarter point guard. No more grind-it-out. No more sometimes.
Let’s be fair. John Wooden couldn’t have won with the crew Mike Woodson was handed in 2004, but there comes a time with nearly every expansion team — essentially, that’s what the Hawks were — when the coach who suffered through the losing yields to someone who isn’t seen as damaged goods. (Local example: Curt Fraser fired, Bob Hartley hired.)
It didn’t really matter who guided the Hawks the past few years, but it matters now. Having finally drafted the right men, why hand them to the wrong coach?
Permalink | Comments (56) | Post your comment | Categories: Hawks / NBA, Mark Bradley
Comments
By lou
November 14, 2007 11:44 PM | Link to this
Hawks will finally make playoffs
By qvski
November 15, 2007 12:30 AM | Link to this
Please fire Mike Woodson!!!!
By Murphy
November 15, 2007 12:32 AM | Link to this
please dont start this mess. the hawks finally look good and are responding to woodson and then here goes the horrible writers from ajc tryin to start mess. if the hawks look horrible mid season then i will agree with you on this but dont try to rock the boat already. what the hell is wrong the writers for this paper?!! your supposed to support your home team this is really pathetic mark bradley
By Russ
November 15, 2007 12:52 AM | Link to this
Bradley,why are you so wishy washy ? Like all of the local sports writers and radio personalities in this town.First you want to crucify Mike Woodson and Billy Knight for being incompetant about drafting,evaluating and developing basketball talent.when if you look at the nightmare of a roster knight inhereted from Pete Babcock to what is assembled now Billy Knight seems like a basketball genious.This city is notorious for being impatient about seeing talent and a team develop,it seems like woodson has this thing moving in the right direction and according to your recent column I can see that you and your counterparts are poised to jump on the band wagon!!! and make it seem like you could see it all along.
By Anthony
November 15, 2007 12:54 AM | Link to this
I’m sure you would like it too Mr. Bradley if you were to write a good book and then have your editor fire you and take credit for it. Cmon man, let him enjoy the fruits of his labor. That’s kind of backstabbing if you ask me. At least let them get through a third of the season. They should get better the longer they play together.
By MJ3
November 15, 2007 1:23 AM | Link to this
Murray/Russ/Anthony - y’all are right.
If we’re 8-17 after 25 games, I’ll be right with you saying Woody should be fired. But we’re not there yet. We’re 3-4 after playing a brutal opening stretch. That ain’t bad. If we go into the weekend 4-4, we’ll actually be looking pretty damned good.
Besides, who the hell would we replace him with at this point? Nique can’t coach, so unless we’re gonna raise Red Auerbach from the grave…
By Najeh Davenpoop
November 15, 2007 1:27 AM | Link to this
I didn’t see anything that wrong with this article. Bradley is right, this team has a lot of talent and Woodson hasn’t yet proven he can handle that talent and commit to an uptempo style of play. That doesn’t mean he can’t become a good coach, like Sam Mitchell did in Toronto, but it’s not going to be easy. Woodson’s tendency is to grind it out in the half court Larry Brown style when his roster needs to do exactly the opposite, and if he can’t find a way to change his coaching style to suit his players the Hawks should look for a new coach. That said, Woodson hasn’t done a bad job so far either, and if the Hawks are going to replace him they better have someone good in mind first, which is unlikely to happen in midseason.
By THE Hawks Fan
November 15, 2007 1:46 AM | Link to this
I think the owners said all they wanted to see was if the CORE group of players would play for Coach Woodson. One game under .500 after playing the leagues Best tells me yes they will. Will they have bad games? Surely, but this team knows as a group they can beat anybody in the League on any given night. Also they know how to “Correct” mistakes in their games. Did Lue pound the ball up the court tonight? Was Josh Smith shooting from the club level restrooms? Did Joe not defer to his wide open team mates with noo look passes??? All of these things tell me they know what they need to do to win and want to do it. Now its another thing if thier tired bodies will let them ie Sunday against the Wiz. That you have to credit Coach Woodson and his staff. This team has great Chemistry right now. So I would hope the Spirit would allow Coach Woodson this “Season” to get it done. All of this fire him now needs to stop. Nothing good will come from a midseason AX. If you had written this article before the game I would say you had a personal agenda against Coach Woodson. But its plain to see like Terrance Moore you have to write garbage to get people to even read your Lame azz columns. You want to help?? Buy tickets to the games for yourself ,family and friends report to your seats with popcorn and beer and scream until your head hurts. Goooo Hawkkss!!!!
