Former Atlanta Hawks Coach Mike Woodson In Running For Detroit Pistons Vacancy

by Kris Willis on Jun 16, 2011 2:00 PM EDT

After a year away from the game, former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson is in the running to return to Detroit as the Pistons head coach now that John Kuester has been fired. Woodson was a former Pistons assistant under Larry Brown. Woodson was rumored earlier this season as a candidate to replace Brown when he left Charlotte but that job eventually went to Paul Silas.

Interesting enough that Woodson's top competition for the job may come from Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey. For those of you that don't remember, Casey was a finalist to replace Woodson in Atlanta before Larry Drew emerged with the job. Casey returned to the Mavericks and helped Dallas to a championship. Casey was credited as the Mavericks' defensive coach which included arguably the league's best zone defense.

When Woodson arrived in Atlanta, he was supposed to bring a defensive attitude and mind set to the Hawks. He never quite accomplished that as his Hawks clubs were in the middle of the pack defensively during most of his tenure. Woodson looked to mask a lot of Atlanta's perimeter defensive issues by switching nearly every screen and hoping that his athletic squad could survive the defensive mismatches. Larry Drew took a little different approach to the Hawks as they played more straight up in their defensive assignments and concentrated more on the offensive end of the floor where the team had become stagnant under Woodson.

What would Casey have brought to the table? If he goes on to success at another stop then Atlanta fans may wonder that out loud for a long time. It was at this point last season that Casey looked to be the front runner for the Hawks job. He had ties to Rick Sund having served as an assistant coach in Seattle during Sund's tenure there. However, Drew impressed ownership with his offensive ideas and ultimately won the job.

We probably won't know for sometime if Atlanta made the correct choice. They regressed in the regular season but were more competitive in the playoffs this season under Drew.

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I would love for him to get hired

just so we can beat him 4 times a year

I like to think of Jeff Teague as our secret weapon..... so secret that the Atlanta coaches have no idea who he is.

by Throw on Jun 16, 2011 2:04 PM EDT reply actions

I guess they’re aren’t looking for organization on the offensive end of the floor then.

by tylerj19 on Jun 16, 2011 2:12 PM EDT reply actions

they*

by tylerj19 on Jun 16, 2011 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

so who would be their primary iso player if woodson is hired

stuckey?

I like to think of Jeff Teague as our secret weapon..... so secret that the Atlanta coaches have no idea who he is.

by Throw on Jun 16, 2011 2:20 PM EDT reply actions

haha

isotayshaun!!!

J.UST E.NJOY T.HIS S.HIT

by big_p.a.w.z. on Jun 17, 2011 12:08 AM EDT up reply actions

edit thats good offnse

J.UST E.NJOY T.HIS S.HIT

by big_p.a.w.z. on Jun 17, 2011 12:13 AM EDT up reply actions

hahaha

and people thought they couldnt get any worse, just imagine they switching

I like to think of Jeff Teague as our secret weapon..... so secret that the Atlanta coaches have no idea who he is.

by Throw on Jun 19, 2011 2:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Hire Dumars

Let him coach the mess he made

"You come at the king, you best not miss."

by a hooter's baby on Jun 16, 2011 2:57 PM EDT reply actions

I would love to see that

I like to think of Jeff Teague as our secret weapon..... so secret that the Atlanta coaches have no idea who he is.

by Throw on Jun 16, 2011 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Hawks should've hired Casey when they had the chance.

It irks me that the only reason they didn’t was because of the Atlanta Spirit Group. Im pulling for Casey, but Woodson will probably get it with his ties to Detroit. Hopefully Woodson can guide them into recognition like he did with Hawks. I’m intrigued what he will do with Monroe though. Now that he has a roster with less star’s but more depth it should be interesting.

Ron Artest = Ron (sm)Artest - He Is The Most Interesting Man In The World

by JoshChildressAfroIsCure4Cancer on Jun 16, 2011 4:08 PM EDT reply actions

He'll probably try trading him for a veteran big

"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.

by Jesse28 on Jun 17, 2011 7:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Maybe we could convince him to come get Marvin off our hands...

Rip Hamilton, Jason Maxiell, and a 2012 first for Joe?

http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/

by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 17, 2011 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions

That plus

Do a SNT with JC coupled with Marvin for Monroe and Stuckey. That probably wouldn’t work because I just made that up in my head, but hey, it’s the offseason and anythings possible right?

"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.

by Jesse28 on Jun 17, 2011 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions

they need to hire woodson

to balance out the east with the iso heavy Mike Brown in the west

I like to think of Jeff Teague as our secret weapon..... so secret that the Atlanta coaches have no idea who he is.

by Throw on Jun 16, 2011 4:11 PM EDT reply actions

The longer Woodson goes without a job is a referendum on how poor of a coach he is

People talk about how he improved the Hawks record every year, but if that was really his doing then how come no one else wants him?

d-wade=d-ouche

by captainamerica* on Jun 16, 2011 4:40 PM EDT reply actions

Sportswriters talk about how he improved the Hawks record. GMs are smart enough to realize that was mostly about adding better players / existing young players improving.

by redwards95 on Jun 17, 2011 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions