Putting the Wood Down

We Hawks fans have been reasonably patient (if incredibly angry at times) throughout the first half of this season, but yesterday's massive collapse to Portland was too much. As Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer Sekou Smith so accurately put it:

"It's beyond foolish for the Hawks to think they can routinely win games playing out of the half court sets that they've made painful to watch. They don't have the type of spot up shooters that other teams have, which would make such an approach feasible.

The Hawks are built to run, love it or leave it, that's what they are. And it only makes sense to play to that strength (they scored at will in the transition game against Portland, one of the few teams young enough and athletic enough to match them in that regard).

We could come up with countless different ways that they could have handled the end of the game. But if the Hawks had embraced the advantage they had in the transition game, the Blazers never would have been close enough to snatch the game anyway."

Now, as much as ever, it is painstakingly and brutally clear that it's time for a change.

Head coach Mike Woodson and his aforementioned half court sets have to go.

In his place, we're planning to install a man with a similar name but an altogether more ferocious gameplan:

Mr. Woodcock.