Right now I should be studying for my Organic Chemistry exam I have in a few hours, but I’m feeling passionate about Woody’s situation right now so here we go. There's been a little talk about Woody deserving an extension, and I thought I would weigh in on my take as a fan.

Woody deserves an extension. Period. I don’t know what the rules are, (I know it’s too late for players to get extensions, but can coaches get them at any point in the season NFL-style?). Anyways, regardless, let me get this out of the way, I fully understand this is a player’s league. I could coach the Hawks to a winning record based on common sense. Mainly because these players are veterans now; I obviously couldn’t develop talent. Teague would be screwed…but my point is NBA players don’t perform significantly better regardless of who’s coaching them.  David Berri, who I love, has some pretty sweet research that shows that NBA players output fairly consistent production throughout their careers, regardless of teams, teammates and coaches. Before the season started, he predicted Richard Jefferson wouldn’t contribute much(he hasn’t), the Rockets would easily surpass their low expectations,(they have),  Hedo’s value was way overrated(well, that one was pretty obvious) and the only reason Don Nelson is in a position to surpass Lenny Wilkins record for most wins as a coach is because he lucked into Sidney Moncrief early in his career. I’m particularly grateful to David Berri because he’s going to make me some money because I bet a substantial amount of my limited college income on the over for the Rockets total wins(36) which, in retrospect, was/is pretty easy money.  Off the top of my head, the only thing he really whiffed on his previews was Josh Smith’s huge leap in production, but that’s cause Josh stopped(mostly) BSing with jumpshots and dominates around the basket now almost exclusively.

Ok, so if coaches don’t matter, why keep Woody? Coaches don’t matter when players get on the floor, but what they do behind the scenes is what really matters. Woody challenges his players to get better in the offseason and Marvin, Horford and Josh have responded by growing every year under him, (why big men develop better under Woodson than guards is beyond me).  He puts players into a position to perform at their optimal level. Flip Murray came in and had his best year under Woodson. Jamal Crawford is having one of his best years under Woodson if not the best. Name me one player who has left the Hawks under Woodson and went on blossom elsewhere. (Harrington and Diaw are the only ones who are even decent NBA players, and both have been traded since leaving the Hawks, Salim can’t get a job and Acie’s playing even less than he did here after already being traded again.)  

Look at the coaches for the East’s “Big 3.” Doc Rivers was on the hot seat until KG and Jesus Shuttleworth fell in his lap and then won Coach of the Year. SVG was fired during a championship run with the Heat and his job security was questioned as recently as last year’s playoffs before he beat the Celtics and Cavs and is now considered one of the best coaches in the NBA. Mike Brown’s offensive genius deduced that isolating Lebron at the top of the 3pt line 75% of the time, and 100% of contested 4th quarters is his best move. And he won Coach of the Year.  George Karl exceeded expectations and took his players to the WCF and yet he can’t get a multiyear extension. The perception of a coach’s performance is incredibly fickle.

Sure, Woody doesn’t implement the triangle, the Princeton offense, or Jerry Sloan’s offense, but he manages his players almost to perfection. Share the ball and space the floor is all he asks and he rides the hot hand. And it works. In the past, he was too reliant on Joe Johnson, but in all fairness, Horford wasn’t performing on the low block or hitting his jumpers nearly as well as he is now, and his touches this year have increased as a result. As much as we derided Woody for Josh camping out at the 3pt line in the past, Woody’s been telling him to get off it for years. It’s not his fault Josh didn’t decide to listen till this year.  And now he’s even got the testicular fortitude to bench Joe Johnson in the 4th quarter of a close game when his game is clearly hurting the team (ok, that only happened once, but how many other coaches would even consider the same in his situation?). Woody’s not coaching scared anymore, and the results are about as good as any coach in the league could coax.  Jay Triano is too afraid of his players to point out their defensive deficiencies…and they’re abysmal on the defensive end as a result. What great defensive players does Woody have? Josh is a great help defender, Horford’s good but out of position, Marvin’s alright, Joe can, but doesn’t really. Bibby, Crawford, Pachulia? Liabilities on most teams. And yet they play enough defense to give them a chance to win every night. Sure, the switching thing is annoying, but it’s not terrible.

This offseason further speaks to Woody’s appeal as a head coach. How many reports did you hear about Zaza, Bibby and Marvin speaking with other teams this offseason? Marvin even said he didn’t want to talk to other teams(though I can't find the interview now for the life of me), and Zaza definitely had demand on the open market as the only quality center besides Gortat who was a free agent.  If Woody was such a terrible head coach, would they all want to come back? Woody lets his players play free, and you can tell they buy in.

I thought the fact that Woody has still a head coach was laughable with a .300 record a couple years ago as the Hawks were backing into the playoffs. I thought we underachieved last year. But it’s undeniable that this team has gotten better every year Woody’s been at the helm and unless Red Auerbach rises from the grave, Phil Jackson decides to leave LA(and get younger), or Gregg Popovich demands to become the next Hawks head coach, there aren’t better options out there than Woody. As long as the players still listen to him, he needs to be extended before Toronto loses its mind and decides to overspend on our free agent head coach.