By Adam
November 15, 2007 2:35 AM | Link to this
wow bradley, you have nothing better to write about? i mean i ignore terrence moore articles for just this reason, now yours too?
we’re what, 2 games below 500 after playing 4 last year 2nd round playoff teams and the leagues best team in Boston and we want the coach fired? Really? Yeah, we came out flat against Washington. Now he’s gotta be fired? I though sports journalists paid attention to the finer details of the game, see the post above me for my point- the improvements have been made in this very short season already.
give the guy a freaking chance. he’s FINALLY got a team, we’re barely a month into things and you’re calling for his head? good grief
it’s not like we need the wishy washy brain-dead Atlanta “fans” being influenced by this utter b****** writing
unbelievable.
By tb
November 15, 2007 3:23 AM | Link to this
Woodson has been a NBA coach for three years and please try to define his OFF strategies or his rotations or his use of timeouts or his demeanor or the attitude problem dividing the Hawks team or the fact that he seems to always be in open conflict with several players and they don’t play……….
You get the point; I hope.
Watch the team play and compare them to a well coached team. Coaching is not a question of superiour talent. Coached players execute strategies that incorporate all the players.
By SQUAWKER
November 15, 2007 4:48 AM | Link to this
I am not Mike Woodson fan and agree that a better coach could get more done with the players we have. However, I question the timing of this article. Would have been better received after the Washington game when I was down on the team.
Mark, you show you at least have some knowledge and appreciation of this team. I appreciate that. However, you also need to eat crow and apologize to Billy Knight. He has known what he was doing the whole time as you repeatedly bashed him loudly.
By Seed
November 15, 2007 6:14 AM | Link to this
So is this how the game is gonna be played? Are y’all gonna whip out the hatchets everytime the hawks win? Look clown. If you want to gripe about the Wizards’ game… Gripe AFTER THE WIZARDS GAME!!!
I am enjoying a nice victory (whether the ajc likes it or not) and you wanna play this, almost 5 day old trump card? This is supposed to be a NEWS paper not TOILET paper. The operative word here is news! The Wizards game is nolonger news son.
No matter how fans feel about Woodson, they should denounce this foolishness for what it is.
Speaking of toiletries. I see you referenced that “article” about Law and his playing time. Talk about shananigans and deception. Your comment that Acie Law has never finished a game is an outright lie!!!
LAW FINISHED THE GAME AGAINST DETROIT!!!
LAW PLAYED WITHIN THE LAST 5 MIN OF THE PISTON’S GAME!!!
Or do y’all not watch the games? Just huddle up around the box score?
By The Grinch
November 15, 2007 7:20 AM | Link to this
As usual, I see Davenpoop’s beat me to the punch. Ditto.
By JMF
November 15, 2007 8:13 AM | Link to this
When it comes to the Hawks I think you have lost your objectivity. Look at what you are saying. That instead of being 3-4 they should be 4-3. So for a one game difference you think the coach should be fired? I do not always agree with Woodson’s decisions but you have to give him time to work with this group. The Washington loss was predictible. They are a very good team that started the season 0-6. That was the worst possible time to play them. I am just happy that we did not open 0-6. With the brutal schedule we easily could have been 0-6. Give Woodson some praise for his work to date. It is apparant that you are unable to objectively report on the Hawks. You do the City a disservice by reporting on the Hawks when you and the Coach have been at odds for sometime. Just because you have a pen does not mean you should seek some vendetta.
By mountain jim
November 15, 2007 8:36 AM | Link to this
I tend to agree with Bradley that Woodson is not the right coach for the running game the talent here is right for. If a good, NBA experienced uptempo coach is available, he should be installed before christmas if the Hawks don’t make a real move above 500.
Also, Woodson is playing Lue to much and he kills the offense (when their is some semblance of offense that is), just go with Law. He will not play Stoudamire enough, and he does not defend his players being cheated by the refs most every night, they give the Hawks no respect calls at all.
