Stephen A. Smith talks Hawks

[NineOhTheRino]

Stephen A. Smith Audio

He starts talking Hawks around 7 mins in. I thinks many will be surprised how honest he is when talking about Josh.

He also called Bibby's defense horrific. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

Edited May 27, 2009 by NineOhTheRino

[HawksFan87]

Stephen A. Smith is an idiot, I can say that without even wasting my time listening.. And a Blind person can see that Bibby's defense is horrific ...

So Nine could you give a recap, I don't feel like wasting my time listening to him ...

Edited May 27, 2009 by jsmoovefan

[thescout5]

Stephen A. Smith Audio

He starts talking Hawks around 7 mins in. I thinks many will be surprised how honest he is when talking about Josh.

He also called Bibby's defense horrific. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

Stephen Smith says it like it is thats why I value his opinion. I have been saying Andre Miller would be a great addtion and I hope it happens since a quality point guard who passes the ball first and sets up others is needed more than a shooter mentality Bibby has. I wonder why Smith thinks the Hawks must decide if Smith or JJ is the guy to build around. Its not like both players are the cream of the crop in the NBA. If you have a Lebron,Kobe,Howard type you can build around them without another star but if your a very good player like JJ you need other good players to offset the lack of a top player.

I guess will see after next year whether to keep JJ(resign him) and or Smith since both have had enough time to prove themselves. Personally, I don't see Smoove's work ethic improving and he may always be an enigma. Players like Lebron think basketball 24/7 and I don't think players like Smoove,Marvin do that. You can only get to a certain level with players who try to get by with talent alone. You need work ethic and it would be interesting to see how much Smoove and Marvin work out during the off season. If you have trouble shooting the ball hire someone who can help you but of course you need to put in the time to get better.

[HawksFan87]

lol @ Smoove having poor work ethic.. When he is the ONE player who continues to work on his game every off- season... And Marvin continues to try to imrpove his game as well.. Don't know what team you were watching.. But if anyone needs to work on some things it is Al Horford..

[NineOhTheRino]

Stephen A. Smith is an idiot, I can say that without even wasting my time listening.. And a Blind person can see that Bibby's defense is horrific ...

So Nine could you give a recap, I don't feel like wasting my time listening to him ...

He first posed the million dollar question: "Who should the Hawks build around?" Something tells me he feels the Hawks should build around JJ.

He called Josh and Woody out for Josh's lack of development and suggested that the Hawks may want to consider a trade but doesn't know if Josh's game (not athleticism) is respected by NBA GMs. He wasn't too hard on Josh but was far from flattering too.

He's also big on Andre Miller as a FA option.

Edited May 27, 2009 by NineOhTheRino

[HawksFan87]

He first posed the million dollar question: "Who should the Hawks build around?" Something tells me he feels the Hawks should build around JJ.

He called Josh and Woody out for Josh's lack of development and suggested that the Hawks may want to consider a trade but doesn't know it Josh's game (not athleticism) is respected by NBA GMs. He wasn't too hard on Josh but was far from flattering too.

He's also big on Andre Miller as a FA option.

Thanks for the recap, only thing he said that I agree with is maybe bringing in Andre Miller..

[thescout5]

lol @ Smoove having poor work ethic.. When he is the ONE player who continues to work on his game every off- season... And Marvin continues to try to imrpove his game as well.. Don't know what team you were watching.. But if anyone needs to work on some things it is Al Horford..

Is this the same Josh Smith who Woodson has told repeatidly to play in the paint but smith continues to throw up bricks from the outside? When you don't listen to your coach, and don't play to your strengths then it has to be Smoove doesn't listen and tunes others out. Maybe he doesn't want to play inside since the big boys play there and he's afraid of getting rejected? Smoove is a tweener and may never lead the team to the promised land. Some players want to pad stats others find a way for their team to win.

[HawksFan87]

I could careless about woody lol.... Yeah it's all Smoove's fault we were embarassed by the cavs...

