By moving to keep Mike Woodson, the Hawks have opted to err on the side of continuity. Still to be determined is what exactly will continue. Is it the rush of goodwill from beating Boston three times in seven days, or is it the flailing that resulted in a conspicuously gifted team slipping into the playoffs at 37-45?

If it's the former, then this is a reasonable decision. The Hawks under Woodson played hard and well and even cleverly in those epic victories. But should three playoff games override a body of work that has now run to 106 regular-season wins against 222 losses?

There's a case to be made for retaining this coach after four losing seasons, and he made it before Game 5 in Boston: "We've improved every year," Woodson said. The belief here, however, is that the Hawks didn't improve as much or as soon as they should have. The belief is that a team with a new general manager could have benefited from a new coach.

As has been clear for some time, ownership believed otherwise. Michael Gearon Jr., the Atlanta Spirit's principal basketball voice, said three days after the Hawks played their last game that Woodson "deserves an opportunity to see what he can do with this team," and the hope among all of us who care about basketball is that we haven't already seen it.

Offering an incumbent two more contractual years isn't so much an endorsement as a deferral. (Three years would have been a validation; one year would have been tantamount to repudiation.) The length of the extension suggests Rick Sund isn't sold on Woodson but isn't entrenched enough to defy the owners who rebuffed his predecessor's attempts to depose this coach.

Said Woodson, speaking Thursday of upper management: "They've made that clear [that his services are desired] by bringing me back."

The issue with Woodson isn't so much tactics —- his X's and O's are no less OK than most coaches' —- as temperament. So often did the Hawks give what both he and his players deemed substandard efforts that you wonder if a more upbeat personality wouldn't be seen as an upgrade. He has had spats with Josh Smith, who's about to become a free agent, and Zaza Pachulia, who regressed this regular season, and there's no guarantee these players will pay more attention next time.

Still, it's worth noting that Woodson expressed his gratitude Thursday. "I appreciate my players voting for me to be their coach," he said, and then: "You might not know this, but I love coaching and I love my players."

That's nice to hear, and it will be even nicer if the Hawks use the Boston series as the springboard it could and should be. If they play the way they did in Games 3, 4 and 6 —- the road dates were, as we know, rather different —- they'll win enough to make any coach look smart. Those were big-time efforts by a team that could and should blossom with time and seasoning.

But you also wonder if time mightn't work against Woodson. This is the NBA, where familiarity breeds contempt. The core of this group —- Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams and the Joshes —- have played for him since 2005, and a far more successful band of Hawks began to tune out Mike Fratello after a similar stretch two decades ago.

We can only hope that the success tasted in Games 3, 4 and 6 will have a transforming effect on all concerned: That Woodson will be less dour and that his players will be more receptive, and that the sour refrain —- "We weren't ready to play" —- will, from this day forward, remain unsung. But hope isn't quite faith, is it?

mbradley@ajc.com