By D Ellis
November 15, 2007 8:38 AM | Link to this
I Like this team. I like the coach. I think Woodson could tweak a few things like letting himself adapt to his style of players a little bit more…but I am with everyone else on here…WHY FIRE HIM NOW? Now at the Allstar break if we are 12 games below 500…then yeah I can see it then….but not after 7 games. So they came out flat against the Wizards….they came out on fire against the Suns….it is still a very young team….they will tend to do that from time to time I think. Woody still gets a bucket 99% of the time after a timeout….you can bet on that. But isn’t this his first Head Coaching job? I mean I hope just cause he is a head coach he doesn’t think he “has nothing to learn from HIS TEAM”…I hope he learns and has open mindness to let the guys run. I think he does. As much as the young guys on our team are learning from him…I hope he is learning from them and what they do best.
The players look good though. Horford is a beast…but he does travel alot. Stay under control big guy…he is going to be good. Childress is exactly the right energy coming off te bench. He played big last night….but is no back to the basket player…I saw him try that a few times against the Suns…just keeping getting the garbage points and boards Chill…keep running. Good to See Joe get his stroke back last night. He played huge and took over the scoring when JS left…hope he is cool…..I did not like the fact that JS came out after the half last night and hoisted a 3 and a jumper…however JS has been playing great for the most part….all over the floor making big plays..steals, blocks,dunks..he is the high evergy guy. ZaZa looked tired but he just needs to get his legs back…he is an important piece to the team…but Horford will be starting before the season is over with…he’s just young. Law has looked pretty good…about what I expected..hated to see him get hurt last night. Over all they are playing pretty well and I am in front of the tv every Hawks game that is on…GO HAWKS AND KEEP IT GOING
By truthteller
November 15, 2007 8:50 AM | Link to this
If you can’t see that Woodson is a lousy coach, you really don’t know much about the game. His record as a coach is pathetic. How does a team that is supposed to be up tempo turn into a plodding team taking 30 foot jump shots as the clock expires? That, my friends is coaching. Bradley is right about Woodson being the wrong coach, but he is wrong about the Hawks having assembled the “talent” to win. This looks like about a 35 win team, which won’t get you into the playoffs. Same old mediocre Hawks.
By Dean
November 15, 2007 8:58 AM | Link to this
Mark is spot on here. This team is too inconsistent in style of play, effort, and ultimately in results. If the Hawks are under .500 and 9th or worse in the standings after 20 games, then pull the plug. Give Woodson time between now and then to prove himself. If not, then move on. Could be worse though…would you rather have Isiah?
By rfsbkr
November 15, 2007 9:10 AM | Link to this
You writers always look for negatives, especially when the person is black. If you know so much, why don’t you become a coach. Honestly, you are not good of a writer. Maybe that is where your focus needto be.
By Torrie
November 15, 2007 9:17 AM | Link to this
Mark, It’obvious you never played a lick of sports in your life. You are too busy trying to find fault in a loss that happened a couple of games ago instead of focusing on the win over one our nemesis last night. Typical AJC…ALL JUNK COLUMNS!!!! Fire the head coach who’s gotten off to a 3-4 start? More talent requires a better coach is your assumption. My assumption better journalism would require reading another paper.
By jlewis
November 15, 2007 9:26 AM | Link to this
Mark Bradley has just written what everyone in the league knows, Mike Woodson is not the coach for the Hawks.
By Dan
November 15, 2007 9:37 AM | Link to this
Mark
Just stop this….
You guys ignore this team year after year. Now that things are starting to turn around, you suddenly think a coaching change is in order? Whatever….It’s writers like you that make this such a lame sports town. You are terrible at what you do.
If this season is as fun as I think it will be, make sure you write some more insightful articles about how we should have drafted Chris Paul. It will add so much to the season….
By jack
November 15, 2007 9:40 AM | Link to this
Give Woodson some extra money, a thank you for the effort, a set of walking papers and then get the young guys an uptempo coach who will use the youth and talent accordingly. If we do, we will be VERY, VERY, GOOD for the next 10 years. Sorry Woody, but we have seen enough of you and your strange line-ups and peculiar offences.
By Brian
November 15, 2007 9:50 AM | Link to this
Mark, you’re right, Woodson is the wrong coach for the Hawks.
The problem, which you didn’t address, is who is the RIGHT coach for the Hawks, and how are we going to get said right coach to join this team given our ownership mess?
Until we can answer that, we stick with Woody.
By MsDee
November 15, 2007 9:51 AM | Link to this
The only problem I have with Woodson is that he never gives other guys a chance to play. Solomon, Salim, Shelden..why oh why they saw no action lastnight?? I know when ZaZa would return, Shelden would see limited min but 0 mins??? That’s just not fair, esp when he was doing good. Why wasnt Solomon in game clothes?? ANd I hope Mario West isnt getting the “big head” to believe he can play offense???