Edited May 27, 2009 by jsmoovefan

[gsuteke]

Oh damn........ Cleveland just got another offensive board.

Smoove for 3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 27, 2009 by gsuteke

[Kimsey]

Cleveland just lost game 33333333333333333333333333333333333333!!!!!!! Soon to be lost game 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NJHAWK]

Andre Miller plays as good of defense as Mike Bibby. He can drive and dish but cant hit open shots. They will just double JJ and leave him open. If we want to go younger than Bibby thats fine but Miller is not an improvment imo.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I'm going to give my reply before reading the rest of the thread.

EXCELLENT INTERVIEW AND RIGHT ON TARGET WITH JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING.

I definitely agree about paying big money to Andre Miller, before giving money to Bibby. Because Stephen A. is right. Bibby is HORRIFIC defensively. If his shot isn't on, he absolutely kills this team, because he can't be counted on defensively. Switch or no switch, he gets lit up.

VERY INTERESTING TAKE on talking about JJ vs Smoove. The fans would rather build around Smoove IMO ( somebody needs to make that a poll question ).

I think S.A.S phrased that whole JJ vs Smoove thing the way he did, because I truly believe that Smoove THINKS he can be the main option offensively. Bad jumpshot or not, he believes that he could be "the man" on this team. But Smith may be right. The future of this team may come down to who management thinks they should build the team around . . . JJ or Smoove.

Of course, his take on Woody is dead on as well. The best low post player he's had to work with, was Al Harrington. And the PGs we've had here, for the most part, are shoot-first type guys, who really don't take the ball to the hole. to generate most of their points. Even with Bibby, he can be described as not only a "streak shooter", but a "streak playmaker" as well.

It's always nice to hear an honest take of this team, from a national source.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Andre Miller plays as good of defense as Mike Bibby. He can drive and dish but cant hit open shots. They will just double JJ and leave him open. If we want to go younger than Bibby thats fine but Miller is not an improvment imo.

Miller would be a HUGE UPGRADE over Bibby. He's much better defensively than Bibby, especially when it comes to defensive awareness away from the ball. And Miller can DRIVE THE BASKETBALL, something this team desperately needs. With Miller, Woody may indeed change up the offense, and let Miller be the creater for others . . even JJ. Put Miller at the point, and JJ won't have to work nearly as hard for his shots all the time.

91% of Bibby's shots were jumpers.

59% of Miller's shots were jumpers.

That's a HUGE difference. And that would completely change the dynamic of this team. With Miller, guys like JJ, Marvin, Mo, and Flip could literally bomb away from the outside, because people would have to give help defense on Miller driving to the hole.

[NJHAWK]

Miller would be a HUGE UPGRADE over Bibby. He's much better defensively than Bibby, especially when it comes to defensive awareness away from the ball. And Miller can DRIVE THE BASKETBALL, something this team desperately needs. With Miller, Woody may indeed change up the offense, and let Miller be the creater for others . . even JJ. Put Miller at the point, and JJ won't have to work nearly as hard for his shots all the time.

91% of Bibby's shots were jumpers.

59% of Miller's shots were jumpers.

That's a HUGE difference. And that would completely change the dynamic of this team. With Miller, guys like JJ, Marvin, Mo, and Flip could literally bomb away from the outside, because people would have to give help defense on Miller driving to the hole.

You need to live in Jersy and talk to some Sixer fans. They want Miller gone as much as Diesel wants Marvin gone. He may have been a decent defender in his prime but he is a joke on d now. As for open jumpers well we are better off with Smoove shooting them then Miller and Im not trying to shock jock that.

[Diesel]

Stephen Smith says it like it is thats why I value his opinion. I have been saying Andre Miller would be a great addtion and I hope it happens since a quality point guard who passes the ball first and sets up others is needed more than a shooter mentality Bibby has. I wonder why Smith thinks the Hawks must decide if Smith or JJ is the guy to build around. Its not like both players are the cream of the crop in the NBA. If you have a Lebron,Kobe,Howard type you can build around them without another star but if your a very good player like JJ you need other good players to offset the lack of a top player.

