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in the beginning of the season, alot of people were giving him alot of credit.... so thus, isn't it fair to blame Price for the Hawks' horrible shooting, espeically free throw shooting?

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have gone from 15-16th in the league in FT% down to 29th...second to last in the league!

There's no excuse for that. I don't remember when we were this poor in FT%....ever!

You can't be the all-time leader in FT% in NBA history with this kind of result. Especially when we've been much better before he even got here. It's something he's NOT doing! For example, Smoove FT% has dropped a whole 10 percentage points this year alone. Joe's down...Marvin's down....And tonights shooting woes at the free throw line were a joke!

He should be FIRED! PERIOD!

The blame always has to go on someone, but I blame the players, and not anyone from the coaching staff. Especially not Mark Price.

^ so when the players where shooting well in the beginning of the season, it was because of the players and nothing to do with coach Price?

I know everyone is always so quick to blame woody and I try to stay away from that as much as possible, but I blame him here too. Earlier in the year he said he avoids making a big deal about free throw shooting in practice because it sykes the players out and makes it worse. Can it really get any worse at this point? We are second to last in the league and the only reason we aren't last is because Dwight Howard is the new Shaq at the line...

Harry10 wrote:^ so when the players where shooting well in the beginning of the season, it was because of the players and nothing to do with coach Price?

So, who do we blame for his lack of rebounding, and every other part of his game? The Coaching staff? Mark Price and the rest of the coaching staff can't force Josh to listen to them and the responsibility still falls on Josh.

Josh is soft, he's not focused, and it's reflecting on the entire team. He has poor form and with his lack of focus he goes 0-6 last night from the line. I'm happy he managed to have five rebounds which is a high over the last four games.

dpaulh wrote:I know everyone is always so quick to blame woody and I try to stay away from that as much as possible, but I blame him here too. Earlier in the year he said he avoids making a big deal about free throw shooting in practice because it sykes the players out and makes it worse. Can it really get any worse at this point? We are second to last in the league and the only reason we aren't last is because Dwight Howard is the new Shaq at the line...

It's easy to blame a grown man for another grown man's mistake. Maybe it's a sign that Josh Smith only works on his game during actual practice time and doesn't stay after to work on the rest of his game.

Shaquille O'Neal went back to his old high school form and his shooting percentage is the second highest during his career.

Lebron James knew his free throw shooting was poor and hurting his overall numbers. He fixes it and now is shooting a career high from the line.

It's on the players and not the coaching staff. Josh needs to sit down, watch tape of himself, and fix the problem himself. Mark Price can only continue to tell Josh how bad his form is and I'm pretty sure he's done that.

Josh continues to have the support of the fans, but it's going to wear off if he continues to perform like this, because his numbers have dropped since signing the new contract, and his heart needs to be questioned.

Josh continues to have the support of the fans, but it's going to wear off if he continues to perform like this, because his numbers have dropped since signing the new contract, and his heart needs to be questioned.[/quote]

Smoove has LOST my patience! He's been here five years and is still playing like a rookie! No growth to his game whatsoever!

And yes, Mark Price does shoulder some blame here cause you can't explain how a team dips that far in one year....and we, traditionally, have NEVER been second to last in the league in FT%. And coaches, when they don't yield results, do get fired in this league.....and we've seen plenty of that go on this season.

I'd say fire Price.....fire Woody.....bring in a coach who demands players put in the work and stick to the system he implements.....as soon as you hire the new HC (a Paul Sials type), you immediaitely get Smoove in a meeting and you clearly tell him......

"Look, I run a different type of ball club here. Now, I'mma need you to stop doing X, Y, Z (you know, the zero BBall IQ stuff)....I'mma need you to work on you post-up game, playing with you back to the basket, ball handling, and a list of other stuff. Because you will not have the green light to shoot three's on this team. You're game will be 15 feet and in..... Now, if you are not willing to do these things at this point of your career...go get your agent and I, along with Rick, will try to facilitate a trade."

It really has gotten to a point where someone has to lay the law down on Smoove...and light a fire under his ass. And they need to do this...immediately after the season's over!

Anyway we can try and get Thabeet here via a trade in the draft? LOLOLOLOLOL

HMFFL wrote:Josh is soft, he's not focused, and it's reflecting on the entire team.

You can add the names Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford to this list.

