Josh Smith USA exhibition game

[lvhawk07]

I went to watch the USA exhibition game and I couldn't wait to see Josh play. He had a horrible first half highlighted by a missed dunk. He had one play where he had the ball at the three point line and tried to drive into the lane. He winded up turning the ball over which led to an easy dunk for the other team. He had the ball at the top of the key on one play and i knew he was going to shoot the three and he winded up missing it. It didn't seem like he was really focused in the first half. He had a much better second half. He had a block that went into the crowd. The next time down the court he knocked the ball away and dived to the floor to get possession. He was talking on offense trying to set up the plays. He seemed like a different player in the second half. Overall he was just o.k. He didn't play that bad but he didn't stand out. I think that he has no shot at making the team.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

This will be a good experience for him. From what you described, it seemed as if he started to make "energy" type plays in the 2nd half, which is his strength.

I wonder if the coaches told him the same type of things that Woody always tell him, in order for him to play more under control. If those coaches tell him the same things that Woody has told him for the past 5 years, maybe he'll realize that Woody was telling him right all along.

[xhawk]

Like the original poster said, for Josh Smith, it is all about focus. When he is focused, he is a different player...he also plays with more intensity when he is focused. He has to learn to stay focused for the whole game.

Also, people say that Josh Smith is a bad three point shooter and while I agree his talents do not lend themselves well to taking perimeter shots, he is actually just slightly below average for an NBA Player. He actually compares well to some top NBA perimeter players who take more shots than he does:

'08-'09 Stats (3 Pt Shooting %):

Josh Smith 30%

Tony Parker 30%

Chris Paul 36%

Baron Davis 37%

With time and practice, I think he could shot their percentages.

[DrReality]

He needs to grow up and hopefully this will be a wake up call. To take it to the next level he has to be more disciplined.

[LordOfNYork]

Like the original poster said, for Josh Smith, it is all about focus. When he is focused, he is a different player...he also plays with more intensity when he is focused. He has to learn to stay focused for the whole game.

Also, people say that Josh Smith is a bad three point shooter and while I agree his talents do not lend themselves well to taking perimeter shots, he is actually just slightly below average for an NBA Player. He actually compares well to some top NBA perimeter players who take more shots than he does:

'08-'09 Stats (3 Pt Shooting %):

Josh Smith 30%

Tony Parker 30%

Chris Paul 36%

Baron Davis 37%

With time and practice, I think he could shot their percentages.

Haha 3 nice point guards and then josh smith. OK but as a fan and a coach, would you want to discuss your PF 3-pt % or simply FG%? That shouldn't even be talked about with Josh Smith. Dude is no Kukoc. Obviously playing against the up and comers in the league he didn't stack up well. Work on that low post game. He has no dribbles at the top key, no jumper, and no focus. I say work on 2 of the 3 the rest of the summer.

[thefloydian]

He actually compares well to some top NBA perimeter players who take more shots than he does:

'08-'09 Stats (3 Pt Shooting %):

Josh Smith 30%

Tony Parker 30%

Chris Paul 36%

Baron Davis 37%

How does shooting 6-7% less from the 3-point line indicate a comparable shooting ability?

[High5]

Nobody should ever come close to thinking about attempting to make a point that even vaguely hints at Josh Smith being an almost slightly respectable 3pt shooter.

[buckeye242424]

Haha 3 nice point guards and then josh smith. OK but as a fan and a coach, would you want to discuss your PF 3-pt % or simply FG%? That shouldn't even be talked about with Josh Smith. Dude is no Kukoc. Obviously playing against the up and comers in the league he didn't stack up well. Work on that low post game. He has no dribbles at the top key, no jumper, and no focus. I say work on 2 of the 3 the rest of the summer.

Did you make that comparison because they are both left handed? I did...lol.

[KB21]

Like the original poster said, for Josh Smith, it is all about focus. When he is focused, he is a different player...he also plays with more intensity when he is focused. He has to learn to stay focused for the whole game.

Also, people say that Josh Smith is a bad three point shooter and while I agree his talents do not lend themselves well to taking perimeter shots, he is actually just slightly below average for an NBA Player. He actually compares well to some top NBA perimeter players who take more shots than he does:

'08-'09 Stats (3 Pt Shooting %):

Josh Smith 30%

Tony Parker 30%

Chris Paul 36%

Baron Davis 37%

With time and practice, I think he could shot their percentages.

It's not just his three point shooting that is bad. His jump shooting is bad, period. Josh Smih shot 32% on two point jump shots last year. He had the worst two point jump shot shooting percentage of any regular in the NBA. This is a player who shoots around 65% when he's around the basket, and 60% of his shots are coming from the perimeter. Josh needs to understand his limitations and start playing towards his strengths. He's a poor jump shooter and a below average ball handler, so he should never be a guy that gets the ball much on the perimeter.

