HAWKS: On the eve of training camp, team’s expectations higher

Mike Woodson has always been blunt.

He was that way when took over as the Hawks’ coach in 2004. He has remained true to his ways during the roller-coaster ride of his first four seasons.

He starts his fifth season today, with the Hawks’ media day and Tuesday’s start of training camp, with a 106-222 career record.

No one was sure Woodson would make it this far. Not after four straight bitter losing seasons. Certainly not after last year’s relationship with former general manager Billy Knight —- who recommended to ownership that Woodson be fired only to be rebuffed.

Knight has moved on, resigning two days after the Hawks’ Game 7 playoff loss to Boston, perhaps the only thing more stunning than the Hawks’ playoff run.

But Woodson swears he was only making good on the presumptuous promise he made four years ago. This despite spending as much —- or more —- time on the NBA’s hot seat more than any other coach.

“I said when I took the job that I couldn’t do it in two years or even three years, even though deep down I really thought we could do it in three,” Woodson said of a business where coaches routinely get shown the door before their contracts expire. “But I got to that fourth year, and I made it clear that if I didn’t get this team to the playoffs in four years I didn’t deserve to be the coach here. And we were able to get into the playoffs, make a good showing once we got in, and that’s something to build on.

“Now people can flip it and always use the negative and say we only won 37 games and we shouldn’t have been in the playoffs. There are a lot of ways you can spin it. But the bottom line is these guys worked their tails off and did everything we asked them down the stretch to put themselves into a position to make the playoffs. And last time I checked, nobody has ever said you have to win a certain amount of games to get in the playoffs.”

If Woodson thought the past four years were challenging, now comes the hard part. He must do it again.

Knight’s replacement, Rick Sund, rewarded Woodson with a two-year deal.

One of Woodson’s most vocal supporters, however, chooses to see it differently.

“I think he was rewarded for all that we’ve been through and how strongly we finished the season,” Hawks All-Star Joe Johnson said. “I said it when we were finished in Boston that I think he and his staff deserved the opportunity to see where we could take this thing going forward. I meant it then and I’m glad that’s what happened, because changing for the sake of change isn’t always a good thing.”

Much has changed since Woodson took over. Josh Smith is the only player that remains from that 2004-05 season. The first year ended with the dreadful 13-69 record that many figured would lead to an early exit for Woodson.

Smith has had a colorful relationship with Woodson but seems to have warmed to the only NBA coach he’s had.

“It really is nuts when you look back and realize how many people, players and coaches and everything else that have come and gone in the past four years,” said Smith, who would have joined the exodus had the Hawks opted not to match the $58 million offer sheet Memphis extended this summer.

This season shapes up as more of a referendum on Woodson’s fate than last season.

Woodson has 10 returners, including his entire starting five and all but Josh Childress from the limited bench rotation he used most of last season.

“I know people expect so much, and I know now that we’ve made the playoffs, we’ve put people in a different light here in Atlanta. And that’s good… . And hopefully you keep them in that good light, and they keep coming out and supporting us. It’s going to take me and my staff and the players to make this thing work, because we came full circle last season from where we started. Now it’s up to us to extend this circle.”