Woodson has earned the right to stay at Hawks' helm

ATLANTA -- With a swipe of his pen, Mike Woodson will remain as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.

Good move.

When things go wrong, the coach often gets the blame. But has any coach in recent professional sports history inherited more of a mess than Woodson, whose four years on the job has been marked by a complete overhaul of the roster, a 13-win season, mostly empty seats at Philips Arena, a failed move by then-general manager Billy Knight to fire him, and a nasty ownership spat that still sits unresolved in the courts.

But something seemed to click with the Hawks toward the end of last season. Atlanta -- which hadn't qualified for the NBA playoffs since 1999 -- won 37 games, not impressive, but in the Eastern Conference, enough to earn the eighth and final playoff spot.

You know what happened next. The Hawks stood toe-to-toe with the eventual conference champion Boston Celtics, winning three times at home and capturing Atlanta's attention in a way we haven't seen since Doc Rivers was running the point and Dominique Wilkins was slamming his way toward the Hall of Fame.

Yes, I know the Hawks were run over in Game 7 in Boston, but I saw enough toward the end of the season and in the playoffs to give Woodson a pass.

Apparently, so too has new general manager Rick Sund, who has offered Woodson a two-year contract extension.

Part of the problem has been Knight, a questionable hire in his own right who resigned after the Hawks lost Game 7. With Sund offering this extension, at least Woodson won't have to look over his shoulder as much.

This offseason is an important one for the Hawks. Both Josh Smith and Josh Childress are free agents. Will Mike Bibby be traded or brought back to help hold down the point until Acie Law is ready?

The Hawks have something they haven't possessed in a long, long time: momentum. The city and its fanbase were energized by the playoff surge, and Philips Arena rocked like it never has before. I know; I was there for Game 6. I also was there for the Thrashers' playoff series last spring against the New York Rangers, and the electricity in the arena when the Hawks beat Boston to force Game 7 was something this city hasn't experienced since Michael Vick was running the Falcons to the NFC title game and the Braves were dominating the National League.

The Hawks have to seize on the good vibes produced by their playoff push and build on it. For a change, things are starting to go right for this franchise. Woodson, an assistant with Detroit when the Pistons beat the Lakers in 2004 for the NBA title, deserves some of the credit for that.

He deserves the chance to stay.

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