What's really funny is we're talking about professionals being unable to hit free throws? To me, this is just ridiculous to even discuss.
What would the player's excuses be? There would be plenty.
This team has more problems than FT shooting. It is one part of the game, but day-in, day-out being motivated and prepared would help.
This team tries to coast through games to get to the 2nd half. To me, its all about who is leading the team. We don't have someone who can win a game for us with his decisions.

This West Coast trip is just an excuse stating that they won't be ready and its impossible to be successful on these trips. Sure isn't hurting Boston is it?

Blaming Woody for everything is one thing, but going after our "shooting consultant" is downright hilarious. Josh Smith missing FT's is obviously a mental issue for the guy. He hit 70% from the line the rest of his career, are we really saying that Price's coaching caused him to drop nearly 15 points? What on earth could he have possibly done to cause that drop? Give me a break!

What HM is saying is exactly right. Everyone loves to play the blame game instead of looking at the actual problem. The players are the guys who go out on the floor and don't execute every evening. At some point, I'd like to see the men making the big bucks to be held accountable. These guys are among the best at their craft in the world, they should be able to figure out how to fix their individual games on their own.

You are right in placing a lot of the blame on Josh Smith. He has lost my patience too. He is showing that he has a very small basketball IQ and does not seem to be into basketball as a whole right now. This whole team has stopped showing any emotion whatsoever excluding Horford.

This free throw shooting as well as many things the team is doing wrong is everyone's blame. I know we are in the middle of a very tough road trip and we have a very tough schedule the rest of the way, but we just don't look like the same team right now, in any aspect of the game, as we did a month ago.

I honestly believe that we will make the playoffs, get knocked out first-round, and then Sund will make major changes. Frankly, I hope he does because I am getting tired of watching this team every night. I still haven't missed a televised game, but I have only been to 2 games this year, and I am not excited about attending any more at this point because they show no passion.

We need to WAKE UP quickly before what we have built goes way south.

P.S. Sorry I got carried away and way off the subject.

The biggest problem I see (for a 4th conference team) is that this team has been unable to build and keep a big lead in a game.
It forces the main players to play lots of minutes, doesn't help the bench guy play more minutes this responsibilities of keeping this lead (which is more important than playing garbage time when the game is already ended),... and all this missed FTs are part of not being able to build a big lead.

I don't know if we can blame Price for that, at least he helped Marvin on his outside shot.
I think it's more on the player, and when you the lack of passion on the court these last weeks, I don't expect them to be more motivate to hit FTs.
They are not in the game most of time. They are playing like they know they will loose, or like they had a 100pts lead with 1 minute left.
IMO, once this attitude problem will be fixed, the FTs will follow.
Now, how to fixed it ? It's certainly the staff because there's no vocal leader in this team.
Or maybe tell all the people in the arena to boycott the games until they play with heart again

^^^ Agreed. If anything, Price should be praised. Flip Murray of all people has become a consistent jump shooter, Bibby is having one of his best shooting seasons ever (and that is saying something), Marvin has become a formidable three-point threat, etc.

Mark Price's title is "shooting consultant." He doesn't even sit on the bench with the rest of the asst. coaches.

conleyorbust wrote:

HMFFL wrote:Josh is soft, he's not focused, and it's reflecting on the entire team.

You can add the names Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford to this list.

Ehh I dont know if you can call Al soft right now. Joe is and Marvin is showing signs of it!

SneakerKing33 wrote:

conleyorbust wrote:

HMFFL wrote:Josh is soft, he's not focused, and it's reflecting on the entire team.

You can add the names Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford to this list.

Ehh I dont know if you can call Al soft right now. Joe is and Marvin is showing signs of it!

I feel like Al gets a pass around here for things other players don't. Smith's rebounding is down this season and its because he's lazy/stupid/ugly whatever, Al's rebounding is down and its because he has an injury.

Marv is timid on offense because he's not cut out to be a star, Al is timid on offense because he doesn't get enough touches.

Joe and Josh are at fault for not taking leadership roles because they are too sullen/selfish, Al is a leader but we just don't see the effects of it on the court...

Don't get me wrong, all these guys have a lot of faults but I still don't see why he's viewed as the Golden Boy. He's fallen into the same trap the rest of the guys have, it doesn't make him any better or any worse than them.