JSmoove May Be the Most Underrated Player in NBA

[clrumph]

Hey I didn't make this up, take a look at this article on ESPN (scroll down toward the bottom half of the page and read the caption under Josh Smith's picture)

Link to ESPN Article

Here's a quote from that article:

Who You Know to Watch: LeBron James

Who You Need to Watch: Josh Smith, Hawks F.

Shawn Marion, one of many NBAers who named Smith as the league's best athlete, calls him "a freak."

Smith's credentials: In 2005, Smith became the second-youngest player to win the slam-dunk contest. In four NBA seasons, the 6'9'', 235-pound forward has averaged 13.6 ppg and 7.4 rpg.

I don't know if he's the most underrated player but he's definitely getting a lot of love from his NBA peers.

[clrumph]

Quote:

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Hey I didn't make this up, take a look at this article on ESPN (scroll down toward the bottom half of the page and read the caption under Josh Smith's picture)

Link to ESPN Article

Here's a quote from that article:

Who You Know to Watch: LeBron James

Who You Need to Watch: Josh Smith, Hawks F.

Shawn Marion, one of many NBAers who named Smith as the league's best athlete, calls him "a freak."

Smith's credentials: In 2005, Smith became the second-youngest player to win the slam-dunk contest. In four NBA seasons, the 6'9'', 235-pound forward has averaged 13.6 ppg and 7.4 rpg.

I don't know if he's the most underrated player but he's definitely getting a lot of love from his NBA peers.

Ooops...here's the correct link to the ESPN article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3424124

[Supporter]

LOL just another reason to keep him

[Admin]

It's nice to hear that said about him. It's frustrating at the same time though because you can see he has the potential to be among the very best in the league if he would just stick to what he is best at.

[EazyRoc]

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It's nice to hear that said about him. It's frustrating at the same time though because you can see he has the potential to be among the very best in the league if he would just stick to what he is best at.

Easily. it's a shame. Perhaps he'll have an epiphany this summer.

[mattlanta]

Josh Smith isn't what one would consider underrated nowadays. He's definitely shown off what he can do now and in the future in the playoffs, but like Dolfan said, Josh Smith still has those flaws in his game where they would simply go away if he just sticks to what he's good at.

[Supporter]

With talent comes responsibility- that needs to be Josh Smith's moto

[Swish]

I coulda told ya that! He will turn out to be better than JJ. Just reel in that 3 pointer. Heck he averaged 17/8/3/3/1 this year. Next year I see 19/10. I challenge someone to find me five players that have those stats. Especially at 22.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

I don't think you can find 5 players in the history of the NBA that average 17pt 8reb 3.4ass 2.8blk 1.5stls let alone in this past season.

[EazyRoc]

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I don't think you can find 5 players in the history of the NBA that average 17pt 8reb 3.4ass 2.8blk 1.5stls let alone in this past season.

Kevin Garnett and Andrei Kirilenko are the only ones who came close. That's pretty good company right there..

[Guest]

You can only mention 3 players that match that criteria with Smoove. Kareem, Hakeem, and the Admiral all had those stats, except better.

Edit:took away the link, it made the whole post too wide. If you want, go to basketball-reference.com then "Full Court" then "Player Season Finder" and you can put in your criteria to find out who else performed like Smoove last year.

The problem is, you are putting such a narrow criteria that are specifically tailored to the way Smoove plays, so it overvalues what he has done. If you drop steals or assists as criteria, then a whole bunch of dominating centers show up. If you drop blocks then a whole bunch of SFs and PFs come into the mix. But with all of these criteria, really really great players show up.

[bronnt]

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I coulda told ya that! He will turn out to be better than JJ. Just reel in that 3 pointer. Heck he averaged 17/8/3/3/1 this year. Next year I see 19/10. I challenge someone to find me five players that have those stats. Especially at 22.

Agreed. I think if he could temper his decision making and his shot selection, HE could be the centerpiece of the team as soon as next year (assuming he stays) instead of JJ. He has the physical tools and basketball skills to be great right now, they're just diluted because he spends a lot of time trying to do things which aren't his strengths-like taking jumpshots 47% of the time when he makes well under 30% of his attempts. But that's been pointed out plenty. As has the fact that he doesn't always play with 100% effort. I think he's close to having a 20/10 season if he keeps his head in the game, blocks out consistently, and turns down some of those jumpers for driving layups.

There's one thing I'm curious about. I wonder about the actual size of his hands. I've read a couple of blogs that have pointed this out-Josh Smith can't consistently palm the basketball. He can at times, but he misses a lot and ends up scooping it sometimes on his dunks-I'm sure plenty of you have seen this. One thing that can affect a guy's game are the size of his hands, and I think Smith has slightly undersized hands. I thought of this because of the draft measurements, and that's one thing that they don't measure. I'd be curious to compare the size of his hands with like Marin or Solo, who have obviously longer fingers.

Damn, though, it would be so nice if Josh Smith does come back and plays better basketball next season. A good dedicated offseason, spent training, working on his ball handling, and watching tape of himself (to see how bad his decisions are). Imagine a full season of this:

Mike Bibby: 14 points, 6.5 assists, 2.0 turnovers, 1.0 steal, 38% from 3.

