Who is the teams most overrated player?

[capstone21]

There is always homerism when you go to a team's board. This board has a lot of it too where players are overrated by their own fans.

Who do you think is the most overrated player on the Hawks by its fans?

I think it is Josh Smith. I am not saying he is not a good player. Its just that people in Atlanta and especially on this board believes he is a superstar. Its not saying that he can't reach that level but right now he is just a good player. His defense with the exception of blocks is average, his shot is terrible and he takes way too many outside shots, his ball handling is not good either (he can't go end to end), and his post skills are non existent. He does however play with a lot of energy, his athleticism is off the charts, he is a good rebounder, a good slasher and a surprisingly good passer. His game is coming but it is far from superstardom. I do agree that he is one of the keys to the Hawks success though.

The second most overrated player I think is Salim. I think he is terrible. He is too small to play sg and he has 0 point guard skills. He has a good shot but that is lost by how many times he throws the ball at the basket as soon as he touches it. Personally I would rather he not step on the floor.

Who do you guys think is the most overrated?

[djcorley]

I would agree with your choice of Smoove...

However, i don't think that to many people on the board consider him a superstar. I believe most thinks he's the most exciting Hawk and that he has a chance to become a superstar in the near future...I don't think he'll get much better then he is right now as a player. That's why the Hawks should get him signed but only ih the range of what Kevin Martin got (5yr/50mil) If there's a reason why he should get more it's because of the gate...he can and will sell tickets! And that's worth money!

He has some holes in his game particulary ball handling, posting as a 4 and shot selection..

He's shown the most improvement on the team since he entered the league and I think this board is excited about where he can go.

And lets face it...Hardly any people show at Philips now....There would be none if Smoove wasn't on the team!

[AnakinJoe]

I agree that Smith is the team's most overrated player. While his shot-blocking is consistent, the rest of his game is all over the map. He was great after the All-Star break 2 seasons ago, then got off to a horrible start last season (remember his infatuation with the 3-ball?) And after the mysterious hernia surgery, he played at an All-Star level. But folk seem to only remember his very good 40 games and not his very bad 40 games.

And JJ with less than 2 minutes left is very overrated. I'd much rather see Lue handling than JJ. JJ almost always settles for the jumper, usually against a double team. I'm hoping that JJ either takes some of those shots in the lane or allows Law to work his late game magic (another guy who knows that getting in the lane on the last possession is the right move).

[AHF]

I would say the guy who is falling farthest below the expectations of Hawks' fans is Marvin Williams. Most still believe that he is going to break out and become a stud (if not a star). However, he hasn't done anything on the Court to warrant being a cornerstone player for this franchise.

I count myself among those who believe in building around him right now, but I am constantly dissappointed by his lack of aggression and the lack of improvement in most areas (for the most parts his stats have been largely a product of how many minutes he gets, not how much better he has gotten in the minutes he plays). I see the potential but the fact that the reality hasn't measured up leads me to put him as our most overrated player.

[Packfill]

Agreed.

[Peoriabird]

Salim Stoudamire and then Josh Smith.

Stoudamire is constantly tauted as one of the great shooters in the NBA and he is not period. If Stoudamare were half the shooter people make him out to be, no one would care about his ball handling or point guard skills. The truth of the matter is Stoudamire got open shot after open shot and did not hit them consistently. In fact it doesn't matter whether he is open or covered, the shot will fall only if he is on one of his streaks. That is not the mark of a great shooter! Good shooters hit open shots 80-90% of the time. Heck, Childress is a more consistent open shooter than Salim!

As far as Smith is concern, The initial poster hit the nail on the head! Smith has a lot of limitations that will prevent him from becoming a traditional position player. He most likely will always be a swing player.

[Packfill]

Quote:

---

I agree that Smith is the team's most overrated player. While his shot-blocking is consistent, the rest of his game is all over the map. He was great after the All-Star break 2 seasons ago, then got off to a horrible start last season (remember his infatuation with the 3-ball?) And after the mysterious hernia surgery, he played at an All-Star level. But folk seem to only remember his very good 40 games and not his very bad 40 games.

