Today in sports history -- Mike Woodson

Happy 50th birthday, Atlanta Hawks head coach and (briefly) former Cavalier Mike Woodson.

In a 12-year NBA playing career with the Knicks, Nets, Kings, Clippers, Rockets and Cavaliers, Woodson averaged 19.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. He played in 786 career games, the last four as a Cavalier in 1990-91. In those four games, he averaged 8.6 points and 3.8 assists. He played in five playoff series in his career, and his teams lost every one of those series. In fact, his teams only won two playoff games.

But that's two more than he's won as a coach. This is his fourth year as head coach of the Hawks, and his coaching record to date is 99-216. His Hawks have not made the playoffs in that time. At 30-39, they are currently in line to get the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, which would make them the Celtics' first-round victims.

In case Woodson's children might be reading this, none of the above is meant to suggest that Woodson wasn't a fine player (he was) or isn't a fine coach (he may be, but no coach can win with mediocre talent).