What's wrong with Josh Smith? - -

[Peoriabird]

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.

I just want to make sure that I am clear on this. You don't think that Woodson has ever told Smith to stop shooting as many threes in game as he does now right? And also, you don't think that Woodson has ever talked to Smith about his careless turn-overs on the fast break right?

[crimedog]

We don't blame Joe because the only play we run is "iso Joe" which is stale and innefficient for the rest of the team. To some extent Woody has to take the blame for scripting the offense in a way that has Josh standing out there.

[exodus]

I just want to make sure that I am clear on this. You don't think that Woodson has ever told Smith to stop shooting as many threes in game as he does now right? And also, you don't think that Woodson has ever talked to Smith about his careless turn-overs on the fast break right?

I have no idea what Woody said in the past. That is just speculation.

What i do know is that Woody flat out said he isn't telling Smith to stop shooting 3s right now. He said he is leaving it up to Smith to decide whether or not to shoot 3s. That is just dumb because Smith has shown that his judgement can't be trusted.

I also know that a guys shooting 26.4% from 3 for his career and showing no signs of improvement has no business shooting 3s at all.

[Peoriabird]

We don't blame Joe because the only play we run is "iso Joe" which is stale and innefficient for the rest of the team. To some extent Woody has to take the blame for scripting the offense in a way that has Josh standing out there.

I'm not saying Woodson is blameless but you have to admit, for a while there Josh Smith was reluctant to shooting those threes and started driving the lane so someone must have said something to him.

[thecampster]

Now hold on one big darn minute. He is averaging 2.5 3 point attempts per game and shooting 27%. 27% of 7.5 (max possible points) is 2.025 points a game from 3's. If he was shooting 50% from the field on 2's, this would yield 2.5 points a game. now I've been listening to this Josh bashing for 3 days. 3 freaking days of you guys beating Josh up and down the stick. His taking 3's is making a statistical .5 points difference a game. We had the lead when he went out the other night and Woody benched him for the last 6 minutes. Th majority of the 20-2 run Dallas went on was while he was benched.

I gives a crap about a .5 point swing offensively when our coach for 2 straight games benches our best defender...our game changer during crunch time. We can't stop anyone defensively with him on the bench in the last 6 minutes.

Design your offensive sets better Woody so that the power forward isn't rotating out to the 3 point line to reset the guards. That's the SF's job in beginner basketball 101. Josh is not rotating out there and passing the ball to himself. It's a set that he's running as a part of the designed offensive scheme. That is why he is "receiving" the ball at the arc.

The last thing i want any player on my basketball team thinking when he receives a pass and is wide open is "I can't make this shot". Anyone on this board that's ever balled aboved the playground level knows that. Woody is crushing the very spirit that makes this guy go nuts on the floor and you saw it last game. No player can have the voices in his head telling him "I can't do that" every time he has an instinct. :thumbsdownsmileyanim:

Ask yourself! Is smoove crashing his car, getting DUI's. Getting Technicals for yelling at the ref's. Having 12 kids like Shawn Kemp or starting brawls like Artest? What is he doing at 23 years old that tells you he's immature. How many of you could handle the fame and fortune at 18 years old and come out of it with only a few tatoos?

[Dsinner]

“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 "something" is you dumbf*ck.

[exodus]

Now hold on one big darn minute. He is averaging 2.5 3 point attempts per game and shooting 27%. 27% of 7.5 (max possible points) is 2.025 points a game from 3's. If he was shooting 50% from the field on 2's, this would yield 2.5 points a game. now I've been listening to this Josh bashing for 3 days. 3 freaking days of you guys beating Josh up and down the stick. His taking 3's is making a statistical .5 points difference a game. We had the lead when he went out the other night and Woody benched him for the last 6 minutes. Th majority of the 20-2 run Dallas went on was while he was benched.

I gives a crap about a .5 point swing offensively when our coach for 2 straight games benches our best defender...our game changer during crunch time. We can't stop anyone defensively with him on the bench in the last 6 minutes.

Design your offensive sets better Woody so that the power forward isn't rotating out to the 3 point line to reset the guards.

That is the big problem. When Smith is at the 3 pt line the defense doesn't have to guard him. He can't get offensive rebounds. He isn't moving without the ball to get open inside. Having Smith at the 3 pt line causes a lot more problems than just errant bricks.

[Gray Mule]

Much better game last night. Woody got his attention when J smoove had to ride

the bench in crunch time. He was a different player last night. He was doing the

things that we expected of him all along.

[Duff_Man]

Much better game last night. Woody got his attention when J smoove had to ride

the bench in crunch time. He was a different player last night. He was doing the

things that we expected of him all along.

Problem is that benching him in the past has been counter-productive. He will come back in, do his "lip thing", and run down and stand at the three point line and not budge on offense. He still has a lot to learn about team basketball.

He's feast or famine...when he is good, he is great. When he is bad, he looks like an NBDL player.