---

The way I look at it, at least Smoove has had long stretches of outstanding play, which is more than you can say for the other Hawks youngsters.

[BossTweed]

I'm going to agree with Salim. I just don't see how he is this "instant offense" that everyone seems to think he is. He has to be consistent if he wants to be worth keeping on the team, and he hasn't been consistent yet.

[jerrywest]

Quote:

---

Smith - But folk seem to only remember his very good 40 games and not his very bad 40 games.

---

The guy played with a lot of pain. You can't play 100% with hernia pain.

Having said that, can all the hawks players get the following procedures done during the off-season so that they don't need them at mid-season.

1. Circumcision.

2. Appendix removal.

3. Hernia fixed.

4. ACL/MCL reconstructions.

5. Knee replacement for Speedy.

6. Shoulder replacement for Shelden.

7. Heart replacement for Mervin.

8. Brain replacemnt for Selim.

9. anti-Lasik surgery for Smoove so that he doesn't see the rim further than 15 feet.

[mrhonline]

Quote:

---

I would say the guy who is falling farthest below the expectations of Hawks' fans is Marvin Williams.

---

That has zero to do with the thread's original question.

The most overrated player on Hawksquawk is, without question, Josh Smith. He has more holes in his game than any other 2nd option in the NBA. The Hawks desperately need Marvin to fill that role, which would allow Smith to focus his energy and athleticism in other areas.

[jerrywest]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I would say the guy who is falling farthest below the expectations of Hawks' fans is Marvin Williams.

---

That has zero to do with the thread's original question.

The most overrated player on Hawksquawk is, without question, Josh Smith. He has more holes in his game than any other 2nd option in the NBA. The Hawks desperately need Marvin to fill that role.

---

I have never seen logic guru AHF handcuffed!

[AHF]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I would say the guy who is falling farthest below the expectations of Hawks' fans is Marvin Williams.

---

That has zero to do with the thread's original question.

The most overrated player on Hawksquawk is, without question, Josh Smith. He has more holes in his game than any other 2nd option in the NBA. The Hawks desperately need Marvin to fill that role, which would allow Smith to focus his energy and athleticism in other areas.

---

How do Hawks fans currently rate Josh Smith?

As a potential franchise player who is still raw but is developing into a player we can't let go. Josh Smith is viewed as the team's second most important cornerstone and a difference-maker.

How do Hawks fans currently rate Marvin Williams?

As the third most important cornerstone of the franchise and the guy who has the ability to be the most complete player on the team short of Joe Johnson.

* * *

Is Josh Smith overrated by Hawks fans? It would be hard to not acknowledge that he is. His game does have real flaws but I think Hawks fans have it right when they rate him as the second most important player on our team and someone who would really hurt he team if he was lost. Overrated? Yes. How much? Debatable but I don't think Hawks' fans rating or expectations for him are too far out of whack.

Is Marvin Williams overrated by Hawks fans? I guess this is an eye of the beholder issue. There is a vocal minority of Hawks fans that kills Marvin and from that perspective perhaps he is not overrated at all. However, I think the majority of Hawks fans still rate Marvin as a key cornerstone for this franchise and someone who is ready to step up bigtime this year. I am saying I think that is not at all supported by his actual play. He has exciting potential but that rating of what he represents to the team is farther out of whack from his actual production than I think Smith's is. Marvin's PER last year was lower than both Solomon Jones and Esteban Batista. He just hasn't shown to me yet that his actual play is matching up with how he is rated by people on this board (and I am including myself in that lot).

For that reason, I think Marvin is more overrated than Josh Smith. I am not sure how else to address the original question except by looking at the perception of the players by Hawks fans and seeing which perception is most disconnected with current reality.