By JackB
November 15, 2007 10:16 AM | Link to this
I agree that Woodson may not be the “right” coach. But I disagree that this is the right time to talk coach firing. Also, Mark B. when you bring up a problem, you are supposed to suggest an alternative. What choices do we currently have if we do get rid of Woodson? Where is your list of more appealing available coaches? Just saying something isn’t good does no good.
Back to Woodson…he needs to show some emotion. Every time the camera is on him, he has that look on his face like he is watching paint dry. I was at the game last night and the fouls for a while seems pretty tilted towards the Hornets and Woodson did not get on the refs like he should have. The crowd was doing a better job of that than the coach. Also, we have all this talk about a fast break offense, but I don’t see coach urging his players to keep the tempo up.
Woodson is doing a good job of handling the rookies, but he needs to become more involved on the sidelines and become more a part of this team’s overall chemistry. If he proves over some time he can’t do that, then lets look for a better replacement. But 3-4 when most of those games were against top tier teams isn’t a reason to sound the alarm.
By Sope Creek
November 15, 2007 10:19 AM | Link to this
Let’s see now: Mark Bradley, a UK alum, publicly trashes Mike Woodson, formerly a great Indiana University basketball player, on the day that the AJC runs a feature article celebrating Cinderella’s (i.e., Gardner-Webb’s) victory over UK at Rupp Arena this year … hmmm, sure, that makes sense to me based on Bradley’s history of disdain for everything IU - ESPECIALLY anything once connected with Bob Knight, no matter how far removed now - and home-boy favoritism for everything Kentucky.
And just when UK’s supposed to be on its way “back” with Billy Bob Gillispie as its new coach AND during the early signing period, too … sure that makes perfect sense for this UK grad to pull a cheap shot against an IU guy.
I would suggest that the Hawks should give Woody more than one game that “shoulda” been won this season before anybody calls for his head, because those are going to happen to everybody - heck didn’t both Dallas and Phoenix lose “shoulda” games to the Hawks this year? Did Bradley give Woody any credit for those “maybe shouldn’t have oughta” wins? Ohhhh, I guess not. Hmmmmm.
So let’s see what the whole body of work is, say, a third or halfway through the season. And if there are more wins from the “shoulda lost” category than losses in the “shoulda won” category, then maybe somebody should go - but not Woodson. Maybe - just maybe - it oughta be Bradley instead.
By Ryder
November 15, 2007 10:20 AM | Link to this
I see where Bradley is going with this. It’s obvious the players on the team feel they should run more often, and it’s when Woodson tries to slow things down that problems occur.
That said, what Bradley and some of you don’t understand is that developing a regular NBA rotation takes (once again say it with me) TIME to develop. Most teams don’t get settled into a groove until December. No decision on Woodson should be made at all until the end of December. That’s why so many idiots, including the AJC staff writers, are so quick to jump off the bandwagon every time the Hawks lose. No patience whatsoever.
By Sope Creek
November 15, 2007 10:35 AM | Link to this
Dang, I wrote the first post regarding Bradley’s disdain for all things associated with Bob Knight before I read the entire puff piece about Gardner-Webb beating UK. And guess what … Bob Knight is credited by Gardner-Webb’s coach as being “gracious” in tha article. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that Bradley read the Gardner-Webb story before he wrote the article about Woody, and he got so boiled up inside about Bob Knight coming off good in an article in which UK is the butt of the joke, he just couldn’t help himself from lashing out at the nearest Knight connection available.
What’s really galling is that Bradley tried to use a game in which Woody’s Hawks looked GREAT as the basis to call for his ouster. Now THAT’s some good ol’ Kentucky logic, right there.
Bradley ain’t no Furman Bisher. And I’m afraid he’s proving that he might not even be Terrence Moore … .
By GE
November 15, 2007 10:50 AM | Link to this
Bradley, you are a total idiot. Last year you were bashing the players and Billy Knight. Now you are throwing Woodson under the bus. At least Woodson has a resume as an accomplished basketball player. He knows the game. Give him a chance now that he has the talent. I like what I see with the Hawks. Just because they lost to the Wizzards means nothing, These are pros who can win on any given night if on their game. Go write about Tom Glavine and leave the Hawks alone.
