Smoove is a PF..

[AtLaS]

It's really been apparent for a while now (with his dribbling), plus he played PF or C his WHOLE HS career. But lets not forget he is still only 20 years old before giving up on him, remember we didn't think he'd contribute AT ALL his first 2-3 years.

I think Josh can be better than K-Mart at the PF position. He's more athletic, jumps higher, blocks better, shoots better, and is the same size as K-Mart. Josh is the PERFECT pf for a running team, he gets down the floor, is very atletic, blocks shots and can hit the open jumper. Kenyon has always had the luxury of a good passing pg, and if we give up on Smith he will blow up somewhere else..

If he's playing PF his dribbling woes won't be as much a cancer, and he will be a tough matchup for other PF's, as he will bring them outside the paint once he makes a few jumpers.

I realize he's not a great low post threat, but most PF's aren't. K-Mart isn't, he can be better than K-Mart, mainly if we start running like the 2nd quarter against the Knicks and Speedy steps up to the plate..

[TheNorthCydeRises]

But most PF's in this league are tough. Josh, while athletic, doesn't strike me as being a "tough guy". That's why he doesn't mix it up in the paint like everyone wants him to.

He's a lot closer to a Shawn Marion type, than a Kenyon Martin type of PF. But Shawn is on hustle mode all the time. Smoove is on hustle mode maybe 18% of the time. That's the big difference.

When Smoove realizes that he can use his athletic ability to get cheap hoops and really affect the game, he'll become a better player.

Until then, we'll just have to live with the on-again, off-again version of Smoove.

[Lascar78]

I agree. That is why I was pissed all season last year that Woody wasn't forcing him to get into the paint even though we had Al down there. He should not have been allowed to shoot all those 3s at a time when our focus should have been the development of our youth.

He will never be a great perimeter player with his handles. He has a decent jumper, but he will never be able to use it to the fullest until he learns how to take it to the rack (and get the foul), and how to score in the post. If I was Woody, I would completely ban him from shooting long jumpers for a year, and force him to develop his slashing / post game. Once he gets a solid foundation, he can move on to mixing it up with jumpers, and pump fakes to drive down the lane. It is a lot easier for a guy that size to learn how to attack the rim and score in the post than it is for a guy with handles that bad to develop good dribbling. I've never seen a guy with a dribble that bad in his 20s trying to become a top perimeter player. It just doesn't add up. He can be a very good PF who shoots a lot of jumper, but there is no question that slashing and post moves are what he needs to work on.

Of course he could start at SF in the sense that we can start two PF types at the two forward spots, but what I'm getting at is that if he is to be truly successful, he needs to forget about being a perimeter player and take his game to the hole.

[Diesel]

Smoove doesn't have a Pf mentality.

mentality is 85% of the position.

Smoove is just not that kind of tough guy.

For instance.. Smoove might be bigger than Karl Malone... But I don't think he is nearly tough like Malone. Smoove is definitely bigger than Barkley.. But Smoove makes Barkley looks like Mr. T 1982 (Clubber Lang)..

Right now, I won't even commit that Smoove is tougher than Kirlenko!

The question is:

Will it be easier to teach Smoove to be tough or to teach him how to dribble.

I say it's probably easier to teach him to dribble and hope he turns out to be a VC like 3... (back when Carter was a 3).

[SmooveTheFuture]

I agree with alot of these points but the guy is still developing. You can tell that 2nd game he was looking to drive more which is good. But also another thing that hurts him and other players on the team are. There are no plays run for him at all to give him confidence. Its ridculous that every play run on this team is for Joe Johnson and sometimes Zaza. Alot of these guys if they dont get involved in the offense start to get done on themselves. Also alot of people were writing off Josh Childress after his horrendus start last year. Saying hes not good blah blah etc/ But now that he's hot... So he's the greatest sixth man he's this he's that. I never seen so many fair weather fan's in my life. Because I know if Smith had played well in these 2 games there wouldnt be anyone saying anything. Keep in mind this is a player that has been moved around 3x in his early career. I dont think developing a handle is that hard but developing that attack mode and killer instinct is what he needs to do. This guy if he gets into the lane who is gonna stop him not many even if they do ill take my chances with drawing the fouls. His inside game has to open up the outside game for him. He's a pretty good free throw shooter people seem to forget this is the same player that avged 15 pts 8 rbs 4 assits and 3 blks the 2nd half of the season. Once he understands that he can be a similar player to bosh and amare inside with his atheltic , size, ft shooting and improving jumpshot ability the game will come easier to him. I refuse to give up after after 2 games a on 20 year kid who shows at times the ability to become a very good player .

[AtLaS]

Then what does that do about Marvin? Smoove can DEFINATELY become a PF, especially one for our team and one for a running team. He's 20 years old and you're comparing him to Malone, Barkley and Kirilenko (who is an SF most of the time anyway), not a good comparison although Smoove could be a AK type of player.. Give him time he could definately become a PF for our team, and a great running PF. His post defense will improve as he gets more practice there.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Smoove is the type that will hopefully benefit from a PG like Speedy. Hopefully, he and Speedy will develop a good chemistry, much like Kidd did with Kenyon Martin.

