For Atlanta Hawks' Coach Mike Woodson, Perseverance Finally Pays Off

Although he entered the 2008-09 NBA season with a career winning percentage of just over 32 percent, Atlanta Hawks’ coach Mike Woodson has never wavered from his approach to the game. This year's blazing start by the Hawks is finally allowing Woodson, the young Hawks players, and the fans of Atlanta to reap the benefits of success.

Mike Woodson took over as the coach of the Hawks prior to the 2004-05 season, after the franchise fired Terry Stotts. Since then, Woodson and the Hawks franchise have struggled to give any impression they were on the verge of becoming one of the deepest and most dangerous teams in the NBA.

Filled with a roster of young and unproven draft picks, a GM who was feuding and clashing with ownership and the coaching staff, and an ownership squabble that threatened to keep the team in total chaos, it was hard to see any signs of success on the horizon.

Through all of that, however, Mike Woodson never wavered. His no nonsense approach to defense and accountability often clashed with budding superstars like Josh Smith and others. Yet, having studied under the likes of the legendary Bobby Knight and Larry Brown, Woodson stayed the course. His post game quotes often sounded like broken records, “We need to defend and rebound the ball better.”

Finally, in the summer of 2005, the Hawks were able to acquire one of the most sought after free agents in the NBA—Joe Johnson. The Hawks still struggled, largely due to some bad draft picks and lack of overall team depth.

Things began to turn around in the summer of 2007 as the Hawks finally got it right in drafting Al Horford, a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Florida. That same year, the Hawks signed veteran guard Mike Bibby, and hired a new General Manager in Rick Sund.

Woodson's Hawks shocked the world by taking the eventual champion Boston Celtics to a seventh game in the first round of the playoffs before losing.

GM Rick Sund made another bold move by letting free agent forward Josh Childress go, replacing him with two more veterans in Maurice Evans and Ronald “Flip” Murray.

This season, the Hawks have continued to ride last year’s playoff wave by getting off to their best start in over 10 years. They lost on a last second shot by Paul Pierce against the Boston Celtics in the Boston Garden despite a back-to-back schedule and playing without one of the NBA leading defensive players, Josh Smith.

A 6-1 start has caused many around the league to take notice of this team and only goes to strengthen Woodson’s resolve to stay the course.