What's wrong with Josh Smith? - -

[Gray Mule]

:beathorse:

This just isn't Josh Smith. Someone is trying to pass off a clone of our J Smoove.

Solomon Jones, when he has a good game, puts up as good or better numbers

than Josh did last night. This is crazy. This shouldn't be. There is a problem.

I don't know what it is, but it's there.

Perhaps it's the layoff. His timing is not there. He may be a mite slow and the

sprain may be holding him back. He can't hit his shots consistently. He can't or

won't work inside - Not like he should be doing.

Look what he did last night:

24 minutes

3 rebounds - 1 on offense and 2 on defense.

2 assists

hit one of five shots

2-2 from the free throw line. (If you're not inside, you don't get fouled, usually)

1 steal

1 foul

2 blocks

Where is our J Smoove? What have they done with him? We want him back!

To me, he looks lost on the floor - In a daze. Is he on some sort of medication?

:no-no:

[HawkItus]

actually it is. Josh has always been a square peg on this roster. And that was okay in the past because we had so many open slots in our disjointed roster, it didn't matter how he fit. Now that the roster has been rounded out more and we have a round hole for him to fit in, it just doesn't work as well.

[macdaddy]

I didn't see the Spurs game but against Dallas he just looked lost. I don't know why all of our plays have our PF out at the 3 point line anyway. Josh needs to get back to playing inside and tracking down every rebound he can.

[DrReality]

Smith struggling in return to Hawks’ lineup

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, December 11, 2008

It was a late-game turnover that stained an otherwise solid effort from Hawks power forward Josh Smith in a loss at Dallas Saturday.

It was three straight missed shots and a horribly timed turnover that sparked a Houston comeback Tuesday, another deflating loss.

Smith never got a chance to make or break the Hawks’ fortunes late in a loss to San Antonio Wednesday. He was on the bench, watching teammates storm back from an early deficit only to fall short again in a bid to win in Texas.

Smith’s absence during crunch time was no surprise. He struggled throughout the game, with only flashes of his game-changing abilities interrupting an otherwise lifeless 24 minutes of action.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson said afterward that he was only “sticking with the lineup” that helped the Hawks get back into the game.

But it was clear he was trying to send Smith a message, something akin to ‘Enough is enough.’ It’s a message the Hawks need Smith to process quickly with a fourth straight road test Friday in Miami.

“Josh is five years in the league now, man,” Woodson said after Smith’s 5-for-19 shooting effort in the loss to the Rockets. “And it comes down to time, score and situation. That’s the bottom line. We’re not telling him he can’t shoot 3-pointers but if you miss four or five jump shots, something has to go off in his head that says, ‘I have to do something else.’ “

It didn’t happen Wednesday.

Smith barely left a footprint against the Spurs, managing just four points (on 1-for-5 shooting), three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in his limited time on the floor.

Marvin Williams turned in a similar performance (four points on 1-for-6 shooting and four rebounds in 30 minutes) against the Spurs, but was back on the floor for the final two minutes of the game.

“We can’t win when those guys don’t play well,” Hawks captain Joe Johnson said. “We put ourselves in a terrible situation when that happens.”

Smith’s ineffectiveness was even more pronounced because of the context of the two prior games.

“In order for us to win Josh has to be more of a complete player,” Woodson said. “That’s no knock. That’s just reality. Now a lot of that is I don’t think he’s in great shape yet and he’s still trying to play on the fly from his injury. So I’ve got to get him back in shape and I’ve got to get him back to playing sound basketball, solid basketball, for a full 48 minutes.”

Smith knows it’s true.

The Hawks started the season 4-0 with him in the lineup and making his presence felt all over the floor and as the tone-setter for their suffocating defense. But when he went down with a high ankle sprain the Hawks went 6-6 with him out of the lineup.

“Obviously I want to be out there on the court doing everything I can to help my team,” said Smith, who admitted that his aggression and desire to help his team sometimes gets the best of him. “I just have to stay with whatever the defense gives me and stay confident in myself and I’ll be fine.

“And after being out with an injury it does take some time to get your timing back and to get to the point where you’re doing things to be effective. But overall, it’s important for me to lock in and really study my own performance and be my own toughest critic so I don’t continue to repeat the same mistakes. That’s definitely on me.”

Edited December 11, 2008 by DrReality

[TruJerz]

Smith struggling in return to Hawks’ lineup

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, December 11, 2008

It was a late-game turnover that stained an otherwise solid effort from Hawks power forward Josh Smith in a loss at Dallas Saturday.

It was three straight missed shots and a horribly timed turnover that sparked a Houston comeback Tuesday, another deflating loss.

Smith never got a chance to make or break the Hawks’ fortunes late in a loss to San Antonio Wednesday. He was on the bench, watching teammates storm back from an early deficit only to fall short again in a bid to win in Texas.

Smith’s absence during crunch time was no surprise. He struggled throughout the game, with only flashes of his game-changing abilities interrupting an otherwise lifeless 24 minutes of action.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson said afterward that he was only “sticking with the lineup” that helped the Hawks get back into the game.