[xhawk]

How does shooting 6-7% less from the 3-point line indicate a comparable shooting ability?

I was just trying to quantify some things. People say that Smith is an awful 3pt shooter...I wanted to show that the rest of the league, even respectable perimeter players, are not that far ahead of him. That is unless, you believe that 6%-7% is the difference between awful and respectable. For Josh Smith to get to those numbers he needs to make 1.3 additional three point baskets per every 20 games. Numerically, that just does not show the disparage that people seem to believe there is.

But I do agree, he needs to play more in the paint. :)

Edited July 27, 2009 by xhawk

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I was just trying to quantify some things. People say that Smith is an awful 3pt shooter...I wanted to show that the rest of the league, even respectable perimeter players, are not that far ahead of him. That is unless, you believe that 6%-7% is the difference between awful and respectable. For Josh Smith to get to those numbers he needs to make 1.3 additional three point baskets per every 20 games. Numerically, that just does not show the disparage that people seem to believe there is.

But I do agree, he needs to play more in the paint. :)

That 6 - 7% difference is actually quite huge. It's the difference between being a horrible shooter from 3 point range, and an average shooter from that distance. It's like comparing a 50% shooter to a 43% shooter. It won't be easy at all for that 43% shooter to raise his shooting % to 50%.

A 30% shooter from that range is a highly inconsistent and pretty horrible shooter. A guy like that may go 1 - 1 . . miss 7 in a row . . then go 2 - 2.

You need to check out my jumpshot ratings system I created in a thread I did last month entitled "The Northcyde Jumpshot Index". It gives information on the so-called jumpshooters in this league, and gives an index number to measure their jumpshooting overall.

While KB21 and most of Hawksquawk may not agree of how I came up with the ( NJSI ), the index accurately measures who are the great, average, and bad shooters in this league.

And of course, when I did a measurement of Josh Smith's jumpshooting, his index number stuck him in the HORRIBLE category of shooters.

Basically, Smith needs to play exactly how people would play with him on a video game . . . almost strictly around the rim. Ain't nobody shooting a lot of jumpshots or 3s with Smith, when they play NBA 2K or NBA Live.

[thescout5]

I was just trying to quantify some things. People say that Smith is an awful 3pt shooter...I wanted to show that the rest of the league, even respectable perimeter players, are not that far ahead of him. That is unless, you believe that 6%-7% is the difference between awful and respectable. For Josh Smith to get to those numbers he needs to make 1.3 additional three point baskets per every 20 games. Numerically, that just does not show the disparage that people seem to believe there is.

But I do agree, he needs to play more in the paint. :)

I wonder if ever Smith will be focused for the Hawks to take it to the next level. I guess Smith feels he needs to expand his scoring by taking 3 point shots plus its easier to get his shot off without a big guarding him out there? I did notice vs Cleveland when Varajo or any big defended Smith he didnt want to drive the ball probably for fear of not getting his shot off. I still have huge quesitons if Smith can play power forward vs bigs in the playoffs. His game is more slasher, running to score point not low post half court B ball from what I see, Until Smith wises up he'll be a player that as a 10 cent head and alot of ability. Smoove must step his game up along with Marvin and even Horford to go far in the playoffs. If we don't see the progress next year will be hearing alot of trade rumors with Smoove and others since this team will be together long enough to see results. Before long the word potential will fade and these players are as good as they'll ever be.

Edited July 27, 2009 by thescout5

[thefloydian]

I was just trying to quantify some things. People say that Smith is an awful 3pt shooter...I wanted to show that the rest of the league, even respectable perimeter players, are not that far ahead of him. That is unless, you believe that 6%-7% is the difference between awful and respectable. For Josh Smith to get to those numbers he needs to make 1.3 additional three point baskets per every 20 games. Numerically, that just does not show the disparage that people seem to believe there is.

But I do agree, he needs to play more in the paint. :)

6 and 7% better is a big difference though.

[LordOfNYork]

Did you make that comparison because they are both left handed? I did...lol.

lol yep

Basically, Smith needs to play exactly how people would play with him on a video game . . . almost strictly around the rim. Ain't nobody shooting a lot of jumpshots or 3s with Smith, when they play NBA 2K or NBA Live.

LOL that's awesome! Very very true

Edited July 27, 2009 by LordOfNYork

[capstone21]

Like the original poster said, for Josh Smith, it is all about focus. When he is focused, he is a different player...he also plays with more intensity when he is focused. He has to learn to stay focused for the whole game.

Also, people say that Josh Smith is a bad three point shooter and while I agree his talents do not lend themselves well to taking perimeter shots, he is actually just slightly below average for an NBA Player. He actually compares well to some top NBA perimeter players who take more shots than he does:

'08-'09 Stats (3 Pt Shooting %):

Josh Smith 30%

Tony Parker 30%

Chris Paul 36%

Baron Davis 37%

With time and practice, I think he could shot their percentages.

