When he matures... what do we have?

[buckeye242424]

I don't remember what site it came from but someone linked it before on this board. I agree with that site's analysis that essentially all Josh has is elite athletic ability and once it starts to decline he will not have anything to fall back on.

We're jumping the gun a little aren't we? Geesh, he's what...24? I don't think we need to concern ourselves with his athletic ability declining. He has plenty of time to improve his game before he loses his athletic ability.

[DrReality]

That is the 55 million dollar question, or maybe more?

[exodus]

Smith isn't going to be a 20/10 player. I am just hoping that he can be a 15/9 player shooting well over 50% with less than 10 three pointers a year.

His rebounding is a much bigger concern to me than his scoring I don't care if his scoring never goes up.

[Gray Mule]

Maturity will come when he starts to lose his athletic"edge.'

Sadly, that's just the way life, for most of us, works. If your ability will get

the job done, why not use it to it's fullest potential. Then, when we get to

the point we just can't quiet do as much, we begin to use our brain to

figuer out how to get the job done with our lesser ability.

:no-no:

Wouldn't it be great if we could maximize both!

[MaceCase]

We're jumping the gun a little aren't we? Geesh, he's what...24? I don't think we need to concern ourselves with his athletic ability declining. He has plenty of time to improve his game before he loses his athletic ability.

That assesment was made over how with the high ankle sprain he suffered during the season, his stats showed a noticeable decline across the board from his previous relatively injury free years. It's not neccesarily his ability declining with age but how he needs to be a more skilled NBA player that can rely on more than just his athleticism.

[HawkItus]

I think Josh is physically limited in his potential. He is a modern day Kevin Willis. Small hands are his demise. It's the reason he has control issues. Look at the Elite players now and in the past. Almost unanimously they had larger hands that allowed them to control the ball.

[KB21]

Josh Smith is our basketball Andruw Jones. All world ability in certain aspects, too stubborn to do what it takes to become an all around player. A guy we fear trading because we don't want to see him blow up, but we're probably destined to see him end up being a relative disappointment in comparison to his ability.

I agree with this comparison and have used it several times in the past. Josh is that one player on the team that has immense natural talent, but he's also the most uncoachable player on this team. He is set in his ways, and even though he has a great work ethic, he has not shown the willingness to listen to his coaches. He basically does what he wants to do. This is not unlike Andruw Jones, who was set in his dead pull mentality no matter how many hitting coaches tried to get him to stay more balanced at the plate and hit the ball where it is pitched. I think Mike has shown tremendous patience with Josh to this point, but I also feel it is getting close to peeing or getting off the pot time with Josh.

[jy23]

Not being a downer... but how come it didn't take Lebron 5 years to turn into a productive player? In 5 years, LeBron is the game's best. Can we expect Smith to be among the top five or even a perenniel All-Star?

Holla!

Everybody isn't lebron james, thats y he's lebron james!!!!!! Josh will be an all-star, maybe not a perenniel all-star but he will make a couple.

[chico1]

Well, considering he is one of the most athletic players in the NBA, i would say the possibilities are endless!!! If he matures and improves his jump shot, then he will definitely put up 25+ point per game, he will become an all-star for sure as well as the face of the franchise who will sell many jersey, and bobbleheads, and will make the organization a lot of money . If he matures and doesn't improve his jump shot, then he'll continue to be a very solid player who puts on a show with his athleticism, and contributes on both sides of the court. So to answer your question, HE'LL BE A SOLID PLAYER YOU'LL WANT ON YOUR TEAM!!!

[chico1]

I think Josh is physically limited in his potential. He is a modern day Kevin Willis. Small hands are his demise. It's the reason he has control issues. Look at the Elite players now and in the past. Almost unanimously they had larger hands that allowed them to control the ball.

WTF? are you for real? are you saying Josh's small hands will keep him from improving? The only physical attribute that would slow down a player with as much athleticism as Josh would be stature. But the guy is 6' 9" so i'm sure he's going to be just fine!!! small hands?!

[MaceCase]

Having larger hands do allow you to better handle, rebound, and generally control the ball better. Put it this way, if his hands were bigger he would have made tha between the legs dunk during the Miami series .

[chico1]

Having larger hands do allow you to better handle, rebound, and generally control the ball better. Put it this way, if his hands were bigger he would have made tha between the legs dunk during the Miami series .

In a game like basketball having larger hands does have advantages. But in the big scheme of things, when you have the talent that Josh has, it does not make that much of a difference at all. Besides, You would have to have real tiny hands for the handling of the ball to really be effected, and his 6'9" how small can his hands really be? I guarantee you if you start a thread titled "Do you think Josh Smiths small hands will keep him from improving his game?" you'll get laughed at. :lol6:

As far as that between the legs dunk, he should not have been doing that in the first place... when is being able to make a between the legs dunk critical in a game anyways?

BTW, Josh has made that dunk countless of times. Hell, i believe that was one of his dunks in the 2005 slam dunk contest and he was a rookie straight out of high school. That was just a freakish mistake.

