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On July 8, 2004, Mike Woodson became the Hawks’ tenth head coach since the franchise moved to the Atlanta area in 1968. After coaching Atlanta to a 13-69 record in his inaugural season, Woodson and the Hawks doubled that total of victories in year two, winning 26 of their 82 contests.
With an overall mark of 39-125 (.238 winning percentage), Woodson hopes the upcoming 2006-07 campaign provides him with the best opportunity to succeed, as he continues to instill the values he learned as an assistant under of the league’s all-time great coaches Larry Brown working hard, putting the team first and dedicating themselves to becoming the best players they can possibly be, as together they work to build a winning organization, on-and-off the court.
Woody joined the Hawks after spending one year (2004-05) as the top assistant on Brown’s staff in Detroit, where they led the Pistons to the franchise’s third NBA championship, dismantling the heavily-favored Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
The 48-year-old Woodson has two decades of NBA experience as a player and coach, and served three seasons as an assistant under Brown in both Philadelphia (2001-03) and Detroit. He also worked as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers (1999-01) and the Milwaukee Bucks (1996-99).
As many assistant coaches around the league would tell you, we all strive to reach this level, said Woodson, upon taking the Hawks job. Becoming a head coach in the NBA has been a goal of mine for many years and I’ve patiently waited for an opportunity like this one. I am very appreciative of the support I’ve received thus far from (Hawks GM) Billy (Knight) and the new ownership group and while there’s a lot of work to do, I am in this for the long haul.
Working with Coach Brown taught me a great deal about what is necessary to accomplish success in this league, and winning the championship was a tremendous achievement for all of us. I’m ecstatic about the challenge of bringing this program back to a competitive level. While understanding there’s a lot of work to do, it is not going to happen overnight, and if we can put the necessary pieces in place, we will build this product into a winning team for the fans of Atlanta.
One of the chief architects behind the Pistons’ suffocating defensive effort during the 2003-04 regular season and the playoffs, Detroit held the opposition to 84.3 points per game this past year, which equaled the league’s best total defensively (along with San Antonio).
In addition, the Pistons’ point differential of +5.84 was the second-best in the NBA and they limited opponents to 41.4 field goal shooting, the league’s third-best performance. During their 23 postseason games, Detroit intensified their efforts defensively, holding teams to 80.7 ppg and 39.2 FG shooting, and in the five-game Finals series against Los Angeles, the Pistons kept the Lakers more than 16 points under their regular season average and hounded them into shooting 41 percent from the floor.
The 11-year veteran and 6-5 guard played for seven teams in the NBA after he was selected in the first round of the 1980 Draft by the New York Knicks with the 12th overall pick. In 786 career games, Woodson averaged 14.0 points (10,981 career points), 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 25.5 minutes of action, enjoying his best campaign in 1982-83 when he played for the then-Kansas City Kings and posted 18.2 points per game. Woodson and Knight were teammates the following year and helped the Kings to a third-place finish in the Midwest Division (38-44) and a first round playoff berth against the LA Lakers.
In addition to the Knicks and Kings (both in Kansas City and Sacramento), Woodson also played with New Jersey, the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston and Cleveland, before retiring from the game in 1991. His teams advanced to the playoffs five times, where he averaged 12.2 ppg, 2.6 apg and 2.3 rpg.
Drafted out of Indiana University, Woodson, in his junior season, helped lead the Hoosiers to the 1979 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship with a 53-52 victory over conference foe Purdue and was named to the All-Tourney team.
During the summer of that year, he played for Bob Knight and captained the United States team that participated in the Pan Am Games, joining teammates Isiah Thomas and Ray Tolbert in winning the gold medal.
A two-time All-American (1979 and 1980) and four-year letterman, Woodson suffered a herniated disk in his back after five games (and a No.1 ranking) into his senior campaign and had to undergo surgery. Upon losing Woodson, Indiana went 7-5 in the Big Ten, but once he returned, IU finished the conference season at 6-0 and captured the Big Ten title. Despite the limited action, Woodson took home the league’s 1980 MVP award.
The fifth-leading scorer in IU history with 2,061 points, Woodson averaged 19.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 104 games with the Hoosiers. He graduated with a degree in physical education.
Woodson, born March 24, 1958 in Indianapolis, Indiana, attended Broad Ripple High in Indianapolis. He and his wife Terri have two daughters, Alexis and Mariah. Both daughters are very talented volleyball players who are competing in their second seasons on the varsity team at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, the five-time defending Georgia AAAA state champions. |