By RA
November 15, 2007 10:57 AM | Link to this
Here’s my two cents, for what they’re worth. Yea, coach Woodson has one of the worst records in basketball over the last three years, but you take the teams that he had to work with and the youth that he had to mold and manage and you’ve got a recipie for exactly what you had, a young team in transition… I think that now that he’s got the talent and the experience to be truly competitive, he can finally be evaluated on his merit as a coach.
By RA
November 15, 2007 10:58 AM | Link to this
Oh, and is it just me or are the criticisms for the drafting of Marvin Williams growing fainter by the second???
By Patman
November 15, 2007 11:07 AM | Link to this
I see mr “Give up three players for Rex Chapman.” is at it again! Talk about stupid timing! The Hawks win a game in impressive fashion, they’re 3-4 after the roughest stretch of their season and this idiot still harps on a game played four days prior! I would understand if it were January and the Hawks were stinking but it’s been only seven games and sorry so-called columnists are calling for the coach to be fired! Any newspaper that would continue to employ Mark Bradley and Terence Moore after years and years of crappy writing isn’t even fit for wrapping fish!
By Maurice
November 15, 2007 11:12 AM | Link to this
Patience!? Who are you Ryder to talk about patience? We- the Atlanta Hawks fans- deserve to be impatient. We-the Atlanta Hawks- have not see a playoff game in since late 1990’s and it’s almost 2010! No, no patience what so ever. I, We and their mommas too, want this team to win and win often. Acie Law IV should start and finish games, that should be his learning curve. If you read Bradleys’ article as it was written he’s not jumping off the Hawks bandwagon, it’s Woodson’s
By Darrin "The Vent King"
November 15, 2007 11:20 AM | Link to this
MAN LIKE I’VE BEEN TELLING YOU ALL- AL HORFORD IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT KARL MALONE (without the choking)!! HE IS A BEAST!!
p.s. Get well soon J-smoove and Acie Law…REAL SOON!
GO HAWKS!!
By Atl Flavor
November 15, 2007 11:36 AM | Link to this
The Atlanta sports scene is sooo dang depressing. Teams losing all over the place. Coaches getting fired, players going to jail. But yet there is ONE little hope of success and the LOCAL sportswriters try to destroy that in a forum of public opinion. The abuse of Coach Woodson comes with the job. Win or you are a bucket of crap. And Yes team makeup has 100% to do with it. Ask Pat Riley Don Nelson and Reggie Theus. All are missing key players and reeling because of it. Coach Woodson was handed a loser when he got here and he struggled. He had a decent team last year and injuries killed that. This year, he has all his players and is doing pretty good if you ask me. So please let me have some fun in my city. Leave the man alone for now and let the season play out. Also Ms Dee, why u take the pot shot at Mario?? You think he is being played over AJ and Solo because he played for 15 seconds?? And Salim did play for the record. He plays 15 seconds and you act like he commited a crime. No need to bash him cause u p** other guys are not playing. Andd finally Jim Mora ratted Mike Vick out. Yeah he is a animal killer, but Blank is no better for giving him one the richest contracts in NFL history and not knowing what he doing everyday. You have to go through 20 pages of documents to buy a house and no one did a background private eye check up on him???? Or no 1 cared?? Oh well … Rant Off.
By Atl Flavor
November 15, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this
The Atlanta sports scene is sooo dang depressing. Teams losing all over the place. Coaches getting fired, players going to jail. But yet there is ONE little hope of success and the LOCAL sportswriters try to destroy that in a forum of public opinion. The abuse of Coach Woodson comes with the job. Win or you are a bucket of crap. And Yes team makeup has 100% to do with it. Ask Pat Riley Don Nelson and Reggie Theus. All are missing key players and reeling because of it. Coach Woodson was handed a loser when he got here and he struggled. He had a decent team last year and injuries killed that. This year he has all his players and is doing pretty good if you ask me. So please let me have some fun in my city. Leave the man alone for now and let the season play out. Also Ms Dee, why u take the pot shot at Mario?? You think he is being played over AJ and Solo because he played for 15 seconds?? And Salim did play for the record. He plays 15 seconds and you act like he commited a crime. No need to bash him cause u p** other guys are not playing. Andd finally Jim Mora ratted Mike Vick out. Yeah he is a animal killer, but Blank is no better for giving him one the richest contracts in NFL history and not knowing what he doing everyday. You have to go through 20 pages of documents to buy a house and no one did a background private eye check up on him???? Or no 1 cared?? Oh well … Rant Off.
