Time to get rid of the Dead Wood?

[smabie]

I am firmly in the camp that Mike "Dead Wood" Woodson needs to be fired now. I've thought so since November, and the upturn in December did not dissuade me from that position; they were winning despite Woodson, not because of him.

Now, we have a team in freefall, where half the team never knows if they're going to play in the coming week, much less that night; where more than half the team has been (or still is) in his "doghouse" at some point this season; where his pattern of calling timeouts and doing substitutions makes no sense whatsoever (including calling a timeout in the middle of a fast break); where the color analyst, who is about as much a homer as you get in the NBA, is openly questioning his moves and decision-making process.

Under normal circumstances, I am a believer in the "don't fire someone unless you have someone better available" mantra; but I don't think we can do any worse. Options include BK, like they did with Don Waddell, making him prove he knew what he was doing; or perhaps one of the assistants who got blocked from abandoning ship the past couple seasons, after management let them interview for different jobs. Or even Steve Smith, who's almost been interviewing for the job during games (though that would mean more time for Lue, but I'm willing to take a sacrifice for the betterment of the team). Not to mention the laundry list of ex-coaches who are currently unemployed.

[killbuckner]

I have said before that I don't at all think its Woodson's fault that the team is bad, BK has given him no post game and no PG and you should expect the team to look inept at times. I still say that adding Andre Miller would make a whole lot more difference than changing the coach. But at this point I am absolutely fine with Woodson being fired just so that people won't have that scapegoat to blame and will start having to take a hard look at the roster and see where changes need to be made.

[conleyorbust]

I have said before that I don't at all think its Woodson's fault that the team is bad, BK has given him no post game and no PG and you should expect the team to look inept at times. I still say that adding Andre Miller would make a whole lot more difference than changing the coach. But at this point I am absolutely fine with Woodson being fired just so that people won't have that scapegoat to blame and will start having to take a hard look at the roster and see where changes need to be made.

I do agree that it is hardly fair to blame the team's faults entirely on Woody. We do need a point guard really really really badly and it becomes more and more obvious. On the other hand, we know the team can win games as currently constructed but they are maddeningly inconsistent and you have to think that it has a lot to do with coaching - be it tactical or motivational issues. The east is so bad right now we are still in a playoff spot and won't be out of the "picture" for a long time so unless we have someone lined up I say give him til the end of the season and then let him go regardless (I think we need to changes coaches anyway because you shouldn't have a losing coach for 4 years regardless, especially when they haven't shown any flashes or real coaching "ability" over that span).

[evildallas]

I don't look at it as assigning blame, but rather just evaluating the performance and the potential of the employee. I've not seen enough positives to merit another contract even if he took a paycut.

I'm not supporting firing him right now for several reasons.
#1 I don't see anyone on the staff who I think could do better.
#2 An outsider brought in at this point would probably not who we'd prefer long term.
#3 Firing him now would assign blame to him alone and there is enough to spread around.

I hope that in the off season, the coach, the GM, and the roster are all fairly evaluated with the goal of trying to fix what is wrong. The only reasons I would support removing Woodson now is if I thought that BK was going to use Woodson as an off season scapegoat to not adjust the roster or that Woodson would get more time if we back into the playoffs.

[HoopsGuru25]

Woody was regarded as one of the best assistants in the league when he was with Detroit. None of our assistants have even been considered for other head coaching jobs. I don't want to fire Woody until we have a legitimate replacement in order.

[Rip2137]

Dude....

We had a guy score 16 points in a quarter get pulled until 5 minutes left in the second when he wasn't in foul trouble.

We have gone on a 11-0 run, the other team gets a layup and he calls a timeout to complain about it. HE calls a timeout to complain about STOPPING THE RUN.

He rewards strong bench play with DNP's for a few games afterwards.

He doesn't use OBVOIUS matchups. He subs out a guy after he hits 2-3 shots in a row, because its time to sub them out.

We have watched plays work 4-5 times in a row and then he just goes back to running Isos for joe on the wing which just don't work. At all.

I can do this all day.

yes, there are other problems with the team. Sure. And with a new coach this squad wouldn't win a championship or a playoff matchup. But the current coach is HORRIBLE.

[killbuckner]

Rip- like i said I think the team would improve in the standings FAR more by trading for Andre Miller than by firing Mike Woodson. I know that you have it in your mind that Salim and Solomon would be quality players if only they got 20 minutes a game but I just don't at all see it. Every coach has a poor choice of time out from time to time. But the fact is that this team hasn't had a PG or a postgame since Woodson has been here. Firing woodson is just scapegoating him for BK's lousy personnel decisions.

But like I said- I have no problem with Woodson being fired just so that people like you can see that he wasn't the problem. This team needs a personnel shakeup and it won't happen until people stop reflixively blaming the coach for whatever goes wrong.

[Rip2137]

Whoa now. I never said play them twenty minutes.

Salim is a player that should get minutes due to matchups. I would much rather see Mario West get back up two guard minutes honestly because of the change of pace and energy he brings to the court.

Solo should be getting consistant mintues. Zaza can score(in theory) but isn't that great of a rebounder, defender, off the ball shotblocker or hustle guy. Sheldon just isn't going to get the chance. Solo has ridiculous length that bothers most Bigs. No he can't bang with shaq. But there are all of 4-5 beefy bigs in the NBA now. And the guy produces everytime he plays, it might just be energy, it might be rebounding, but the team plays well with him in spot minutes.

this gets rewarded by benching for a week.

Acie Law played one of his better quarters at the point in the 3rd quarter of the Blazer game. The offense looked good, defensively we were strong. Since then he has played under 3 minutes.

You can't expect consistant results without consistant time. Yes, more talent would help this team alot. But you don't keep a crappy coach and fix it by adding more talent. You get rid of the crappy coach and add more talent.

Andre miller is MADE for a team like this, true, but one of the reasons that he would work so well is that he is a vet that would completely ignore Woody in the flow of the game and make the right play. You shouldn't have to win in spite of coaching.

[Lue_4_MVP]

I'd like us to get rid of Woody. That way when the new guy comes in and fails, ownership will see that our entire front office is messed up and can BK as well. Two birds with one stone!