But it was clear he was trying to send Smith a message, something akin to ‘Enough is enough.’ It’s a message the Hawks need Smith to process quickly with a fourth straight road test Friday in Miami.

“Josh is five years in the league now, man,” Woodson said after Smith’s 5-for-19 shooting effort in the loss to the Rockets. “And it comes down to time, score and situation. That’s the bottom line. We’re not telling him he can’t shoot 3-pointers but if you miss four or five jump shots, something has to go off in his head that says, ‘I have to do something else.’ “

It didn’t happen Wednesday.

Smith barely left a footprint against the Spurs, managing just four points (on 1-for-5 shooting), three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in his limited time on the floor.

Marvin Williams turned in a similar performance (four points on 1-for-6 shooting and four rebounds in 30 minutes) against the Spurs, but was back on the floor for the final two minutes of the game.

“We can’t win when those guys don’t play well,” Hawks captain Joe Johnson said. “We put ourselves in a terrible situation when that happens.”

Smith’s ineffectiveness was even more pronounced because of the context of the two prior games.

“In order for us to win Josh has to be more of a complete player,” Woodson said. “That’s no knock. That’s just reality. Now a lot of that is I don’t think he’s in great shape yet and he’s still trying to play on the fly from his injury. So I’ve got to get him back in shape and I’ve got to get him back to playing sound basketball, solid basketball, for a full 48 minutes.”

Smith knows it’s true.

The Hawks started the season 4-0 with him in the lineup and making his presence felt all over the floor and as the tone-setter for their suffocating defense. But when he went down with a high ankle sprain the Hawks went 6-6 with him out of the lineup.

“Obviously I want to be out there on the court doing everything I can to help my team,” said Smith, who admitted that his aggression and desire to help his team sometimes gets the best of him. “I just have to stay with whatever the defense gives me and stay confident in myself and I’ll be fine.

“And after being out with an injury it does take some time to get your timing back and to get to the point where you’re doing things to be effective. But overall, it’s important for me to lock in and really study my own performance and be my own toughest critic so I don’t continue to repeat the same mistakes. That’s definitely on me.”

Josh Smith will be fine. i think he fits in well, and eventually he will get it. winning cures almost all things so if Hawks get back on winning streak and knock off a good team like the Cavs or Celtics coming up, everything will seem good again.

We could of won all 3 of the Texas games. I wish we could of at LEAST win 1! but at least we were in them tho..shows we are a better team than last year..but we still arent there yet.

12-9 aint bad at all..still in 4th place but we could and should be better than that. I expect guys to come out and play well against Miami. And Im confident we will take our frustration out on them and get a much needed win

[AtLaS]

Josh will be fine. He starts slow every year, but this year he actually started well. The fact that he missed 12 straight games due to injury is the problem, he'll be fine like he always is.

[GameTime]

“Josh is five years in the league now, man,” Woodson said after Smith’s 5-for-19 shooting effort in the loss to the Rockets. “And it comes down to time, score and situation. That’s the bottom line. We’re not telling him he can’t shoot 3-pointers but if you miss four or five jump shots, something has to go off in his head that says, ‘I have to do something else."

That is the problem.

[AtLaS]

“Josh is five years in the league now, man,” Woodson said after Smith’s 5-for-19 shooting effort in the loss to the Rockets. “And it comes down to time, score and situation. That’s the bottom line. We’re not telling him he can’t shoot 3-pointers but if you miss four or five jump shots, something has to go off in his head that says, ‘I have to do something else."

That is the problem.

Yes it is. Probably the best part of my game is shooting, but even when my shot is off I always feel like the next one is going in so I'll usually keep shooting. But it doesn't matter. Until someone puts a leash on him he's going to keep it up.

Edited December 11, 2008 by AtLaS

[HalfHawk]

It's a couple off nights...

Happens to the best of em'

[exodus]

We’re not telling him he can’t shoot 3-pointers

WOODY NO GOODY!!!!!

[Kimsey]

Everyone has been struggling this week. When Mo, marv, flip, bibby, and joe were hitting those 3s regularly, we were a hard team to beat. But now, they are coming back to normal, the holes are more clearer.

Those 5 except for joe have not been consistent 3 point shooters in the past several years.

[Frenzy]

It's a couple off nights...

Happens to the best of em'

lol

[crimedog]

Could be a lot of things. He's had two bad games in a row, one of them he was taking terrible shots and the second he was just all around bad.

Last season Joe went through a pretty bad shooting slump - had a few 4-16 games, 3-17, 5-20... stuff like that. The biggest problem, in my mind at least, was that Woody & Co. didn't really try to do anything new with our offense. Instead of saying, "hey, this isn't working because Joe is off, lets try and find a way to get him some more open looks and give some other guys a shot to create" they figured they'd just continue to force it to Joe on the wing.