Joe Johnson: 22 points, 5 assists, 4 boards, 2.0 turnovers, 1.0 steals, 38% from 3.

Marvin Williams: 14 points, 5 boards, 2 turnovers, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals, 46% shooting.

Josh Smith: 19 points, 9 boards, 3.5 assists, 2.8 turnovers, 1.5 steals, 3.0 blocks, 48% shooting.

Al Horford: 12 points, 10 boards, 1.5 assists, 1.0 turnovers, 1.0 blocks, 52% shooting.

Aside from Josh Smith, I made some pretty conservative predictions. Doesn't that look like a line-up any team could be happy with, at least on paper? Just get some contributions from Childress and Acie, and a bit more from Zaza than we saw last year, and it's a 43-46 win team, easily.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Smith is the Michael Vick of the NBA. He has all of the phyiscal tools to be great, but he has at least one major fundamental flaw in his game that will keep him from being great.

I don't ever see Smith being a go-to scorer or a guy who will ever average more than 21 ppg in a season. Being a high volume go-to type scorer isn't in his future.

What I can see him becoming, is a hybrid of a Shawn Marion / Lamar Odom / Scottie Pippen combination type player. A player in his prime that could average 19 ppg - 11 rebs - 6 assts - 3.5 blks - and 2 stls.

It's his playmaking ability that I can see really improving on offense . . IF . . he starts looking to pass more when out on the perimeter, instead of taking the long jumper.

And if he gets the courage to really start battling inside to get rebounds, especially offensive ones, his rebounding numbers will be Marion-like.

The key for him, just like it was for Vick, is CONSISTENCY. If he can consistently perform at that level every night, that wil be the key for him.

Like Vick, too many times he looked like an NBA All-Star one night, and a rec center player the next.

[Swish]

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You can only mention 3 players that match that criteria with Smoove

Exactly-no one does as much as well as Smoove. I don't think assists, blocks, points, boards, and steals is a narrow criteria; the point is no one can come close to matching this productivity.

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But with all of these criteria, really really great players show up.

Duh! Thats the point. Thank you.

Edit-

On Basketball-Reference, top results show MJ, the Mailman, Kareem, The Admiral, Shaq, Hakeem, etc. Ridiculous.

[exodus]

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It's nice to hear that said about him. It's frustrating at the same time though because you can see he has the potential to be among the very best in the league if he

would just stick to what he is best at.

Smith wants to do everything well which is a nice goal to have but it leads him to do things that just aren't in his wheelhouse. Hopefully experience or a real coach will get him to improve his thought process on the court.

[JackB1]

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It's nice to hear that said about him. It's frustrating at the same time though because you can see he has the potential to be among the very best in the league if he

would just stick to what he is best at.

Smith wants to do everything well which is a nice goal to have but it leads him to do things that just aren't in his wheelhouse. Hopefully experience or a real coach will get him to improve his thought process on the court.

Imagine if he ever learns how to dribble and hit the 3 pointer???!!!!

[Cwell]

he can dribble ALOT better than y'all give him credit for and I still for the love of gad can't seem to figure out why y'all always say he can't dribble.He dribbles better than Marvin.I mean damn does he have to dribble like hot sauce and rafer alston before ya''ll stop saying he can't dribble?

[exodus]

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It's nice to hear that said about him. It's frustrating at the same time though because you can see he has the potential to be among the very best in the league if he

would just stick to what he is best at.

Smith wants to do everything well which is a nice goal to have but it leads him to do things that just aren't in his wheelhouse. Hopefully experience or a real coach will get him to improve his thought process on the court.

Imagine if he ever learns how to dribble and hit the 3 pointer???!!!!

Just imagine if you find $1,000,000 on the sidewalk. That would be great but it is pretty unlikely.

I have no hope at all of Smith becoming a competent 3 point shooter. The reality is that he would have to shoot them better than JJ to justify spending so much time away from the basket where he is most effective.

[JackB1]

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he can dribble ALOT better than y'all give him credit for and I still for the love of gad can't seem to figure out why y'all always say he can't dribble.He dribbles better than Marvin.I mean damn does he have to dribble like hot sauce and rafer alston before ya''ll stop saying he can't dribble?

Whenever he is driving and dribbling, he always bounces the ball WAY too high and never seems totally in control. He will ALWAYS do a high crossover and never has the ability to fake one way and go the other. Smoove just doesn't have a high basketball IQ and doesn't play to his strengths most of the time. 50% of the time when he tries a dribble/drive move, he loses the handle.

[RMJ]

Josh Smith = great athlete with low bball IQ and average skills at best. He can't shoot, he can't dribble(which wouldn't be a problem if he played in the post, has poor shot selection and tries to be a playmaker when he's not. Yes, he's a great shot blocker but for every single great play he makes, there's a bonehead shot or bad pass. He'll never be better than JJ or Horford. His whole game relies solely on athleticism because he has no skills.