Coming back from celebrating Christmas in the northeast Georgia mountains with his wife, Jan, new Hawks coach Terry Stotts had his whole day planned Thursday. He'd work out. Watch game film. Practice at 6 p.m."It got shot," Stotts said of his plans. Shot, in a good way.

Hawks general manager Pete Babcock fired Lon Kruger and promoted Stotts for the duration of the season, in hopes that he will fulfill Kruger's guarantee and lead the Hawks into the playoffs. Stotts said he was disappointed to see Kruger dismissed after an 11-16 start -- "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Lon," he said -- but he has desired to be an NBA head coach for years.

Stotts was assistant under George Karl in the CBA and NBA for 12 of the past 13 seasons, following him from Seattle (1993-98) to Milwaukee (1998-02) before parting ways this summer. On Friday, Stotts discussed his plans for the Hawks.