Seems to be the same with Josh. He obviously doesn't work as well when he's catching it at the 3 point line. We saw him take KG off the dribble from the high post on the big stage and be very successful at drawing fouls or getting to the rack, but we haven't done that once this season. Seems like Smith a) isn't hitting shots or b) is taking shots he shouldn't take but the coaching staff is just saying "well, we'll just hope that shot starts falling or he figures out what to do when he catches the ball at the three point line when his defender is sagging 8 feet just looking to draw a charge."

Don't get me wrong, Josh has seemed a little bit off since he's come back even though he's been alright in a couple of the games. His shooting decisions have been pretty terrible in the past two games too. I think its a combo of both Josh not feeling like he usually does and the team falling back into its comfort zone of mailing in games and forcing Joe to iso every trip down.

[Peoriabird]

WOODY NO GOODY!!!!!

I wonder if you have to tell Shaq not to shoot threes? What about Tyson Chandler? Stoudamire? Gasol? Duncan? Garnett? Bosh? Haslem? Sean May? Ben Wallace? Joakin Noah? Luis Scola? David West? Kenyon Martin? Lamarcus Aldridge? Carlos Buzer?

I'll be willing to bet that none of the above power forwards attempt more than one 3 point shot per contest with most in the single digits for the season. Josh Smith averages 2.5 per game shooting 27% and all you all can do is blame Woodson. When is the big cover up going to end?

Edited December 12, 2008 by Peoriabird

[macdaddy]

I wonder if you have to tell Shaq not to shoot threes? What about Tyson Chandler? Stoudamire? Gasol? Duncan? Garnett? Bosh? Haslem? Sean May? Ben Wallace? Joakin Noah? Luis Scola? David West? Kenyon Martin? Lamarcus Aldridge? Carlos Buzer?

I'll be willing to bet that none of the above power forwards attempt more than one 3 point shot per contest with most in the single digits for the season. Josh Smith averages 2.5 per game shooting 27% and all you all can do is blame Woodson. When is the big cover up going to end?

So you don't think its the coaches job to tell the players when they are doing something wrong?

[Peoriabird]

So you don't think its the coaches job to tell the players when they are doing something wrong?

I think josh Smith has been told on numerous occasions and even benched over his 5 year career for shooting threes but he keeps shooting them. At some point, it falls on the player. Everybody wants to jump on Marvin because he is a coach's player and does what he is told as oppose to being more aggressive and selfish. Conversely, everyone always comes to rescue Josh Smith from criticism by shifting the blame to Woodson's lack of coaching. The truth is that Josh Smith has been told to stop all of his bad habits and I think that Sund was sending a message to him this summer that he is not all of that. But since Josh is a fan favorite, everyone has to give in and work around Josh Smith's faults.

[exodus]

I think josh Smith has been told on numerous occasions and even benched over his 5 year career for shooting threes but he keeps shooting them.

Maybe you should try reading Woody's quote again. Obviously you didn't understand it the first time.

[Peoriabird]

Maybe you should try reading Woody's quote again. Obviously you didn't understand it the first time.

His statement to josh was o.k., I'll cut you some slack with your game but son try to use better judgment. When Woodson came down hard on Josh this summer, all of the fan were up in arms and all of the sports writers were blowing it up as a Woodson-Smith feud. They were sure that Smith would not resign with the Hawks because of Woodson even after Smith's father refuted the reports. So of course Woodson is not going to be overly critical of josh in the media. It would be suicidal to do so even if he is dead right!

[exodus]

His statement to josh was o.k., I'll cut you some slack with your game but son try to use better judgment. When Woodson came down hard on Josh this summer, all of the fan were up in arms and all of the sports writers were blowing it up as a Woodson-Smith feud.

WTF are you talking about? They weren't playing any games in the summer. Woody wasn't coming down on Smith at all during the summer.

Woody just flat out admitted that he isn't telling Smith to stop shooting 3s. It couldn't be any more plain that is just wrong.

We already know that Smith's judgement can't be trusted so if Woody isn't going to put his foot down Smith will keep jacking them up.

So of course Woodson is not going to be overly critical of josh in the media. It would be suicidal to do so even if he is dead right!

Suicidal? BK tried to fire Woody more than once. Woody is still here and BK is gone. I don't think Woody has much to worry about in terms of job security.

[JackB1]

WTF are you talking about? They weren't playing any games in the summer. Woody wasn't coming down on Smith at all during the summer.

Woody just flat out admitted that he isn't telling Smith to stop shooting 3s. It couldn't be any more plain that is just wrong.

We already know that Smith's judgement can't be trusted so if Woody isn't going to put his foot down Smith will keep jacking them up.

Suicidal? BK tried to fire Woody more than once. Woody is still here and BK is gone. I don't think Woody has much to worry about in terms of job security.

The bottom line is Smith hasn't shown the ability to "coach himself" and make good decisions, so the coach HAS TO DO IT! Wake up Woody!!!! How much longer is he going to let Josh's ability sit in his pocket? I bet there are lots of coaches who are drooling at the thought of having a talent like Smoove to groom and mentor. Woody gives Josh way too long a leash. You have to treat him like a kid, because he basically is one....mentally, not age-wise.