For the Atlanta Hawks, Sunday's 99-65 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 brought an end to the best season that team has had in nearly a decade -- though it didn't bring an end to the turmoil surrounding the franchise. Coach Mike Woodson's contract is expiring, and general manager Billy Knight recommended to ownership back in midseason that Woodson be dismissed.
With that dynamic already dividing them, it seems unlikely both will return. So if one of them improved his chances of staying, it undoubtedly was the coach who got his players to buy into the belief (at least in Games 3, 4 and 6) that they were every bit as worthy as Boston of moving on to the second round.
Knight, who passed on Chris Paul and Deron Williams in the draft three years ago and then tried to make up for his past gaffes by engineering the midseason trade that brought Mike Bibby to Atlanta, did not exactly get a boost from Bibby (1-for-3 for two points in Game 7, 22-for-65 for the series with just 22 assists and 13 turnovers).
"I'm not going to discuss my job," Woodson said. "I'm happy about this season. We had a goal and we got into the playoffs. We pushed this team, we battled them to the end, we just didn't get it."
Battled until the end? Don't know about that one, Mike.
But your Atlanta Hawks did force the Celtics to look in the mirror, and that's more than anyone expected.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment