Smoove is going to have to bang in the paint!!!

[Wurider05]

HE is slowly becoming a finesse player and shys away from contact. With his athletic ability he should be taking it to the rack every time he gets the ball instead of settling for his inconsistent jumpshot. He should be on the inside mixing it up and fighting for boards.

[Popeye]

True, i don't have any idea what's he doing on a 3 point line when he is not even a good shooter yet.

He has trouble walking and running, he stumble two times and nobody touched him.

[HawksFan87]

Smoove has to, Za-Za has to all of our post players are scared of contact.

[Popeye]

Zaza is not afraid of contact.

Zaza was our best player tonight.

[Guest Walter]

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Zaza is not afraid of contact.

Zaza was our best player tonight.

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Not IMHO (as if being the best player tonight means much). Josh Childress maybe.

ZaZa got his points at the foul line. He was a non-factor post scoring. Utterly a nøn-factor. More TOs than FGs. And Daly had his way with him though he shot very little. The turn around baseline J followed by the alley-hoop against ZaZa, ouch. Not a bad game though, just not nearly as good as his stats.

Teams can simply play over the top of us. Not good.

W

[DJlaysitup]

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Zaza is not afraid of contact...

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agreed...Zaza just doesn't play big enough against bigger centers...but he works

[JJJ]

I could definitely be happy if I saw less of Zaza.

He is a BACKUP on most good teams, and that is what he needs to be here for us to have any success in the future...

[HAWKEYE]

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HE is slowly becoming a finesse player and shys away from contact. With his athletic ability he should be taking it to the rack every time he gets the ball instead of settling for his inconsistent jumpshot.

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That depends on what you mean by "s l o w l y". This scouting report was done 2 1/2 yrs. ago ( 4/8/04)) by Matthew Maurer for NBAdraft.net. Josh Smith weakness:

"Will need to improve on his overall ball handling. This will aid him in taking opposing players off the dribble. While he has three point range he lacks consistency. Will need to work on shot selection as he gets a little too carried away. Lacks any real post up game to take advantage of mismatches. (even in high school)Settles at times for taking outside shots instead of driving to the basket."

Have his high school and NBA coaches improved on this? Is he coachable?

[Duff_Man]

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I could definitely be happy if I saw less of Zaza.

He is a BACKUP on most good teams, and that is what he needs to be here for us to have any success in the future...

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Wow...15pts, 12rebs, 2 blocks, and 7-8 from the line and he is a bench guy? What is Ben Wallace then?

[JJJ]

Since when does the stat line show whether a player should be a starter or a backup?

He wasnt the big problem tonight, I will admit, but in the future we are going to need more defense from that position...Of course, that is if you want to go anywhere in the future.

He is just as bad as Al was at defending!

[TheDude]

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I could definitely be happy if I saw less of Zaza.

He is a BACKUP on most good teams, and that is what he needs to be here for us to have any success in the future...

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Wow...15pts, 12rebs, 2 blocks, and 7-8 from the line and he is a bench guy? What is Ben Wallace then?

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apparently Wilt Broken Stilts Chamberlain....

i don't understand all of this... a few times in the game daly went over our players to get rebound and so now we cant play above the rim? zaza was pulling orebounds down like a madman..

our offense sucked tonight..end of story.

[Guest Walter]

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Wow...15pts, 12rebs, 2 blocks, and 7-8 from the line and he is a bench guy? What is Ben Wallace then?

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ZaZa hustles and I think he's a value, but we can't contend with him as a starter. Not with JS and MW at the forwards (too small and perimeter oriented to pair with a hybrid center) or even SW (too role-player to pair with another role-player in the post).

ZaZa didn't score one set post-up play in the 1st half where 3 of his 4 FGs came from. All FTs, one put-back (nice one though), and 2 set shots from around 12'. When you don't defend well and your truest Pf isn't a post scoring option or a great defender in his own right (no offense but SW can't change NBA games defensively), this is unacceptable as astarter for a contending team.

[Buzzard]

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don't understand all of this... a few times in the game daly went over our players to get rebound and so now we cant play above the rim? zaza was pulling orebounds down like a madman..

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Agreed! ZaZa is not the problem. JJ, Smoove, Shelden, and Speedy did not have their A games. You play on the road in the NBA against any team; team efficiency has to be at a high level.