By Wise One
November 15, 2007 12:08 PM | Link to this
FIRE BILLY AND WOODY!
By bh
November 15, 2007 12:56 PM | Link to this
I’m glad that Mr. Bradley is NOT the boss. Or no one has a job.
By Chris
November 15, 2007 1:00 PM | Link to this
Big example of Woody’s problems:
Hawks call a timeout last night with 13 seconds left on the shot clock (and a lead they needed to protect by running the clock down). A time out, I thought, was supposed to afford you time to actually draw up a play. Well, Hawks come out of the timeout, and inbound to JJ, who immediately puts up a tough runner.
THIS is what you come up with during a timeout? Come on, man. Come on.
And starting Zaza (who has been injured) over Horford (who has been spectacular)? Well, nothing needs be said about that, does it?
By Chris
November 15, 2007 1:04 PM | Link to this
Yeah, good job ATL Faker. Nice way to turn a Hawks article into something about Vick. Don’t you have some video games to play or something? Leave the grown-ups alone.
By ww3
November 15, 2007 1:30 PM | Link to this
mark bradley coached where???
By Kelvin
November 15, 2007 2:04 PM | Link to this
Mark, you may be right, only time will tell. I don’t see a lot of cohesiveness on this team. What I see is Josh Smith going 1 on 3, trying to play the point, and taking 3’s from almost anywhere on the court. Josh Smith, make up your mind as to what kind of player you are going to be. Are you a Power Forward or a Wing man? Whatever happened to the point guard leading the break? We need someone down low that can command a double team. I think Al Horford will eventually be that player. I wouldn’t mind seeing Josh Smith traded along with Shelden Williams for a 1st round pick next season. I would like to see us get Roy Hibbert, center from Georgetown in next year’s draft. Since we don’t have a first round pick next year a trade of two expendable players would be a good move for this team. Hibbert would provide us with what we are really lacking, a shot altering center that will keep teams from coming inside so easily.
By H. Cranford
November 15, 2007 2:12 PM | Link to this
The Atlanta Hawks once again have a truely competitive and exciting team. As a longtime Hawks fan it is refreshing to see the way the team is coming together. Let us not foget( Mr. Bradley) the Hawks a still a very young team and Coach Woodson has been there through it all. So let’s not start any negativity in the begining of what could be a sucessful season. The city sorely needs a playoff team!
By FeudFinder
November 15, 2007 2:19 PM | Link to this
People, let,s be real. Mark Bradley,s comments are right on the money. I do not see anywhere in this article where he is campaigning against Mike Woodson. Hawks will brutally defeat top teams, then it will lay eggs when it comes to sub-500 teams. It is unacceptable, unless we all want to keep watching a rebuilding team the rest of our life. We must understand that blaming the players takes us no where. As a result, it must come from the top. That does not mean that coach Woodson is not a good coach. However, he needs to reiterate to his boys the team,s identity, which is a full 45 minutes up-tempo. This new hawks thrives best when it runs. Not half-court; not even half and half. Furthermore, we all mentioned that both our picks were NBA-ready. And it is true. But why not extract the best out of these two guys? Mr. Bradley,s article is only a reminder of what the hawks promised us to be rather than what it should be done to it. I will take this article at anytime blessed time over Terrence Moore,s.
By bali
November 15, 2007 2:28 PM | Link to this
i watched the game on tv last night and for the most part enjoyed the way the Hawks played. I believe coach Woodson is doing a good job. After the game I listened to Marvin williams and others talk about doing what was best for the team . They do not care if they are playing the 3 or playing the 4…. they just want to play. After waching and reading articles about athletes that just care about their stats and not the team I believe some excellent coaching has taken place this summer and thoughout coaches career in Atlanta . Good Job coach.
By Kelvin
November 15, 2007 2:51 PM | Link to this
I don’t understand why fans get upset when the local sportswriter gives an honest opinion. It is his job to call the team out when they don’t play well. This idea that the local sportwriter needs to be loyal to the hometown team is rediculous. Grow up people!
