http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...awks_0202.html
They can't hide from the chatter.
They can't escape the ongoing debate that rages daily regarding the future of Hawks coach Mike Woodson.
While they were away from home on a five-game Western Conference road trip it was easy for the Hawks to ignore the furor over their coach.
Now that they've returned, just in time for a four-game home stand that begins Saturday night against New Jersey, they can't ignore what's being written and said.
"Winning cures everything," said Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson. "We've just got to get back on track and get off this [three-game] losing streak. We've just got to keep ourselves right there on that playoff race. That's the main thing.
"Because with everything that's going on we're right there in that seventh spot, the same as we were before we left for the trip. And that's crazy for us. But we just have to put all this other stuff behind us. The thing is, we know all that talk is out there. But we won with [Woodson] before and we can win now. We just have to get back to it."
That's been much easier said than done the past five weeks for the Hawks, 18-24 and losers of six of their last seven games. Since their five game win-streak in late December, the Hawks won just four times in 16 games. And that includes their 1-4 mark on that Western Conference swing.
With each loss the criticism of Woodson has gotten stronger and stronger, criticism his players insist isn't necessarily fair.
"When we were winning games everybody got their fair share of the credit," Josh Smith said. "We all enjoyed the love from the fans and everybody else when things were good, so it's probably only fair that share in some of the heat when things aren't going as well as might have hoped."
Woodson's focus remains on the task at hand. He was back on the practice floor Friday morning, preparing for a Nets team that sits behind the Hawks at the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference.
"I'm not thinking about anything else but the New Jersey Nets," Woodson said. "People can talk about my job and do whatever they need to do there, but that's not my concern. I'm still the coach here and my job is to get these guys ready to play against the Nets. And every game that we play, we have a four game stretch we've got to take care of here, becomes an opportunity for us to turn things around."
That doesn't mean Woodson's most ardent critics will take a break. And Woodson's 87-201 (.302) record in three and a half seasons has been the basis for much of his critic's rants against him.
He doesn't have a body of work as a head coach prior to taking over this team, so he's being judged solely on the work he's done with the Hawks.
And that in turn makes every single game a referendum on not only Woodson and his coaching prowess, but also his team and their abilities to handle the pressure that comes with playing under the coach on the proverbial "hot seat."
"All that stuff is out of anybody's control in that locker room," guard Anthony Johnson said. "And with the stuff you can't control you can't worry about. All we can do is prepare individually and collectively as a team and go out there and handle business the next night out.
"It's nothing that two or three wins can' cure. But you've got to get that first one out of the way before you worry about anything else."
Woodson addresses critics
International Basketball Forum Moderator 