Also, Parker is one of the best mid range shooters. Every shot from Smith looks like it is going to miss. The worst thing to happen in a game is for him to make one early. In his mind that tells him that he can make more and let the missing begin. Most of his 3 point shots and a lot of his jump shots are not even close to going in. They clang of the backboard or the front of the rim. He is just a TERRIBLE jump shooter. He should be staying inside or penetrating. The coaches know it, the commentators know it, the fans know it, I bet his teammates know it. I just wish he would learn that too.

[Traceman]

I went to watch the USA exhibition game and I couldn't wait to see Josh play. He had a horrible first half highlighted by a missed dunk. He had one play where he had the ball at the three point line and tried to drive into the lane. He winded up turning the ball over which led to an easy dunk for the other team. He had the ball at the top of the key on one play and i knew he was going to shoot the three and he winded up missing it. It didn't seem like he was really focused in the first half. He had a much better second half. He had a block that went into the crowd. The next time down the court he knocked the ball away and dived to the floor to get possession. He was talking on offense trying to set up the plays. He seemed like a different player in the second half. Overall he was just o.k. He didn't play that bad but he didn't stand out. I think that he has no shot at making the team.

Chris Sheridan said the following about Smoove in his insider article about Team USA minicamp:

Josh Smith: Appeared to be packing on a few extra pounds, and his game still seems too unrefined for him to be seriously considered in the big man mix for next summer. But if he shoots 80 percent at the line and 50 percent from the field in '09-10, he'll help his cause.

How did Josh look PHYSICALLY to you? Did he look fat or did he look like he was simply maturing into his body? I have always thought that Josh looked like a guy who had the frame to get up over 250 lbs as he matured but he had better be careful as there is a point when that extra weight will SIGNIFICANTLY impact his explosiveness.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was at or near 250 at times last year. He looked a lot thicker to me for most of last year than he did in previous seasons. I thought that he was getting fat/out of shape because he had been unable to exercise due to the ankle injury but it could be that he is just getting bigger as he gets older.

For those who think Smoove would be better at SF, I think this is yet another indication that his future is at PF. He already struggled to keep up with quicker SFs when he was smaller and in shape. As he puts on weight, it will be even tougher on him to guard those quicker guys on the perimeter.

[coachx]

How did Josh look PHYSICALLY to you? Did he look fat or did he look like he was simply maturing into his body? I have always thought that Josh looked like a guy who had the frame to get up over 250 lbs as he matured but he had better be careful as there is a point when that extra weight will SIGNIFICANTLY impact his explosiveness.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was at or near 250 at times last year. He looked a lot thicker to me for most of last year than he did in previous seasons. I thought that he was getting fat/out of shape because he had been unable to exercise due to the ankle injury but it could be that he is just getting bigger as he gets older.

.

Last off season people were saying Smoove looked buff.

This year I would not say he looks "fat" but he does look it may be added weight that is not muscle. Its hard to tell b/c he is wearing a T-shirt under his jersey (which I have sseen him in since his HS days). Normally that means a player is trying to hide how skinny they are or hide how soft they are.

Bigger is not alwayse better............especially in Smith's case. His explosion and ability to play above the rim is what makes him a better then average player. Without that explosive ability he just another dude who can't shoot.

Edited July 27, 2009 by coachx

[thefloydian]

The two main reasons Smith won't ever be a three are that he can't shoot or dribble.

[Traceman]

Last off season people were saying Smoove looked buff.

This year I would not say he looks "fat" but he does look it may be added weight that is not muscle. Its hard to tell b/c he is wearing a T-shirt under his jersey (which I have sseen him in since his HS days). Normally that means a player is trying to hide how skinny they are or hide how soft they are.

Bigger is not alwasye better............especially in Smith's take. His explosion and ability to play above the rim is what makes him a better then average player. Without that explosive ability he just another dude who can't shoot.

I agree 100% that bigger is not always better. That is why I was asking if he looked fat. Having extra weight/strength to bang with the bigger PFs could be beneficial to Smoove but only if he maintains most of his explosiveness.

[AHF]

6 and 7% better is a big difference though.

30% on 3pt shots = 45% efg%

37% on 3pt shots = 56% efg%

That is a very big difference.

As other pointed out, though, it is as much or more the 2pt jump shots that emphasize how much work Smith still needs as a jump shooter. If you compare Tony Parker's (awful 3pt shooter, good mid-range shooter) 2pt jump shots to Smith's you will see there is a huge difference.

Also, it is much more problematic to have your PF at the 3pt line and out of rebounding position than to have your PG out there.

Edited July 27, 2009 by AHF