[KB21]

Well, if Josh doesn't develop as a power forward, he's going to find himself on the bench behind Marvin. He simply doesn't have the skill level that Marvin has to play ahead him at the small forward position.

[Peoriabird]

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But also another thing that hurts him and other players on the team are. There are no plays run for him at all to give him confidence. Its ridculous that every play run on this team is for Joe Johnson and sometimes Zaza. Alot of these guys if they dont get involved in the offense start to get down on themselves.

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Stop being so defensive. I'm sure sooner or late Josh Smith will find his niche. Right now he doesn't handle the ball well enough to be an effective perimeter player without a lot of help. They don't run plays for Childress either but Childress finds ways to make his presence felt by playing good defense and running the baseline. Smoove continues to make defensive mistakes and his intensity waxes and wanes throughout the game depending on how much success he is having. These are thing that he can correct immediately but choses not to.

[Guest Walter]

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Well, if Josh doesn't develop as a power forward, he's going to find himself on the bench behind Marvin. He simply doesn't have the skill level that Marvin has to play ahead him at the small forward position.

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You draft 5 high pick forwards, expect 3 of them to play for another team by their 2nd contract. Diaw, JS, and Childress. It's pretty simple. This is poor management.

W

[Peoriabird]

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You draft 5 high pick forwards, expect 3 of them to play for another team by their 2nd contract. Diaw, JS, and Childress. It's pretty simple. This is poor management.

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Diaw was not a high pick. He was a late first rounder. Why would Childress & J.Smith be on another team by their second contract? Childress has found his niche with this team and looks like a mainstay. Josh smith could be on another team but based on the way he has played, he should be very affordable if the team decides to keep him.

[SmooveTheFuture]

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You draft 5 high pick forwards, expect 3 of them to play for another team by their 2nd contract. Diaw, JS, and Childress. It's pretty simple. This is poor management.

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Diaw was not a high pick. He was a late first rounder. Why would Childress & J.Smith be on another team by their second contract? Childress has found his niche with this team and looks like a mainstay. Josh smith could be on another team but based on the way he has played, he should be very affordable if the team decides to keep him.

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I find some of you fair weather fans down right hilarious. You were the same ones asking for Childress to get benched last year when he was downright awful worst then Smith is playing right now. He is also older then Smith as well I guess we should have giving up Childress back then right. Cmon me a freaking break. Childress is playing well right now but he wasnt last year and I know for sure the people praising him now like he's god gift. Were the same one's wanting him to be benched last season early on.

[Peoriabird]

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I find some of you fair weather fans down right hilarious. You were the same ones asking for Childress to get benched last year when he was downright awful worst then Smith is playing right now. He is also older then Smith as well I guess we should have giving up Childress back then right. Cmon me a freaking break. Childress is playing well right now but he wasnt last year and I know for sure the people praising him now like he's god gift. Were the same one's wanting him to be benched last season early on.

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Personally I think that all of our players will be resigned. I also think that Smoove will find his niche. But even you have to admit that Smoove at times lacks focus on defense and becomes less involved in the offense when he is not hitting his outside shot. As far as Childress is concerned, he has always been my favorite player on the team.

[Popeye]

As of right now, nobody knows what Smoove is and what's he going to be.

PF or SF.

or he will just stay as a "Tweener".

[BusBoyIsBack]

If Smoove played PF he would have elite athleticism. There wouldn't be a 4 in this league with more athletic ability. He could use that ability to abuse whoever he was matched up against. And with his improving defense and shotblocking ability, he'd give that opposing player trouble on the other end of the floor as well.

But I agree 100% he has to develop some mental toughness. Stop being too shy about dunking on people. Smoove is too big of a gentleman. He doesn't seem to like taking it to the hole and absolutely abusing people. But he easily has the ability. He doesn't have faith in his own dribbling ability and he'll never become a better ballhandler if he doesn't try taking it to the rack every now and then.

[joannes3000]

Matrix comes to mind as a similar tweener pf. I think if anything, Smoove just needs to catch up mentally. It's already been mentioned both about his youth and the fact that nobody really expected him to fully develop for about another year. With that said, he seems to be developing physically and I think it's a safe bet that his mental development (better man defense, better positioning, confidence in taking someone off the dribble, etc) will be on it's way also.

[frosgrim]

For me Smoove's development must be taken in context of where he would be in college. If was playing at Indiana he would be considered one of THE top players in the nation. Yes, his game has some big flaws in it right now, but he's 20.

I saw some critism of him working on his body over the summer, but that is silly. He had to get bigger. Now he can work on the skills to go with that bigger, stronger body.

He is going to keep making bone-headed plays for at least the rest of this season and probably well into the next one or two.

What I do like about Smith is that he seems to respond well to adversity. But on the other hand, it seems to take a while for him to get what he needs to do.

I did see him try to go to the post a couple of times in NY game, but he was not successful. Woody and the pgs need to keep calling the plays that put Smith on the block and see what they can develop as the season moves forward. The really need to do this EARLY in the game to get Smith into it.

In all Smith has a lot of development to still do, just like any 20 year old at any profession. I am willing to put some wins aside THIS year to develop the young guys. Woody just has to show that he is still commited to developing these guys by trusting them early in the game (ala Vick and the Falcons coaching staff).