Woodson and Brown: Fired For Cause

Written by Chad Potier
May 25, 2010

Well, we are still in the NBA Conference Finals, and 2 head coaches, who were both eliminated from the playoffs in the 2nd round, have been fired. Coach Mike Woodson, of The Atlanta Hawks and Coach Mike Brown, of The Cleveland Cavaliers. Woodson went 206-286 since taking over the Hawks in 2004-05, but has not made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs in 3 straight attempts. Brown has a 272-138 record with the Cavs since taking over in 2005-06, including unsuccessful trips to the NBA and Eastern Conference Finals. And therein lies the problem.  Neither coach seems to have what it takes to reach the ultimate goal of a NBA Championship.

No doubt, the predicaments of the two teams, when the coaches took over, were very different from one another. The Hawks were 28-54 the season before Woodson took over. In his first season they went 13-69, but the organization was behind him and the rebuilding of the team. In 2007-08 the Hawks began a 3-consecutive season playoff run that consistently stalled out in the 2nd round. Despite the team having made such huge strides, The Hawks parted ways with Woodson.

Brown on the other hand, took over a Cavs' team that had gone 42-40 the previous season and had a player by the name of Lebron James. While Brown was coach, they had a 5 year run that included a trip to the NBA Finals in 2006-07, which ended by being swept by the Spurs in 4 games. This season, after adding Shaq in an attempt to help the team go all the way to an NBA title, they were dismantled in the conference semifinals by The Celtics, due to what appeared to be "GIVING UP" by the team, and Brown was let go, as well. There was also rumblings of a mutiny by some of the team leaders as well, and that I would chalk that up to frustration.

The bottom line is, both men were hired to win NBA titles, not lose in the playoffs. Both teams appeared to be at an impasse that these two coaches couldn't seem to get them through. So, while I do applaud the effort they have given and the success they had, these moves had to be made. I would like to say to whomever takes over these two teams, "good luck and be careful, because these organization want to win, and they want to win NOW!"

*Special thanks to Justin Davis for inspiring my to write this.