[SmooveTheFuture]

I agree with Josh Smith Athelism and hops he has to attack the basket. I dont know if this is being told to him and hes not listening. But he needs to get the basket and draw fouls hes not a bad Free throw shooter. When the jump shot is there take it but not always. I hope this 1st game was just a bad game he starts to get the lane and start dunking on some people. We dont need Josh Smith taking jumpers at insane right we need banging with the big boys around the basket similar to what amare and bosh do for there respected teams. Also neither of these guys have great handles either.

[HAWKEYE]

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HE is slowly becoming a finesse player and shys away from contact. With his athletic ability he should be taking it to the rack every time he gets the ball instead of settling for his inconsistent jumpshot.

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That depends on what you mean by "s l o w l y". This scouting report was done 2 1/2 yrs. ago ( 4/8/04)) by Matthew Maurer for NBAdraft.net. Josh Smith weakness:

"Will need to improve on his overall ball handling. This will aid him in taking opposing players off the dribble. While he has three point range he lacks consistency. Will need to work on shot selection as he gets a little too carried away. Lacks any real post up game to take advantage of mismatches. (even in high school)Settles at times for taking outside shots instead of driving to the basket."

Have his high school and NBA coaches improved on this? Is he coachable?

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Until Smoove himself or a coach turns the light on in the lighthouse he is what he is but he still has time.

[mrhonline]

I think all of us need to remember that there were legitimate criticisms about Josh Smith's game when he came into the league.

If he overcomes them, then the Hawks got a steal. If not, then getting an athletic shot-blocker who can play multiple positions as the 17th pick in the draft should be seen as a success.

In other words, expecting him to become a superstar may be asking too much.

[thesheedera]

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If he overcomes them, then the Hawks got a steal. If not, then getting an athletic shot-blocker who can play multiple positions as the 17th pick in the draft should be seen as a success.

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I disagree with this. Josh has shown that he's capable of overcoming his weaknesses in spurts, sometimes long spurts, like the end of last season. I don't mind him throwing up a few threes if he commits himself to also attacking the rim with the ball, going after boards and following his many jumpshots. He's not a guard, he should be following everything he puts up, whether he's a small or power forward, there has to be some balance to his inside-outside game.

He looked lazy and indifferent on offense last night.

I think a lot of breaks didn't go our way and we were flat out cold, but our lack of intensity on opening night was disappointing.

Hoping for a WHOLE lot more on Friday.

[Yeti]

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I could definitely be happy if I saw less of Zaza.

He is a BACKUP on most good teams, and that is what he needs to be here for us to have any success in the future...

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Wow...15pts, 12rebs, 2 blocks, and 7-8 from the line and he is a bench guy? What is Ben Wallace then?

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Whatever we think of Zaza, he outplayed most of the other players last night (but it's only one game). Only he and Chill showed anything. JJ had an off night. Lue looked better than Speedy, Smoove didn't come to play, and SW had a rookie night.

I wouldn't pick on Zaza until he is the WEAK link on the team, not the strongest. That's not to say he is a great player, but everybody else was so much worse. After ONE game we had the lowest shooting percentage and least number of assists in the league.

[Johnnybravo4]

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I could definitely be happy if I saw less of Zaza.

He is a BACKUP on most good teams, and that is what he needs to be here for us to have any success in the future...

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Wow...15pts, 12rebs, 2 blocks, and 7-8 from the line and he is a bench guy? What is Ben Wallace then?

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Whatever we think of Zaza, he outplayed most of the other players last night (but it's only one game). Only he and Chill showed anything. JJ had an off night. Lue looked better than Speedy, Smoove didn't come to play, and SW had a rookie night.

I wouldn't pick on Zaza until he is the WEAK link on the team, not the strongest. That's not to say he is a great player, but everybody else was so much worse. After ONE game we had the lowest shooting percentage and least number of assists in the league.

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This is what I didnt' understand. They put Iguodala on JJ and AI on Speedy. Which left 6'3 Kevin Ollie on 6'9 Josh Smith. Why in the world didn't we run some isolation sets with Josh on Ollie? Even if Josh has a limited post game, surely he could shoot over a guy 6 inches shorter. He with his athleticism he could shoot over a guy 6 inches taller than him.

This is my problem with Woody. We run absolutely no plays for anyone other than Joe. Everyone else has to get their points on swing arounds or one on one play. We basically run JJ through screens and if that play doesn't work then we run out of time and have to force a shot. We have no plan.