I guess will see after next year whether to keep JJ(resign him) and or Smith since both have had enough time to prove themselves. Personally, I don't see Smoove's work ethic improving and he may always be an enigma. Players like Lebron think basketball 24/7 and I don't think players like Smoove,Marvin do that. You can only get to a certain level with players who try to get by with talent alone. You need work ethic and it would be interesting to see how much Smoove and Marvin work out during the off season. If you have trouble shooting the ball hire someone who can help you but of course you need to put in the time to get better.

Andre Miller would be great here, but not at 10 Million per. Miller is still 34. There's also the leadership aspect. IF we can be sure that Miller comes in and becomes a leader in the lockerroom, I'm all for it.

I also got the feeling that SAS was talking about trading Smoove. Horf hadn't shown enough to say we trade Smith and Move Horf to PF. I would rather bring in a PG-Leader and let's see what happens with new PG direction.

[NineOhTheRino]

You don't trade Smoove. He can be a mystery at times but he's still more important than Marvin William, Horford and a couple another guys that everyone around ATL is so sweet on. I like Miller but I would be very cautious about bringing in a player that far up in age.

Edited May 27, 2009 by NineOhTheRino

[coachx]

Of course, his take on Woody is dead on as well. The best low post player he's had to work with, was Al Harrington. And the PGs we've had here, for the most part, are shoot-first type guys, who really don't take the ball to the hole. to generate most of their points. Even with Bibby, he can be described as not only a "streak shooter", but a "streak playmaker" as well.

I aree with this. It is hard to run an offense with a bunch of jump shooter, no true low post presence, and no PG to break down the defense off the dribble.

I do not see why we should sign a 33 year PG (Andre Miller) to a long term deal. Its not like he is Chauncey Billups or anything remotely close. In '07 Miller shot 8% on 3 FGs. In 07 he shot 5% on 3 FGs. I do not know of any PG in the history of the NBA who played over 35 mpg who was this bad from the perimeter. Why get rid of 1 PG with holes just to replace home with another PGs with holes who is even older ?

If Miller is on this team as our PG we better sign some shooters or we will be just like the 76ers last year.

Edited May 27, 2009 by coachx

[Sothron]

I'll be honest Miller is too old for where we are now if we want to seriously push for a ECF appearance next year. We need a younger point guard, Miller is just too old and he has no outside shot. I was really pushing for years for him to be a Hawk (think Diesel and AHF were too IIRC) but at this point he's just too old and our team has matured enough on its own.

[frosgrim]

I'll be honest Miller is too old for where we are now if we want to seriously push for a ECF appearance next year. We need a younger point guard, Miller is just too old and he has no outside shot. I was really pushing for years for him to be a Hawk (think Diesel and AHF were too IIRC) but at this point he's just too old and our team has matured enough on its own.

Agreed, he's a back up at this point in his career. The Hawks can do better with guys in their mid-20s.

[KB21]

Is this the same Josh Smith who Woodson has told repeatidly to play in the paint but smith continues to throw up bricks from the outside? When you don't listen to your coach, and don't play to your strengths then it has to be Smoove doesn't listen and tunes others out. Maybe he doesn't want to play inside since the big boys play there and he's afraid of getting rejected? Smoove is a tweener and may never lead the team to the promised land. Some players want to pad stats others find a way for their team to win.

I've made this comparison in the past. Josh Smith is to the Atlanta Hawks what Andruw Jones was to the Atlanta Braves. It's clear that Josh is the most talented player on the roster, just as Andruw was the most talented player on the Braves roster. Both players could be among the top players in their leagues. However, both players would rather do their own thing than listen to coaches. With Andruw, his thing was trying to pull everything instead of hitting the pitch where it is thrown. With Josh, his thing is that he thinks he is a jump shooter and continues to shoot jump shots when the coaches are telling him that this is clearly a weakness in his game.