Josh Smith poll

[exodus]

At the behest of my good buddy Troy...

[mrhonline]

Anyone voting he's better at the 3 should be required to provide statistical proof, methinks.

[exodus]

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Anyone voting he's better at the 3 should be required to provide statistical proof, methinks.

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You dont need proof to have an opinion. I just want to see how the majority feels.

[mrhonline]

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I just want to see how the majority feels.

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I don't think there's any question what the majority feels, but there is a rather vocal minority that never bothers to support their ramblings.

[exodus]

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I just want to see how the majority feels.

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I don't think there's any question what the majority feels, but there is a rather vocal minority that never bothers to support their ramblings.

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I want to see all these people that allegedly think Smith is a "pure" 4. According to Troy they are in abundance but so far they are silent.

[atlien]

He is neither a pure 3 nor a pure 4, but in this day-and-age of NBA ball, is better at the 4.

[TroyMcClure]

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I just want to see how the majority feels.

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I don't think there's any question what the majority feels, but there is a rather vocal minority that never bothers to support their ramblings.

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I want to see all these people that allegedly think Smith is a "pure" 4. According to Troy they are in abundance but so far they are silent.

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I'll leave the dredging of quotes to Diesel. I know they are there.

So, how much time at the 3 should Smoove play? Keep in mind, he stands on the wing much of the time as a 4.

He will develop and let's face it... he really like to shoot the 3. That's not a bad thing. He has hit some big ones. In fact, he has more range than Marvin. It sets up his dribble drive and his passing. He likes to operate from the wing. Why stiffle that?

[exodus]

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He will develop and let's face it... he really like to shoot the 3. That's not a bad thing. He has hit some big ones.

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I don't have a problem with him shooting 3s as long as it is in moderation. If he takes 1.5-2 per game that is fine but i think shot selection is the key for him.

If he takes a wide open 3 late in the clock that is fine by me. If he takes a rushed 3 early in the clock obviously that is bad.

He certainly does seem to make them more often in the 4th quarter.

And when he has a good shooting game from the perimeter i don't want to see him come out the next game and take 7 threes in the first half.

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So, how much time at the 3 should Smoove play?

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It depends on a lot of things; matchups, injuries ....etc. He is going to spend some time there no doubt.

[exodus]

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It's ridiculous that people think he is a straight 4.

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You know you've got it coming...

[Packfill]

I think it is hard to say where he best fits. He is a classic tweener like Shawn Marion in that he could likely do well at either position.

[roezag]

I believe it depends on the style of play. I think he is great at getting out and running the floor and doesn't have a great post game, which to me means he is a 3 in the traditional format. However, if we go with a more up-tempo style he's great at the 4 because we wouldn't get into a whole lot of half court situations where he would have to have a back to the basket game. It all depends on the style the team wants to play in my opinion. When Villanova was running 4 guards a few years ago, I think Allen Ray was the biggest of them, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily a 4.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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I just want to see how the majority feels.

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I don't think there's any question what the majority feels, but there is a rather vocal minority that never bothers to support their ramblings.

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I want to see all these people that allegedly think Smith is a "pure" 4. According to Troy they are in abundance but so far they are silent.

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I'll leave the dredging of quotes to Diesel. I know they are there.

So, how much time at the 3 should Smoove play? Keep in mind, he stands on the wing much of the time as a 4.

He will develop and let's face it... he really like to shoot the 3. That's not a bad thing. He has hit some big ones. In fact, he has more range than Marvin. It sets up his dribble drive and his passing. He likes to operate from the wing. Why stiffle that?

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Smooved worked from mainly the high post, when he played the 4 last year. A lot of his shots came from the left and right elbow area on the court ( the area just to the sides of the FT line and the top of the key )

Smoove should only play the 3, if Marvin AND Childress are struggling on a given night. Otherwise, he should play the "athletic 4" that can beat his man up and down the court.

When Smoove plays the 4, he is a MUCH MORE aggressive ballplayer on BOTH ends of the floor. At the 3, he makes a lot of stupid mistakes because he tries to do too much, or do things he has no busines doing.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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I just want to see how the majority feels.

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I don't think there's any question what the majority feels, but there is a rather vocal minority that never bothers to support their ramblings.

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I want to see all these people that allegedly think Smith is a "pure" 4. According to Troy they are in abundance but so far they are silent.

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I'll leave the dredging of quotes to Diesel. I know they are there.

So, how much time at the 3 should Smoove play? Keep in mind, he stands on the wing much of the time as a 4.

He will develop and let's face it... he really like to shoot the 3. That's not a bad thing. He has hit some big ones. In fact, he has more range than Marvin. It sets up his dribble drive and his passing. He likes to operate from the wing. Why stiffle that?

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Smooved worked from mainly the high post, when he played the 4 last year. A lot of his shots came from the left and right elbow area on the court ( the area just to the sides of the FT line and the top of the key )

Smoove should only play the 3, if Marvin AND Childress are struggling on a given night. Otherwise, he should play the "athletic 4" that can beat his man up and down the court.

When Smoove plays the 4, he is a MUCH MORE aggressive ballplayer on BOTH ends of the floor. At the 3, he makes a lot of stupid mistakes because he tries to do too much, or do things he has no busines doing.

