Remember when Smoove couldn't make a layup?

[DJ_Money]

I think those days are gone.

If he didn't learn anything else last summer, he figured out how to finish at the rim without the dunk. It really, really shows.

(Nice win tonight. And PBF KO'd Hatton...so it was a good day all around.)

[oiatlhawksfan]

I rather see him dunk it!

[Atlantaholic]

Sometimes I wonder why he doesn't just go up and dunk the [censored] out of the ball... It looks like on many occasions he has that opportunity and instead opts for a weird looking double pump layup or flip shot... well... whatever. As long as they keep going in...

[chillzatl]

I'm happy with the way he's been playing, but lets not get crazy. The only difference between now and two weeks ago is that his shots are falling. Those layups are rolling in (despite many being bad shots), but many of the other complaints are still valid. He's still a me-first player, he's still looking for HIS shot and nobody elses. Even in last nights game there were several times where he'd push to the basket and throw up a shot with three guys on him when he had two men wide open on the perimeter and never even looked their way. That's the difference in making those shots and missing them. He misses them and we're dogging him, he makes them and everyone forgets what pissed them off about him in the first place.

When it comes to Josh, it's not about highlights for me. I want consistency and good team basketball. I know he can do all the other stuff.

[Cwell]

are u serious?all of the Hawks do that besides maybe Acie.All of them play selfish.U single out Smith?pathetic.Nobody kicks the ball out to open shooters.All of them turn into triple teams under the basket and refuse to give the ball up to open guys.

[pound4pound]

BOOOOOOO

We can't have it both ways on this board - we trash Woody for having no offensive identity and then trash Smoove for overcoming that with individual effort.

Josh is a team player as evident by his weak-side blocking, rebounding, steals, and assists. He, as do the rest of the team, have no scheme, short of running Joe off of a Horford pick for putting points on the board. He leads this team with effort, steals, athleticism, and creativity despite rarely having his number called. He is the only person collecting a paycheck from the Atlanta Spirit group who has called Woody out for his BULLSH!T play selection and should be applauded for it.

I see the mistakes he makes like everyone else, but rarely are they becuase he is trying to drive up his stats. They are effort mistakes - like pushing the ball down court off of a rebound and trying for a quick 2. WHich everyone in Atlanta (outside of Woody) KNOWS that we should be doing becuase of our depth, youth, and atheleticism. Those examples of Smith taking it to the hole with two people open are lame. The only open looks Joe gets are when Josh takes a fast break on his own, collects defenders, and kicks out to the wing.

BOOOOOOOO

[Murat]

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I'm happy with the way he's been playing, but lets not get crazy. The only difference between now and two weeks ago is that his shots are falling. Those layups are rolling in (despite many being bad shots), but many of the other complaints are still valid. He's still a me-first player, he's still looking for HIS shot and nobody elses. Even in last nights game there were several times where he'd push to the basket and throw up a shot with three guys on him when he had two men wide open on the perimeter and never even looked their way. That's the difference in making those shots and missing them. He misses them and we're dogging him, he makes them and everyone forgets what pissed them off about him in the first place.

When it comes to Josh, it's not about highlights for me. I want consistency and good team basketball. I know he can do all the other stuff.

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I agree Chillz, last night he was forcing things but lucky for him they were falling in. One time he went 1 on 3 and he made the layup, but Steve Smith said he doesn't like that from Josh even if he made it. I can bet that he will have a bad shooting night against Orlando because this game made his confidence too high.

[chillzatl]

Sorry, but that's just not the case. weak side blocks, rebounds, steals and even assists aren't signs that you're a team player. Being a team player is giving the ball back to a man who has a better matchup or position, Josh doesn't do that often. Being a team player is staying in a mans face on D and not letting him get by you just so you can have a shot at the block instead.

Joe passes the ball, Marvin passes the ball, Childress passes, AJ passes, Horford passes...Salim pa.. well...not Salim, but you can usually depend on everyone on our team to make the extra pass, but more often than not when Josh touches it, the rotation ends there.

He's been playing better lately, which is to say his shots are falling more consistently, but he's still doing the same things that drove most of us crazy before. Just because some of those bad shots are falling doesn't excuse the flaws behind them.

[exodus]

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but he's still doing the same things that drove most of us crazy before.

