A boring rant from an average Hawks fan

by Yes I Am A Hawks Fan on Dec 23, 2009 4:48 AM EST

Let me start by saying that this blog is the best resource for Hawks fans that has ever existed, particularly the rants of hawksdawg, who always has a perfect balance of objective facts and humor. I think that many average Hawks fans aren't always motivated to speak their minds on here, particularly if they don't have a rigid stance on an issue being debated. So here are some middle-of-the-road stances I have taken after much thought.

It seems people either love or hate Coach Woodson. I was not a big fan of him early in his tenture (how could you be, we were horrible!). And let's be honest, he was making some bad coaching decisions at times. But I don't understand the people who continue to paint a picture of him as the worst coach in the NBA. He has grown with this team, and he is a much better coach than three years ago. Bad coaches scare away free agents, and the fact that we held on to all of our key players this off-season, as well as picking up Crawford and Smith, is at least a partial testament to his effectiveness. That being said, I see him as an average coach, but c'mon, we're owned by the Atlanta Spirit Group, beggars can't be choosers!

No one will argue that Marvin Willaims was a bad pick. How do use the second pick for a college sixth man? I never understood the hype. But I will say that flip-flopping between him and Crawford is brilliant. Williams has a defensive presence that doesn't always show up in stats. He is a perfect fit for this starting unit, considering that everybody else can score. And then to be able to switch him out with Crawford when the offense isn't clicking? Flippin' sweet!

Josh Smith is the most important part of our team. It seems pretty obvious.

How much better could anyone expect this team to be? Looking at the top teams in the NBA... Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, Howard, any Celtics starter not named Kendrick. All of these teams have solid role players as well. No offense to Joe, but we don't have anybody on that level. We should be proud and grateful to have the Hawks playing at this level. They are regularly blowing other teams out of the water. When was the last time that happened?

We should enjoy this while we can. I see no albatross holding this team down. Never stop talking about what will make the Hawks better, but at the same time, if you look for something negative to focus on, chances are you will probably find it. So all of the Woodson, Joe, Josh, Marvin haters out there, let it go.

A FanPost expresses the opinion of the community member who wrote it and not that of the blog management.

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aaaaah

I feel so relieved someone has said it finally lol

by Hawksgirl on Dec 23, 2009 3:49 PM EST reply actions

It's the old thin line theory

between love and hate. Love em when they do well. Hate em when they mess up. And someone has to pay. Some idiot coach, or bonehead player has to pay.

How can one or the other who call themselves professional at what they do. Mess up our dreams of perfection. How Dare They!!
So we wont let it go. The life of the unpaid fan is just not easy.

" MR.24 "

by ctu24 on Dec 23, 2009 11:58 PM EST reply actions

ha!

Well said sir, well said.

Let's push this bird out of the nest.

by Yes I Am A Hawks Fan on Dec 24, 2009 3:38 AM EST up reply actions

If you go by results

No one can dispute the fact that Hawks have improved every year in Woody’s tenure. Then again, we got rid of everything, and started at rock bottom (13 wins???), so we had to go up, what with all the draft picks. So a function of the improvment of the record, is being so bad we had to get better, and all the draft picks and JJ/Bibby.

How much of it is Woody based? Woody gets the defense. He was tutored by Bobby Knight (a defensive coach), and later, Larry Brown is his pro role model.

Now here is the key, NBA is a scorer’s league. On any given night, a great scorer can beat a great defensive player. On any given night, refs give more leeway and call more fouls for offensive players than defense. On any given night, the guy that pours in the points gets the glory & accolades and the all star selections, the defensive guy gets named to the all defensive unit! And offense wins championships.

Woody has to grow with this team He has to be able to coach JJ to distribute the ball, and recognize that Hawks are a better team with balanced scoring. That is offense. That is coaching. That we should expect of Woody.

So net, I am also trying to be middle of the road. Extend Woody’s contract by one year (max two years) based purely on results, but monitor him, put him on a short leash, and see the progress. I think we fly higher still with Woody, but time for him to grow with his young Hawks.

No I don’t think he is coach of the year material yet, but he surely can be in the mix at this early stage of the season.

by ATLpaul on Dec 24, 2009 4:43 PM EST reply actions

Definitely not Coach of the Year

Very true, our defense has benefited from Woody. But we are in the top 5 in the league in PPG, top 8 in FG% and #1 in fewest turnovers; it’s hard to see us getting much better than that.

Let's push this bird out of the nest.

by Yes I Am A Hawks Fan on Dec 25, 2009 12:07 AM EST reply actions

#1 in offensive efficiency

This team has exceeded all of my wildest expectations offensively

by thirdfALCON on Dec 25, 2009 10:34 PM EST up reply actions

C'mon son "And offense wins championships"??

ATLpaul…..Obviously, you did not pay any attention to the NBA Finals last year because the Flakers shut down a highly offensively talented Orlando team. EVERYONE knows defense wins championships! Coach Woodson has grown with the team and should be one of the top 3 candidates for COTY award, but he still needs to work on managing games as far as substitutions and timeouts during the game….

Offensive wins championships….who the hell told you that bs???

by Anonymous HawksGuy on Dec 29, 2009 1:08 PM EST reply actions

we know,

but we have a great defensive player in Josh Smith, he blocks like Lebron and steals like Kobe and yet, it’s not enough to beat those SOB’s from Cleveland

by southman on Jan 2, 2010 10:24 AM EST reply actions