[Diesel]

The problem and solution Northcyde.. is this..

You can allow Smoove to play the exact same game he plays right now, call him a 3... then bring in a 4 who can play in the low post.

When Smoove is playing 4... you have 4 guys playing outside the paint and one guy playing inside.

Most basketball people know that winning teams have 2 paint players.

Like I have said... IN Actuality, Smoove doesn't play a 4's game. You can shade it by saying let's play uptempo... Sure... at that point, no positions really matter except PG... Every wing is a scorer uptempo. However, that doesn't make him a 4. The problem with that is that the playoffs prove that you must have some semblance of a halfcourt game.

[mrhonline]

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I think it is hard to say where he best fits. He is a classic tweener like Shawn Marion in that he could likely do well at either position.

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That's not a tweener, if you ask me. That's a forward.

A tweener is someone who can't guard any position effectively.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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The problem and solution Northcyde.. is this..

You can allow Smoove to play the exact same game he plays right now, call him a 3... then bring in a 4 who can play in the low post.

When Smoove is playing 4... you have 4 guys playing outside the paint and one guy playing inside.

Most basketball people know that winning teams have 2 paint players.

Like I have said... IN Actuality, Smoove doesn't play a 4's game. You can shade it by saying let's play uptempo... Sure... at that point, no positions really matter except PG... Every wing is a scorer uptempo. However, that doesn't make him a 4. The problem with that is that the playoffs prove that you must have some semblance of a halfcourt game.

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I don't disagree with the fact that most good to great teams, have multiple players who can score in the post. But in this day and age, it's more about getting points in the paint, regardless of who it comes from.

When you look at San Antonio, they only have 1 legit post player. But they also have 2 guys in Parker and Ginoboli that absolutely live in the paint. As long as you can get points in the paint, that's just as good as low post scoring. Either way, a high percentage of shots are going to go in.

And when you score as efficiently as they do in the paint, you also have shooters out by the 3-point line, who are WIDE OPEN, because the opposing team is trying to shut down the points in the paint.

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Smoove scored a total 612 points from baskets at point blank range. That averages out to 8.5 ppg from that range.

If you go from the time he returned from hernia surgery in January, till the end of the season ( 47 games ), he scored a total of 442 points from around the basket, for a 9.4 ppg average.

If you take the last 18 games ( the games in which JJ were out ), in which he scored a total of 208, he averaged a 11.5 ppg from point blank range. That's 11.5 ppg, not counting the increased number of FT attempts he got, because he went to the hole and got fouled.

That means in the games prior to his hernia surgery, he scored a total of 170 points close to the basket in those 25 games in November and December. That's an average of 6.8 ppg from point blank range.

The numbers are pretty self-explanatory.

At the 4, he has a chance to be a legit 2nd option in an offense, strictly off of his ability to take bigger forwards and centers off the dribble. In fact, if he DOES develop a decent

At the 3, he'll become a standstill jumpshooter that teams will DARE him to shoot the ball.

He's not in attack mode when he plays the 3. He's definitely in attack mode at the 4.

Take him away from the 4, and he's not at the rim getting offensive rebounds and easy put-backs. And he's not as active around the rim on defense.

On this team, I think everybody is expecting Horford to be the inside scorer on the blocks, and in the high post if need be. But if Josh is still at the 4, he at least becomes a viable offensive threat for us, that may just shot 47 - 48% this year . . IF . . he's still attacking the rim on offense.

Diesel, it's like this.

The vast majority of Hawksquawk wouldn't mind seeing Smoove become a more athletic version of Shawn Kemp.

You and the others who clamor to play Smoove at the 3, want to see him become a more athletic version of Lamar Odom.

Sorry, but give me Kemp.

[Packfill]

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I think it is hard to say where he best fits. He is a classic tweener like Shawn Marion in that he could likely do well at either position.

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That's not a tweener, if you ask me. That's a forward.

A tweener is someone who can't guard any position effectively.

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Well, shotblocking aside, Smoove's defensive abilities at either forward position are still questionable (although the same is true of all the Hawks players with the possible exception of JJ).

[AtLaS]

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Most basketball people know that winning teams have 2 paint players.

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Dallas, Phoenix, Toronto, and Utah contradict this belief.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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Most basketball people know that winning teams have 2 paint players.

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Dallas, Phoenix, Toronto, and Utah contradict this belief.

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You can go further than that Atlas.

Chicago, San Antonio, New Jersey, Golden St, Washington, Cleveland, LA Lakers, etc.

The key is getting points IN the paint, regardless of who is scoring there. This era of the NBA is definitely not an era in which you're going to have multiple post players just flat out killing you. It's more like one decent post player, regardless of size, along with slashers getting into the lane and scoring.

[T21]

Smoove is just a forward! Obviously he can play both, but eventually it comes down to the team and the style of basketball... If a team plays half-court game, he is probably better suited at SF, because he would be exposed guarding bigger post players and would quickly run into foul trouble, also his true assets would be limited... However, if we're talking about a running game, Smoove can play PF, where he can take advantage of his athleticism and speed on both ends...