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Not really. He hasn't taken a 3 pointer in 3 games and he is taking fewer long jumpers from just inside the line.

He has been trying to get all the way to the rim when he posts up and is having success with it. He is also staying under control more when he drives which allows him to adjust to the defense. When he drives hard out of control it is easy for the defense to anticipate his shot and challenge it.

My beef with him right now is that he isn't getting enough rebounds.

[SuperSavvyNation]

Wow. I've been quite critical of Smoove when he stinks it up. However, when you are the best athlete on the floor, taking it to the rim and getting layups is just what we want. His superior athleticism allows him to do just that (if not that, I guess you just want him to fill the lane on fast breaks?) and he needs to continue to drive hard and finish. We're talking layups here. He's not missing them nor should he.

zbo

[Dexmethylphenidate]

That's because he challenges everyone's shots often.

[chillzatl]

I'll give you that, he is taking less (actually almost none) 3's of late. I was shocked to check the box score of the last game and see himn 0-0 on 3's.

I'm not sure if I've noticed him being under control more on drives, he still gets in there and throws things up, they're just falling in more than not now. Overall his game is definitely more under control.

[exodus]

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That's because he challenges everyone's shots often.

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That isn't a big factor in rebounding. If it was then Camby wouldn't be averaging twice as many rebounds at Smith. Same for Howard.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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That's because he challenges everyone's shots often.

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That isn't a big factor in rebounding. If it was then Camby wouldn't be averaging twice as many rebounds at Smith. Same for Howard.

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So you want him to lead the league in both rebounding and blocks?

[exodus]

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That's because he challenges everyone's shots often.

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That isn't a big factor in rebounding. If it was then Camby wouldn't be averaging twice as many rebounds at Smith. Same for Howard.

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So you want him to lead the league in both rebounding and blocks?

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No i just don't want him to be leading the league in blocks while sucking on the boards. Currently Smith is 49th in the league in defensive rebounding ratio among power forwards (Horford is 3rd).

Funny that Smith is still 7th in PER among 4s even with his lack of rebounding and shooting struggles. The guys ahead of him are Garnett, Boozer, Duncan, Bosh, Dirk and Jefferson. Nice company.

[AtLaS]

His rebounding isn't that bad even though it could improve. I've seen him and teammates both have their hands on a rebound and Smith will just let them have it, I've seen that a bunch of times this year.. That's still good rebounding, it just doesn't show up in the boxscore.

[pound4pound]

We have no offensive system. Again, there is no effective offensive system.

To watch Joe dribble, get doubled, pass the ball to Shelden, or Horford and then he passes it back to Joe for a fade away, while the three other players watch, is not an offense.

The high / low works when the big man can shoot from the outside like Rasheed Wallace / Dirk or can take advantage of his match up problem when the guard is on him like Al Jefferson or KG. If your bigs can do niether then running that play is a recipe for losing. Horford is playing great but he is a mop-up guy right now, not someone to run an offense around.

One recipe for victory is to let your most athletic player create his own shot with a one on one or get the ball to the open man when the defense collapses. You will either get fouled (Marvin), a highlight dunk (Josh), or an open shot (Joe). Another is to run the hell out of the ball and allow your more athletic, and younger team take advantages of their strength.

We need Josh, Marvin, and Chills to be more aggresive, not less. Especially Josh becuase he has such an athletic advantage over the 4 he is playing night in and night out. Joe should be the benificiary of this - not the facilitator becuase he cannot take his man off the dribble like the other young guys.

[Atlantaholic]

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Not really. He hasn't taken a 3 pointer in 3 games and he is taking fewer long jumpers from just inside the line.

He has been trying to get all the way to the rim when he posts up and is having success with it. He is also staying under control more when he drives which allows him to adjust to the defense. When he drives hard out of control it is easy for the defense to anticipate his shot and challenge it.

My beef with him right now is that he isn't getting enough rebounds.

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Yeah, pretty much. Smith's drives has been by far our best source of offense in the last five games. Just because he wasn't making his layups early in the season doesn't mean that he shouldn't try to drive and make something happen. He is quicker than most anyone that guards him, so taking them off the dribble is what he SHOULD be doing... What he shouldn't be doing, and what he has stopped doing, is taking jumpers outside of his range and off rhythm.