:beat:

Edited July 9, 2009 by chico1

[Flight]

Josh actually took a step backwards this past year Stats-wise, so I am not sure why people are conviced he's ever going to mature and improve past where he is now?

Because Josh had a high ankle sprain. So that should answer why he couldn't produce the same stats.

[thescout5]

Because Josh had a high ankle sprain. So that should answer why he couldn't produce the same stats.

If he matures that is key in the debate.His stats went down last year and if he remains at power forward can he develop enough inside moves to be a factor rebounding and scoring to play well in the playoffs? I have noticed Smith doesn't like to mix it up against bigger opponents come crunch time in the paint. He wants to stay outside and believes he can hit 3 pointers helping his team. Some players have a 10 cent head but all the physical tools and I hope Smith doesn't remain but its a big if. He has been i n the league long enough that we should see his game grow yet still he remains an engima.

If he develops more great for the franchise but if he doesn't the Hawks will never be the elite team we want and were spinning our wheels.

[JackB1]

Smoove has been playing hoops his whole life. I don't understand people that think he will magically change anytime soon.

I can't wait for the season to start again so we can have more threads about how dumb his play is and why he is still shooting

jumpers. I understand everyone here WANTS and HOPES he will change, but the likelihood is that it won't happen.

Best case scenario is that he sticks to working in the paint and can avg. 15-18 pts per game w/ 8-10 reb's.

If he just stopped jacking long jumpers, handling the ball so much and rebounded/boxed out more, I would be happy.

[jy23]

I think it's truly ridiculous that some of us even consider getting rid of him, REALLY????????? Josh is one of those players that if you lost him u would HATE IT 2 or 3 years down the road. Every player isn't going to be a SUPERSTAR, there's only a couple of those in the league. Josh is a good player, a very good player, that fills every category on the stat sheet, he's not great at any of em but he gives us a lil of everything. I mean are we expecting lebron james or something? Name me another pf around the same age besides chris bosh that u would take over josh, THERE ARE NONE!!!!!!! That guy has the ability to be a great player and I'd much rather have him on our side than to see him blossom with someone else!

[BusBoyIsBack]

Josh actually took a step backwards this past year Stats-wise, so I am not sure why people are conviced he's ever going to mature and improve past where he is now?

Look closer at the numbers. Josh Smith was the most efficient from the field this year than any year in his career. Almost made 1/2 of his shots.

05- .455 FG%

06- .425 FG%

07- .439 FG%

08- .457 FG%

09- .492 FG%

He's improved his FG% every year since 2006. That suggests he's making better decisions when it comes to shot selection although he's still not completely there yet. He's talented enough to make 52%+ of his shots. Just has to keep curtailing those jumpers.

I think Josh is physically limited in his potential. He is a modern day Kevin Willis. Small hands are his demise. It's the reason he has control issues. Look at the Elite players now and in the past. Almost unanimously they had larger hands that allowed them to control the ball.

Physically Josh Smith could be a top 5 player in the NBA if he had it together mentally. His combination of size/athleticism is up there with Lebron and Dwight Howard. Saying he's physically limited is laughable. He can pretty much take any PF in the NBA off the dribble and no one can jump with him when he goes to the basket.

He shows glimpses of doing this in games but only glimpses because in the end he can't resist taking that jumpshot, that jump shot that is intentionally left open for him.

Edited July 10, 2009 by BusBoyIsBack

[laved11]

For the most part, I don't think we see a lot of players developing into All-Stars in the NBA. After the first year, guys just become who they will be for the rest of their career. Aside from Jermaine O'Neal, who I consider his career to be a huge dissappointment, I honestly can't think of anyone who became an All-Star after four or five years of erratic play. Maybe Josh Smith will be different, but it hasn't seemed like he's improved any part of his game since entering the league.

Holla!

[LordOfNYork]

Every player isn't going to be a SUPERSTAR, there's only a couple of those in the league.

Wow you're being stingy there, I can name 10 and some change off the top of my head sir. The guy in my avy is one and he may be 3rd from the top of the list.

Name me another pf around the same age besides chris bosh that u would take over josh, THERE ARE NONE!!!!!!!

I'll take LaMarcus Aldridge, Al Jefferson, and Paul Millsap over Josh Smith any day my friend...They know their roles and they play them pretty damn well this early in their careers.

Edited July 10, 2009 by LordOfNYork

[jy23]

Wow you're being stingy there, I can name 10 and some change off the top of my head sir. The guy in my avy is one and he may be 3rd from the top of the list.

I'll take LaMarcus Aldridge, Al Jefferson, and Paul Millsap over Josh Smith any day my friend...They know their roles and they play them pretty damn well this early in their careers.

10 and some change legit SUPERSTARS!!!!!!! who? 25 ppg doesn't make them a SUPERSTAR! Paul Milsap is about the only one I'd take from that bunch because he'd fit our team. Al is a good player but he needs the ball 2 much to get his offense off which doesn't work for us, there's already enuf ball stoppage in our offense! And Aldridge, u could have a point if I saw him platy a lil d and be a lil more physical. He and the rest of that team got strait bullied in their playoff series!