Mike Woodson, or how eyebrows become your most creative move

Smart move, coach

Let it be known that there are plenty of Mike Wooson haters out there. The guy gets criticized more than any other coach who has taken his team to the playoffs this frequently. Some of it is well-deserved. But, one thing we all must keep in mind is that Mike Woodson, too, is stubborn. A Stubborn Bird at that and the success Atlanta has experienced over the past three seasons is owed greatly to Woody’s lack of creativity. Much of the griping about Mike stems from his inability to incorporate a system into the offense (yeah we’ve got the pick-and-rolls, iso-Joe and, more recently, Smoove is getting his shot to prove what he can do with the ball), but Woodson also is criticized for failing to develop any of the young draft picks into effective players. Doubters use the examples of Acie Law, Marvin Williams, Randolph Morris and Jeff Teague as starting points for Mike Woodson’s deficiencies.

I must disagree, though. While I’m not the biggest fan of Coach Woodson, I find it hard to argue with the results he’s gotten. Instead of forcing a 13-69 team to learn something new, Mike realized there was too much athleticism and potential on his squad to not just let them play. When he entered his job with the Hawks expectations were low and that probably provided him with quite a bit of leeway. He preached defense and saw an advantage with his long, athletic squad when he employed the switching defense the Hawks still use. And, on offense, he let the guys play. Not the greatest strategy by any stretch, but it paid off by molding players like Josh Smith into what he’s become today. Much of this improvement resulted after Joe came to Atlanta, but without that 13-69 season I don’t know if we still have quite the squad we have today.

The quickest way to rebuild is by playing to your talents, not drastically altering them. Now the Hawks have players like Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford and Al Horford who are making Woody’s job that much easier, but one thing still remains the same – all the Hawks success has come underneath Mike Woodson’s uncreative, often frustrating style of play. Woody knew these young guys had the talent to beat the best, but they just needed the time and their first taste of the playoffs along the way. Good job Mike on your achievements so far. Hopefully he’ll be resigned, who knows, maybe  next season becomes another stepping stone for a Hawks team that learn something new.

Tunes for Woody:

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