(If you read the word "expectations" in my post to have anything to do with the expectations of Josh being the #17 and Marvin being the #2 pick, that is not what I meant at all. I was trying to use expectations as another word for rating - i.e., I rate Josh as X and therefore expect Y from him. Another way of looking at this might be that if you take the stats predicted for [or expected of] Josh Smith and Marvin Williams by people this next season, I think Josh's will be closer to reality than the predictions of 20ppg, etc. that a lot of people are making for Marvin. Those expectations are directly tied to him being overrated based on his performance to date, IMO. The two words (rating and expectation) aren't precise synonyms so that may have been bad word choice on my part - however, I think they are clearly intertwined in this context because I am talking about current expectations for the players not past expectations and there is no question that current expectations for a guy is based on how you rate him as a player.)

[AtLaS]

Quote:

---

I agree that Smith is the team's most overrated player. But folk seem to only remember his very good 40 games and not his very bad 40 games.

---

He didn't have a very bad 40 games. Even if you count EVERY GAME before the Hernia surgery as a bad game, we only played 27 games before he went out with the hernia. It's more like 25-30 bad games and 50-55 good.

Quote:

---

And JJ with less than 2 minutes left is very overrated.

---

I agree that we forcefeed him too much sometimes late in games, but he is not overrated at the end. He was rated the #4 most clutch player in the league in reference to the last few minutes in 05-06, and last year he kept us in TONS of games late. The problem is that we had noone else who could create their own shot with effectiveness other than Lue (who was injured after about the first 20 games). Even when Lue returned, he was nowhere near as quick as he was earlier in the year.

[Peoriabird]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I would say the guy who is falling farthest below the expectations of Hawks' fans is Marvin Williams.

---

That has zero to do with the thread's original question.

The most overrated player on Hawksquawk is, without question, Josh Smith. He has more holes in his game than any other 2nd option in the NBA. The Hawks desperately need Marvin to fill that role, which would allow Smith to focus his energy and athleticism in other areas.

---

How do Hawks fans currently rate Josh Smith?

As a potential franchise player who is still raw but is developing into a player we can't let go. Josh Smith is viewed as the team's second most important cornerstone and a difference-maker.

How do Hawks fans currently rate Marvin Williams?

As the third most important cornerstone of the franchise and the guy who has the ability to be the most complete player on the team short of Joe Johnson.

* * *

Is Josh Smith overrated by Hawks fans? It would be hard to not acknowledge that he is. His game does have real flaws but I think Hawks fans have it right when they rate him as the second most important player on our team and someone who would really hurt he team if he was lost. Overrated? Yes. How much? Debatable but I don't think Hawks' fans rating or expectations for him are too far out of whack.

Is Marvin Williams overrated by Hawks fans? I guess this is an eye of the beholder issue. There is a vocal minority of Hawks fans that kills Marvin and from that perspective perhaps he is not overrated at all. However, I think the majority of Hawks fans still rate Marvin as a key cornerstone for this franchise and someone who is ready to step up bigtime this year. I am saying I think that is not at all supported by his actual play. He has exciting potential but that rating of what he represents to the team is farther out of whack from his actual production than I think Smith's is. Marvin's PER last year was lower than both Solomon Jones and Esteban Batista. He just hasn't shown to me yet that his actual play is matching up with how he is rated by people on this board (and I am including myself in that lot).

For that reason, I think Marvin is more overrated than Josh Smith. I am not sure how else to address the original question except by looking at the perception of the players by Hawks fans and seeing which perception is most disconnected with current reality.

(If you read the word "expectations" in my post to have anything to do with the expectations of Josh being the #17 and Marvin being the #2 pick, that is not what I meant at all. I was trying to use expectations as another word for rating - i.e., I rate Josh as X and therefore expect Y from him. Another way of looking at this might be that if you take the stats predicted for [or expected of] Josh Smith and Marvin Williams by people this next season, I think Josh's will be closer to reality than the predictions of 20ppg, etc. that a lot of people are making for Marvin. Those expectations are directly tied to him being overrated based on his performance to date, IMO. The two words (rating and expectation) aren't precise synonyms so that may have been bad word choice on my part - however, I think they are clearly intertwined in this context because I am talking about current expectations for the players not past expectations and there is no question that current expectations for a guy is based on how you rate him as a player.)

