ATLien

Q. When did you really believe that this team had a shot at making the playoffs?

A. To be honest with you, last year I thought we could make the playoffs with that team. We beat good teams. We were always in games. But the injuries hurt us. Up until a month and half to go [when Joe Johnson went down with an injury] we were only two games out of the eighth spot. I think this team started turning the corner last year. But when you're a young team, you can't afford anybody to get hurt.

Q. Do you credit some of your success this year to your team avoiding any major injuries to key players?

A. Yes. That's a huge part of it. But the main reason for making the playoffs is winning at home. That's something we hadn't done in three years. That was a focal point coming into the season, winning at home. You have to give the fans something to come to the arena to cheer about. And we've done that.

Q. Your name has been tossed around the coach-on-the-hot-seat rumor mill time and again during your tenure here and certainly this season. Has that been the toughest part of the job for you this season?

A. The toughest part for me is the negativity, the unfair negativity that surrounds our team based on certain critics that don't have a clue as to what this is about, and make sure you print that. I can handle it as a coach but when my wife and daughters have to feel this and hear this negative stuff, sometimes it's just unfair. But we've dealt with it as a family and things just have a way of working out. I truly believe that. If you put in your time and do the work, things always work out.

Q. Could you have imagined a more jaw-dropping set of circumstances when you took this job, from the 13-69 season to the ownership dispute caused by the Joe Johnson deal to the death of Jason Collier to the constant job security headlines involving you?

A. I could have taken the easy way out and stayed in Detroit the year after we won the title. But my makeup has always been to challenge myself. It was a challenge when I came here and I was willing to accept that challenge. It still is. I love what I do. It was rocky and has been rocky for all the reasons that you mentioned. The devastation of losing a player you can never imagine. And there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of Jason Collier. Other than losing my parents at a young age and losing a brother at a young age, that's the lowest I've ever been. But like any adversity you face in life, you learn to deal with it and find a way to keep going on. We've all had to do that.

Q. It's no secret you've had some dust ups with many of the players you've coached. In hindsight do you wish you'd have handled things any differently?

A. The one thing I would hope at the end of the day, if I'm here coaching or not coaching, is that those players respected me. None of these players can ever say that I didn't give them a chance to play and I wasn't fair. They might not have gotten as much playing time as they wanted to get. But they can't say I wasn't fair. Because I've played guys when they probably shouldn't have played, when they weren't even ready. And sometimes that can be detrimental to a player because if he's not ready and you play him you damage him for the rest of his career. So yeah, I've been tough. But I think when you're coaching a young team you've got to be tough. They might look at it as tough but I look at it as coaching.

Q. What about the strained relationships around here now between you and members of the front office staff in light of the reports that management recommended you be fired this season (only to be rebuffed by ownership)?

A. All the behind-the-scenes stuff, I don't even concern myself with because I still have to coach and do my job. And if I concern myself with that stuff I can't focus and do my job the way it needs to be done.

Q. Do you think by making the playoffs you [and your staff] have made a case for new contracts that will allow you to continue the progress that's been made to this point?

A. No doubt. There's no doubt we made a case. When I took this job we vowed to get this team into the playoffs and we're in. Now I have no control over ownership and what their decision is. And I'm not going to sit here and strain myself and worry about it. My thing is, I hope, again, that my players respect what I've done and I hope they want me back. That's more important than anything else to me.

Q. Do you envision any way in which you and [Hawks general manager] Billy Knight both return in the same capacity next season and lead this franchise and team, respectively?

A. That's hard to say. It's hard to say. I don't know. But I will say this, as soon as we win the title this year, we're going to sit down and discuss it. I promise you that.

Porn_Player

For me Woodson should be gone, yes he made the playoffs but with the core of players you now have damn straight he should be.

I like Sam Mitchell for this team (or perhaps I just want him gone from the Raptors )

__________________

HKF

NO. Let him go. He is a terrible NBA head coach. Might be a great assistant, but that's it.

__________________
My favorite NBA players: Kobe Bryant * Carmelo Anthony * Ben Gordon * Deron Williams * Joe Johnson * Kevin Martin * Tim Duncan * Kyle Lowry * Thad Young * Amare Stoudemire * Dwight Howard * Josh Smith * Brandon Roy * LaMarcus Aldridge * Rudy Gay * Al Horford * Brandan Wright * Craig Smith * Renaldo Balkman

2008-09 Favorite Rookies: Jerryd Bayless (POR), Roy Hibbert (IND), Greg Oden (POR), Jamont Gordon (undrafted), Chris Douglas-Roberts (NJN), Joe Alexander (MIL), Patrick Ewing, Jr. (SAC)

College Basketball: "Where 7-Foot Bigs Foul Out Happen"

thaKEAF

Nah the playoffs shouldn't be enough with the amount of talent he has on the team.

__________________

Zuca

Pretty much agreed here.

__________________
Thrilled to reach the 2700th post! Coming with a
lot more of great trade ideas (the most beloved ones in this board), you can expect that!
Thanks to all members of this site, you guys are great.

Diable

He should be the third guy out the door after the owner and Billy Knight.

__________________

ATLien

If I could get rid of only one of the three, I would get rid of Woodson.

Really the only thing Atlanta Spirit has done wrong is letting Knight and Woodson keep their jobs for this long. Knight passing on Paul and Deron is unforgivable, but I feel like he has already done his damage. While Woodson continues to hurt this team on a daily basis.

ATLien

Would people still vote the same?

ATLien

If Atlanta wins Sunday, there is no way he doesn't receive a new contract extension. If they lose, I imagine they will still decide to retain him. However, they shouldn't. He still let the team underachieve too much and who is to say that won't happen again next year.

JonMatrix

It's a tough boat now for ownership. Yes, he let the team underachieve, but now they are overachieving by pushing Boston to game 7. I think he will start next season on the bench with a small 2 year deal and if the team gets off to a bad start, then he will be the first coach fired during the season. If they pull the upset, then I think he gets a longer extension. Either way, I don't think they can just fire him now....like it or not the team is in the playoffs for the first time in 9 years and people actually care about the team again. He is the coach that brought them back even if not many people like him. Yes this team should be better given the talent on the roster, but no one outside of Atlanta or the NBA diehards know that.


However, he is coaching against a man who has a history of VERY questionable gameplanning and decision making, Doc Rivers. He is arguably why TMac never got out of the first round in Orlando. So could it be that Woodson just looks like a better coach because he is better than Doc Rivers? Remember, he was one of the main question marks about Boston coming in to the season.

__________________
"I'm from America,our names don't mean ---- here"-Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction

Never underestimate the ability of stupid people in large groups.