| Point/Counter-Point On Trading Harrington And Firing Woodson Authored by Patrick Austin and Zettler Clay - January 16, 2006 - 11:04 pm
Topic #1 — Should the Hawks Trade Al Harrington?
Zettler Clay: Yes
Patrick Austin: No
Zettler Clay: You have to trade him. The Hawks drafted Marvelous with the #2 pick. I’m sure they drafted him there for a reason.
Patrick Austin: It's looking more and more like Marvin is 2-3 years away from consistent production. We'd be better off keeping our best frontcourt player for at least that long until Marvin shows us something other than looking lost.
Zettler Clay: But Harrington isn’t even a power forward!! In fact almost all of our players are playing out of position on this team. Trading him gives us our best chance of acquiring some pieces to fit this puzzle of a Hawks franchise.
Patrick Austin: Very true, but our general manager (Billy Knight) is an out-of-the-box thinker. He's said repeatedly he doesn't look at position; he just wants the best players on the court. Right now, Al is our best offensive weapon behind JJ.
Zettler Clay: Constructing a playoff team (and eventually a championship team) is a science. Championship teams DEFEND and REBOUND. There's no way around that. There's no need for his creativity in that area. Al doesn't do either of those well.
Patrick Austin: But you need to factor in Harrington's presence on the team. He is well-liked by many players, in fact Josh Smith considers him a mentor. If we trade Al, that could have a negative effect on Smoove's development.
Zettler Clay: Does J-Smoove really consider him a mentor??? He probably can't wait for Al to leave, that’s more PT for him. Imagine Josh getting 30+ min a night and fulfilling all that potential...oh he wants Al to stay alright (lol).
Patrick Austin: But even if we were to deal Harrington at the deadline, what could we get for him? He's an unrestricted free agent in the summer, so that means most teams won't give up substantial value for him. Just look at what we got in return for Rasheed Wallace and Antoine Walker the past two trading deadlines--crap and some late-teen 1st round picks.
Zettler Clay: Aha, good point Pat. But that’s the GM's job to sell other teams on Al's contribution. I’m sure we can get something of value for him. He is a good player and hard worker in this league. Indiana will give us something for him. New York probably will too, because Isaiah has seen him play many years up close while he was in Indiana.
But you HAVE to at least seek the trade.
Topic #2 — Should the Hawks Fire Mike Woodson?
Zettler Clay: No
Patrick Austin: Yes
Patrick Austin: I have no problem saying Mike Woodson is an incompetent head coach. His substitution patterns are highly questionable, he doesn't demand respect from the players, and doesn't know how to properly run the team during a game. He needs to go ASAP.
Zettler Clay: It's easy to say that Pat but lets look at the facts. This is the youngest team in NBA history. He doesn't have the personnel to work with. And he's only been here over a year. And I wouldn't say that he doesn't demand respect. Let's not evaluate now. At least wait till the end of the year.
Patrick Austin: Then how do you explain Woodson forgetting to bring Josh Smith back into a game? He even said that was "an error" and he simply "forgot". Something like that is a clear example of how incompetent he is.
Zettler Clay: Well, where were the assistants? Did one of them think to nudge him and say, “How bout putting Josh in to thwart some shot attempts?” A head coach is only as good as his assistants. Ask Phil Jackson or Pat Riley.
Patrick Austin: Who hires those assistants? I think the head coach has a say in that.
Zettler Clay: Coaches at this level need help, so give some fault to Larry Drew and Larry Brown's brother as well, not just someone who is in his second year as a NBA head coach. That was a mistake by Woody, no doubt about it. But do you call for a man's head for that? Do you ruin his livelihood just for one and a half years worth of futility? Give him some time.
Patrick Austin: How much time do you give for someone to continue losing? I would be more sympathetic if this team showed signs of improvement and hustled night in and night out, but I don't see that. In fact, I see us regressing. Just look at what Byron Scott has done with the Hornets in his short tenure. They arguably have equal (maybe even less) talent than us and yet they have a much better record.
Zettler Clay: They have a stud point guard (Chris Paul) and a good rebounder (PJ Brown). That’s what this team needs; has nothing to do with the coach.
Patick Austin: Be honest, if you had to choose between keeping Woodson or hiring a guy like Paul Silas, would you honestly opt for Woody?
Zettler Clay: Right now?? I don't know. If Paul were here now, he'd probably be here at the end of the season. Players play, coaches coach...coaches don’t turn the ball over 16 times a game. They don’t forget to box out and so on.
Patrick Austin: But let's say, hypothetically, we're in the off-season and Rick Adelman is fired. Wouldn't you fire Woody and make a major push for Adelman?
Zettler Clay: Hell…YES! |