---

Here is where your logic is flawed! Most posters and experts expected Marvin to be the best prospect out of the 2005 draft but admitted that he was not NBA ready! Most poster with a few exceptions don't recite his rookie or second year numbers as proof that all of the experts were wrong about him because we read the fine print. Marvin maybe a little behind in his development but a lot had to do with injuries last year but no one in their right mind was projecting Marvin to dominate right away! In other words, he is right where he was projected to be with his development!

[AtLaS]

Quote:

---

The most overrated player on Hawksquawk is, without question, Josh Smith. He has more holes in his game than any other 2nd option in the NBA. The Hawks desperately need Marvin to fill that role, which would allow Smith to focus his energy and athleticism in other areas.

---

Shaq has a lot of holes in his game, does that mean he's not effective? I know Smith is nowhere near THAT good, but skill doesn't matter if you are still effective, look at Dwight Howard.

I do agree however that Smith should NOT be a 2nd option at all unless he shows tremendous offensive improvement. He was basically forced into that role, since noone else would step up after Lue went down. Smith is an ideal 3rd option (possibly 4th) assuming he continues his improvement, hopefully the dream has taught him a few things.

[Peoriabird]

Quote:

---

I do agree however that Smith should NOT be a 2nd option at all unless he shows tremendous offensive improvement. He was basically forced into that role, since noone else would step up after Lue went down. Smith is an ideal 3rd option (possibly 4th) assuming he continues his improvement, hopefully the dream has taught him a few things.

---

Essentially you agree with the thread creator who feels like most poster here think of Josh Smith as a budding superstar or at the very least a 2nd option on a very good team when you even admit that he is not. Thus the term overrated is used!

[AtLaS]

Quote:

---

Most posters and experts expected Marvin to be the best prospect out of the 2005 draft but admitted that he was not NBA ready! Most poster with a few exceptions don't recite his rookie or second year numbers as proof that all of the experts were wrong about him because we read the fine print.

---

So you're still relying on what goo-gaahed writers wrote about a bench player who choked his way to a championship in his freshman year? So you're not basing ANYTHING on his pitiful play on the floor, it's about what the predraft writeups wrote about him in 2005? OK, again with a beautiful argument .

Quote:

---

In other words, he is right where he was projected to be with his development!

---

What "development" do you speak of? His PER went DOWN from year 1 to year 2, that's not development at all.

[AtLaS]

Quote:

---

Essentially you agree with the thread creator who feels like most poster here think of Josh Smith as a budding superstar or at the very least a 2nd option on a very good team when you even admit that he is not. Thus the term overrated is used!

---

Just because he isn't a great offensive player (yet) doesn't mean he's overrated. His overall presence far exceeds that. Just like Kirilenko, never was a good offensive player, but was still a great player who was NOT overrated before last season.

Some posters may overrate him, but I don't. I just feel he has too much potential to give up on at this point, especially considering we were the ones that when through all the growing pains.

[Peoriabird]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

In other words, he is right where he was projected to be with his development!

---

What "development" do you speak of? His PER went DOWN from year 1 to year 2, that's not development at all.

---

The thread is about who is overrated and obviously you don't overrate Marvin Williams

[AtLaS]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

In other words, he is right where he was projected to be with his development!

---

What "development" do you speak of? His PER went DOWN from year 1 to year 2, that's not development at all.

---

The thread is about who is overrated and obviously you don't overrate Marvin Williams

---

My post had nothing to do with that. You said "Marvin is right where he was projected to be with his development." I'm saying that he hasn't "developed" because his PER got worse from year 1 to year 2. So exactly how did Marvin develop (as you say) ?