[exodus]

Much better game last night. Woody got his attention when J smoove had to ride

the bench in crunch time. He was a different player last night. He was doing the

things that we expected of him all along.

He still took 6 jumpers (3 from 3) and missed them all. When he went inside he had success. There is no way a career 26% 3 pt shooter should be taking so many shots from 3. He has made only 2 of his last 14 yet he keeps jacking them up.

[bronnt]

He still took 6 jumpers (3 from 3) and missed them all. When he went inside he had success. There is no way a career 26% 3 pt shooter should be taking so many shots from 3. He has made only 2 of his last 14 yet he keeps jacking them up.

100% failure on any jump shot (including that running jump hook in the first quarter) and 100% success on everything else-excluding a failed free throw.

God, this kid could be so good if he wanted to.

[Cwell]

Problem is that benching him in the past has been counter-productive. He will come back in, do his "lip thing", and run down and stand at the three point line and not budge on offense. He still has a lot to learn about team basketball.

He's feast or famine...when he is good, he is great. When he is bad, he looks like an NBDL player.

and he's not going to learn that under Woody.

[lethalweapon3]

Maybe we can help him as fans.

Any home game where he's tiptoeing around the 3-point stripe, once he gets the ball, the arena starts screaming, at top-of-lungs decibels:

"NO, JOSH, NO!" :no-no:

and hold up big signs reading:

"DON'T DO IT, SMOOVE!", or something more constructive like,

"DRIVE, JOSH, DRIVE!"

or maybe the Hawks can do some kinda promotion where for every 3 he MISSES (buzzer beater attempts not included), the arena announces that fans can exchange their ticket for a slaw dog/chili dog/yellow dog courtesy of the Varsity. If you went to their offseason open practice you discovered that Hawks fans and Hot Dogs are quite fond of one another. Eventually he'll feel guilty about fattening us up and pass up those shots, especially if the Varsity passes on the tab to him for hot doggin' it from way out in three-point country.

~lw3

[High5]

I think people are overblowing this a little bit. It's too soon to panic. He had a great first half against Memphis and maybe his conditioning hurt him in his first game back. He had a great first half against New York and the same thing happened in the second half. Nobody played real well on the Texas trip and he had a 15/7 night against Miami.

The three point shooting is definitely a problem, but hopefully it's just him being a little cautious with that ankle. And if it is hopefully he can break out of it soon. Preferably tonight.

You also have to remember he started out in a funk last year.

[thefloydian]

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.

:computer8:

[thefloydian]

I just want to make sure that I am clear on this. You don't think that Woodson has ever told Smith to stop shooting as many threes in game as he does now right? And also, you don't think that Woodson has ever talked to Smith about his careless turn-overs on the fast break right?

I think one of two things is possible:

A.) Woodson has talked to him about his 3-point shooting, but wasn't forceful at all and the talk resulted in absolutely no change.

B.) He has never really got onto him about it.

Either way, I know I've never seen Smith taken out of the game after throwing up a horrible 3 pointer. If Woody has said something, it hasn't worked. And aren't you one of the guys who wanted Smith to "keep shooting" anyway?

[mrhonline]

I think people are overblowing this a little bit. It's too soon to panic.

As do I. I didn't think he looked that bad vs. San Antonio, and he looked pretty good vs. Miami. His defense - the whole team's defense - looked good vs. Miami.

[macdaddy]

I just want to make sure that I am clear on this. You don't think that Woodson has ever told Smith to stop shooting as many threes in game as he does now right? And also, you don't think that Woodson has ever talked to Smith about his careless turn-overs on the fast break right?

This is exactly the point about Woody's coaching. Is it that he is failing to deliver the message or are the players just ignoring the message? Neither option reflects well on Woody.

The players are certainly at fault but how long to we have to watch the same mistakes over and over. Friday looked good and I didn't see Saturday. I'll give Woody credit for rectifying some bad play. We'll see how it goes.

[AHF]

Being late to this topic, I will say that I totally agree that:

* Woodson should be barring Josh from shooting 3's in games until he consistently hits mid-range jump shots

* Woodson should install some offensive sets without Josh hovering outside the 3pt line and should keep him closer to the basket

Josh deserves criticism for failing to recognize his own strengths and weaknesses. Woodson deserves criticism for failing to take obvious, basic steps to address this problem about 4 years in.

[BossTweed]

I don't understand how Josh can think it is a good idea to shoot 3's that aren't in the last 5 seconds of the shot clock. Does he make 75% of his 3's in practice or something?

Does he need someone to do the math for him about what a particular 3 pt% equals in 2pt%?

Hasn't anyone ever told him how bad ass he would look with a 50%+ field goal percentage? Dude would be a stud.

I also don't understand how Woody always has him out at the 3 point line. We have no post presence on offense, and one of our two post players barely ever gets the ball in the post. Is he worried Smith will get upset at him or something? Does Smith really think that he has a better chance at making a 3 pointer or jumpshot than he does trying to post someone up, or make a move to the rim?

So confusing.