Why do the Hawks keep blowing leads?

[DrReality]

Poor free-throw shooting a major part of the problem

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Charlotte — Hawks coach Mike Woodson doesn’t want to overanalyze his team’s anemic showing from the free-throw line this season.

Spend too much extra time on it and the problem could become a psychological issue.

Win or lose, the problem is there. Like it was during a loss in New York last week and a win Wednesday in Minnesota.

“We’ve coughed up leads in four or five games this season because we can’t seem to get the job done at the free-throw line,” said Woodson, whose team brings the league’s second-worst free-throw percentage (.739) with them for Friday’s game against Charlotte. “It’s been our Achilles heel, I guess.

“At the same time, I don’t want to linger on stuff like that. And I don’t want players over thinking it. But it’s cost us four or five games. That’s just the reality.”

It’s a stark contrast to the reality the Hawks lived at the free-throw line last year, when they shot .772 from the line — a mark that would rank them among the top 12 teams in the league this season.

They did that without the aid of a shooting consultant. Mark Price joined the Hawks’ staff before training camp but the presence of one of the NBA’s greatest free-throw shooters hasn’t translated into shots made.

No Hawks player has struggled the way Josh Smith has this season. He’s shooting just .597 from the free-throw line and has made just 13 of his 32 attempts (.406) since Jan. 23.

“I call myself a free-throw practice shooter,” Smith said acknowledging that his troubles are more psychological than physical. “I make them in practice but then it kind of turns into a mental thing in the game and I don’t give myself a chance to make free throws.

“I was a confident free-throw shooter last year and the years before that, so it’s hard to explain. I think we all have to get back to having confidence in ourselves and step up and make those shots. I know for me it’s a matter of concentration. It’s that simple.”

If only it were.

Smith made just 2-of-10 free throws in that loss to the Knicks and 3-of-8 in the win over the Timberwolves.

Both times his free throw woes overshadowed what were otherwise stellar performances.

Against the Timberwolves, Smith had company down the stretch. The Hawks missed six of their 14 fourth-quarter free throws. That made it impossible for them to stretch a 17-point lead to 25 or 30 and win going away.

“The hard part sometimes is just getting there,” said Marvin Williams, one of three Hawks, along with Joe Johnson and Mo Evans, shooting better than .800 from the line. “You work so hard on an offensive possession to get to the foul line and then when we do, it’s a wasted play because we make just one out of two.

“I think I missed three or four in a row [against the Timberwolves]. It’s just a lack of focus, especially down the stretch. But guys have to lock in and do everything it takes to make those free throws. Because as soon as you start thinking about it and everybody starts getting into your mind, it’s going to be a long night.”

[DrReality]

So much more

By Sekou K Smith | Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 11:02 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Minneapolis - As much as I’d love to agree with the Hawks about a win being the only important thing to take from Wednesday’s rubbish-filled effort here against the Timberwolves, I can’t do it.

I can’t take much more of this ends justifying the means logic of the NBA that allows a team to continually stumbled its way to the finish of games simply because it lacks the focus necessary to finish off games.

Yeah, the Hawks won. They beat a Timberwolves team that went on a tear last month and earned Kevin McHale Western Conference Coach of the Month honors (without their best player, All-Star and captain Joe Johnson).

But they did so with a whimper, save for Mike Bibby’s huge 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play that saved the Hawks’ tail at Target Center.

This team needs saving far too often. Blame the coach, the players or whomever else you want. I’m sticking it on all of them.

Somewhere along the line, they’ve miscalculated what it takes to be a legitimate home court playoff team. You can’t play as loose with the little things and expect to reach any of the lofty goals you’ve set as a team.

It’s like those speeches your folks gave you when botched a class in high school because you didn’t study as hard as you could have.

“You got a B but you could have gotten an A if you’d applied yourself,” was the line I used to hear back then.

It applies to these Hawks.

Yet the consequences for their inadequacies could be far reaching.

Keep shooting the way the Hawks have from the free throw line this season and you’re setting yourself up for disaster down the road.

I promise you, it’s a certain recipe for disaster at some point in the season (like a 10-day Western Conference road trip like the one the Hawks will be on after the All-Star break or in a playoff series where everything is on the line).

The Hawks’ 25-for-38 effort Wednesday night didn’t get them popped. But you can bet it will somewhere down the road.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson said after the game that he “can’t believe we’re shooting worse from the free throw line this season than we did last year.”

Believe it coach.

Josh Smith is reaching a Shaquillian level of futility from the foul line, shaking his head after misses and everything (he was 1-for-4 in the fourth quarter Wednesday, negating what had otherwise been a pretty good night with 19 points and six rebounds).

Inevitably the poor free throw shooting leads to a lost opportunity elsewhere (like on the offensive glass, where the T’Wovles pounded the Hawks 19-7, enabling the home team to stick around long enough to rally from a 17-point deficit late and almost steal this game away from the Hawks).

“We got the win,” Marvin Williams said to me after coming up big with 23 points and 10 rebounds in the game. “Somehow, someway, we had to get it. Nobody said it had to be pretty Sekou. We just had to get the win.”

No doubt. But at some point, it has to be fundamentally sound.

At some point it would be nice if a big lead turned into a rout and stayed that way.

And eventually, it would be nice to see the growth and maturity that’s reflected in the Hawks’ 28-20 record reflected in some consistency on both ends of the floor, the way the league’s best teams do it on a night in and night out basis.

“I think there were some little details that we didn’t take care of,” Al Horford said in his first game back in weeks, and his impact was greater than the six rebounds, four points, three steals and two blocks he piled up in his 24-plus minutes of action. “That’s stuff we have to shore up. But they made their run like teams always do. And Mike stepped up and made a huge shot, the kind of shot you’d expect a veteran to make in a situation like that, and we got the win.”

Absolutely.

But there’s so much more to be had.

So much more.

[AtLaS]

Yeah, I thought Smith's misses were mental. A couple of bad free throw shooting games can get into your head and then you start thinking about it too much. I've always been great at the line but have had lapses like that as well, it's hard to get over but eventually you will.

[exodus]

I can’t take much more of this ends justifying the means logic of the NBA that allows a team to continually stumbled its way to the finish of games simply because it lacks the focus necessary to finish off games.

This team needs saving far too often. Blame the coach, the players or whomever else you want. I’m sticking it on all of them.

Exactly. Just because they won doesn't mean they can continue to get away with making the same mistakes over and over.

[Dsinner]

So let me get this straight. Woody doesn't want to practice what has so far been our "Achilles heel?" Well that's just f'n brilliant. We are the second worst FT shooting team in the league and our coach is scared it MIGHT get mental? Baby Jesus help us.

Edited February 6, 2009 by Dsinner

[JoshB9]

When we have our foot on the other teams' proverbial throats we need to finish the job. But we let up every time. There is no excuse for that anymore, we have plenty of experience and ability now, there is no reason to be so immature and allow teams to climb back into games.

A lot of the onus must fall on our "leaders" like Joe and Josh. They are our two best players, and when they continue to slow down their games in these situations the rest of the team will follow. Bibby can only save us so many times in these situations. It's time for our other money guys to take on the extra responsibility of being leaders and keeping the team focused.

[exodus]

When you make dumb turnovers, run horrible offensive sets and don't take care of the defensive glass any lead is vulnerable.