RealGM Atlanta Hawks Front Office

Archives

Jun 15, 2008
Lottery Summit: Atlanta Hawks

Jun 13, 2008
Woodson Remains In The Hawks Nest

May 31, 2008
Here Comes The Sund

May 15, 2008
Who Will Be The Hawks New GM?

May 7, 2008
Goodbye B.K.

Full Archive

Back To The Bottom

Authored by Patrick J. Austin - January 3, 2006 - 4:41 pm

Current Featured Columns

The First Three Weeks of 2008-09

Now that we’ve had a little time to watch free agency unfold, along with the usual accompaniment of trades, let’s look at some of the key moves and how they impact the teams involved.

Matthew Gordon. July 22, 2008.

Grading The Deal: W's Sign Maggette And Turiaf

The Boom Dizzle era is over, and the Warriors quickly recovered by signing two nice pieces to complement their young core.

Christopher Reina. July 10, 2008.

	Reliving Eight Years Of Jermaine Regardless of how happy he is to be out of Indiana, there will always be a part of Indiana in Jermaine O'Neal's 6’11” frame. Andrew Perna. July 13, 2008.
	Iguodala Remains Key To Sixers' Success When Brand scribbled is name on an $82 million dollar deal Wednesday, that all ended. Iguodala's short reign as "Batman" in Philadelphia was mercifully over. John McMullen. July 10, 2008.
	$10 Million For Five Players? The Orlando Magic will be limited by the NBA's Luxury Tax in terms of filling the remaining spots on their roster. It is also possible it could cost them Keyon Dooling or Maurice Evans. Howard Mass. July 1, 2008.
More from RealGM's Columnists

RealGM Search

After putting together a nice string of wins, the Hawks have stumbled once more and are back at the bottom with the worst record in the league (7-21). I really thought they had turned a corner. Beating quality teams like the Spurs, Nuggets, and Cavaliers gave me a sense of optimism, but that was quickly replaced with frustration and confusion after watching them lose to teams like the Bobcats(minus Emeka Okafor) and Raptors.

One major problem I’ve noticed is Mike Woodson’s substitution strategy(or lack thereof). He seems to have finally settled on a starting line-up and rotation, but he has this terrible habit of taking out players when they’re actually producing.

For example, in a recent loss to the Toronto Raptors, Salim Stoudemire scored an incredible 12 points in only 9 minutes. He was hot and stroking it from beyond the arc. Funny thing is, Salim only played those 9 minutes. For some odd reason Woodson didn’t keep him in. Ask any other basketball coach and they’ll tell you to keep the guy with the hot hand in until he gets cold. The way Salim was scoring, he should have gotten at least gotten 20-25 minutes.

It sounds like Woodson won’t be fired this season since he received a “vote of confidence” from ownership; but if we keep losing that could change quickly. I’m really hoping the owners are able to land a proven, veteran coach either during this season or in the summer.

In order to reverse our crapitude(yeah, I made that word up and the copyright is forthcoming) we need someone who actually knows how to coach a team and get the best out the talent available. Sad to say, Woody is not that someone.

So here we are, back again in the doldrums of the NBA. It pains me to say, but being dead last is starting to feel familiar; like it’s something to expected from the Hawks. I wish it wasn’t that way, but when you watch your beloved team slowly but surely turn into the Clippers of the East (Clippers 90’s edition) I guess it’s unavoidable.