By chris
November 15, 2007 2:53 PM | Link to this
This article is ridiculous. He claims we finally have talent and that it really wasnt Woodsons fault last year. But after 6 games he wants him fired? So we lost a game to the Wizards. Who cares if they are 0-5, They were in the playoffs last year. There are 82 games in a season, whats your problem? I wish the AJC would just get rid of Bradley and Moore and keep Sekou.
By Tyger
November 15, 2007 5:03 PM | Link to this
Its only 2 weeks into the season, and we havent seen enough to make a fair evaluation. Thank God, the Hawks beat the Bobcats, so put the noose away for now.
BK and Woody have done phenomenal jobs considering the environment they inherited, which still limits their ability to mold the team into something greater.
Is Woody ideal for this roster? Its too early to tell, nobody has seen a Hawks team like this since Smitty, Mutombo and Mookie.
If Woody can backdoor this team into the playoffs it’ll be a job well, period end of story.
And if he keeps them around .500 throughout the season, he deserves our support to finish the job he started.
By JR
November 15, 2007 5:09 PM | Link to this
I am in agreement with everyone calling Marks’ article ill-timed to say the least. I have been a watcher and player of roundball for over 50 years. I am not an expert but Billy Knight needs an apology from all the so-called experts who said he didn’t know how to be a good GM and talent drafter. Those Hawks can play and they’re only going to get better and to call for Woodson to go just as he has a team that is competitive is just short of ignorant. If Woodson can’t get this talented bunch into the post season he has to go but give him an opportunity. If Knight can draft as he has he surely must know what Woodson is capable of doing with this group. Bradley you need to stick to football. You blew it on this article. JR.
By Ryder
November 15, 2007 5:34 PM | Link to this
Who am I Maurice? You should know exactly who I am, I’m the person who’s about to rip you a new one. First of all, I don’t remember a scrub named Maurice that plays for the Hawks, so I suggest you get your facts straight. Second, I don’t remember Atlanta ever drafting a Tim Duncan or Shaq like player who could take them to the Finals in two years. Fact, the Hawks had to get rid of a lot of salary cap space so they could FINALLY assemble a talented team. Fact, if you bothered to read my post (i’m sure you didn’t) did I ever mention anything about jumping of the Hawks bandwagon? Did I? Go back and read it again if you weren’t so illiterate the first time.
Screw you, real fans know that this team is being developed. Bandwagon dck riders like yourself will probably quit watching them after every loss like the scrub you are! So shut up btch!
By dashizz357
November 15, 2007 5:58 PM | Link to this
Coach is doing a great job with the mess he was handed, this team still isn’t a true playoff contender and it isn’t coach fault. What did the last 3 coach’s do here! nothing Let the man do his thing. We still don’t have one bonafide superstar but yet the hawks battle everynight! Stop swinging from his sack and let the man do his job! Oh ya! We need a coach like the falcons got! Wow.
By Ty
November 15, 2007 6:18 PM | Link to this
Let the coach and players have success/failure together. Every team will occassionally come out flat, just like this write is coming out flat. He makes several unwise statements, but the poor guy shouldn’t be fired. Coach Woodson is no Bobby Cox, but he sure isn’t a turn coat Isiah Thomas either. Let him continue to groom these guys, and hopefully they will contine to get better, from what I see the HAWKS will make the playoffs this time, and as long as they are healthy they will be a handful for anyone, and Bradley we’ll get you FIRED!!!!
By honest_abe
November 15, 2007 7:30 PM | Link to this
way to get everyone all riled up mr. heh
some of you guys crack me up. you say you agree woody isn’t the right coach but now is not a good time to talk about it? huh? what am i missing here? so when would be an appropriate time to discuss how incompetent woody is? after the hawks go on a 1-11 slide? wake up fellas. woody is the worst coach in professional sports. the man has no idea what he is doing. if the spirit group want the people of atlanta to take this hawks team seriously, they need to make some moves to show us the fans they are serious. they can start by hiring a real head coach.
By fred toucher
November 15, 2007 8:15 PM | Link to this
Mark Bradley…sorry loser but you are pathetic. This paper will continue to be a joke with writers like you and your nonense.
LOSER
By sooperman
November 16, 2007 2:40 AM | Link to this
Mark and Terrance should be REQUIRED TO TALK TO SEKU before writing about basketball. Any knowlegeable basketball person knows those guys know nothing about basketball. Do this paper have a sports editor? Why don’t he ever proof the crap these guys write? Terrance and Mark never make any sense. I am beginning to think they are told to write something stupid everyday.