RealGM

My thoughts on the season and the future...feel free to share yours.

Our regular season was inconsistent and frustrating. Big wins against the top teams, followed up by bad losses and even at times the lack of the will to compete against teams we should have beaten. But we did make the playoffs- Grade C +

As for the playoffs. I think we followed pretty much the same trend as our regular season. Up and down. At home we were world beaters. On the road we were a 37 win team. The final game lowered this score. - Grade B-

Billy Knight obviously has assembled a group of guys that can compete with the best in this league. He had arguably his best season in terms of personnel. Good draft and good trade for Bibby. The awkward relationship between he and his hand picked coach however, don't speak well for him. He knew what kind of team he envisioned and picking Woodson to lead such a team seems to be a glaring error. - Grade B-

Mike Woodson is exactly as he's advertised. From day one he's said he can't coach effort. He never mentions offense as his key, only rebounding and defense. He's true to his word. Our offense is unimaginative and our effort is consistently lacking from game to game. He again feuded with palyers this year and regularly seemed overwhelmed or unprepared to lead this team to victory. That being said our playoff success at home, can't be marginalized and any success most be attributed to Woody in the same manner as our failures are.- Grade C-

Ownership had a very bad year. Sloppy dealings with media and allowing our current situation to come down to both our GM and coach's contracts expiring is just silly. If we don't keep one or both this has been a wasted year. If we keep one or both the negative press could have been avoided with extensions being doled out last summer.- Grade D

I think our future is moderately bright. We have a stud in JJ. And a vocal leader in Al Horford. Josh Smith remains a talented enigma that I think would best be served away from Woodson. If we keep Woody Smith should be traded for assets that better fit with the coaches philosophy. If we are getting a new coach then I think its imperative we find one who commands respect and can relate to unique personalities on this team. I also caution against falling in love with our own players. Make no mistake everyone on this roster is flawed in some manner. Even JJ. If a clear upgrade at any position becomes available we must take a chance and move to get better.

Sure, I'll try.

Regular season - Before the season I expected 40-42, so we got close just not the way I expected to get there. Some big wins at home and horrible on the road. I think we're a year behind where we should be with respect to regular season performance. The fact that the record was reached with desperation and a shortened bench hurt the grade because of under-development of the full roster. Grade C.

Playoffs - Anytime you face the top seed in the first round is tough and ending on such a blowout is not fun. However, holding serve and home and giving the fans something to rally behind exceeded my expectations. The other Eastern underdogs Philly got lit up at home to end their series and several veteran clubs didn't get passed game 5 to host 3 games in their series. Grade A-.

GM - Had a good year for moves which is surprising after getting an F for 2006-2007. The only issues I have were how long he waited to obtain a PG, but with trades you can't always dictate timing, and his failure to staff or augment the roster after the big trade instead leaving 2 roster spots unfilled. Had an A- year going, but he has to be dinged for his attempt to throw his hand-picked coach under the bus to lengthen his own reign. Doing such things and having it come out can undermine a season. I also took off for not working out an extension with Josh Smith last summer. BK is quick to count drafting Smith among his successes, but whenever he has an opportunity to show faith and forethought concerning his performance he doesn't. Grade C.

Coach - Sultan's eval was spot on and I don't want to rehash. In addition, Mike Woodson started the season by saying that youth would no longer be an excuse and finished by bringing it up every chance he could. In the playoffs he proved he's a slightly better coach than Doc Rivers, but that is minor comfort. Grade D+

Ownership - Not sure how to fully grade them, but for allowing the GM-Coach mess to become a public story and not squashing it definitively hurts. I do give them points for sticking with their plan to finish out the contracts even if I disagree with it. I do give them credit for proving willingness to spend by backing the acquisition of Bibby. Grade C-

Future is still unclear. The restricted free agents of Josh Smith and Josh Childress can potentially place the team well over the cap if they are bid on by other teams. It's uncertain if the team will make any off-season trades or utilize their MLE. I'm hesitant to judge anyone on the roster without seeing them perform with a different coaching staff, but unfortunately we don't have that luxury. It would be good to settle coaching direction before going into the free agency period because of the implications on available moves.

While I see a very flawed roster, there is reason for hope. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith had some stud moments in the playoffs. Al Horford performed very well in his rookie year. As for the future, Joe Johnson is under contract at the max already. I have no problem with committing to Josh Smith and Al Horford and Acie Law are under their rookie deals. Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, and Mike Bibby are the question marks for me. Josh Childress plays hard and smart, but he's up for a new deal. Realistically he can be resigned for a little more than the MLE. You have to factor in other moves to evaluate whether it is the right thing to do. Marvin has a sweet shot, but his D has been little weak and his confidence seems shaky. I have my doubts if he will ever reach his full potential here and seem him as the best chip for fixing the roster. Mike Bibby had his moments, but is nowhere near a 14M player. He did show how much we need another shooter to help out Joe. The big problem is that with his contract expiring at the end of next season a decision must be made about him now. An extension is unlikely unless he accepts a pay cut, but letting him finish out his deal likely leaves the franchise stuck in neutral rather than moving forward. A trade seems likely. There are other threads exploring his potential trade value so I won't rehash here.