On whether to fall in love with Josh Smith

[jerrywest]

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2009/11/9/1122599/on-whether-to-fall-in-love-with

[tremor]

JSmoove plays with heart and that's why, besides his defensive plays, I like him so much. He's also good teammate.

I hope he stays healthy and continues playing like that.

[coachx]

I'm extremely proud of Smoove this year.

He is taking less jumpers and hardly any 3's. He is not complaining as much to the refs as he used to.

He seems to finally be following the directions his coaches give him.

Way to go Smoove ! Keep it up !

[buckeye242424]

I'm extremely proud of Smoove this year.

He is taking less jumpers and hardly any 3's. He is not complaining as much to the refs as he used to.

He seems to finally be following the directions his coaches give him.

Way to go Smoove ! Keep it up !

He's still so young. I know that argument is played, but the reality is he hasn't approached his peak after 6 years. I lump D. Howard in that discussion too. Scary. Hell, maybe it was all the Adidas commercials he did with the likes of Chauncey, KG, and Duncan's of the world? Maybe a little one on one conversations with HOF's during downtime really opened his eyes? So far, he's changed his game -albeit - for the better for him and the team. Only 7 games in, but I hope it sticks! As fans, it's all we can hope for....

[HalfHawk]

EMBRACE SMOOVE! EMBRACE HIM! :angry22: SHUN THE NON-BELIEVERS!!! SHUUUUUUN!

Edited November 9, 2009 by SmooveZilla

[exodus]

Smith is the most frustrating player i have ever liked. I like him for his talent, heart and fearlessness but his decision making makes me.... :shake_puter:

Edited November 10, 2009 by exodus

[Atlantaholic]

He needs to work on finishing with his off hand... If he could improve that aspect of his game, there is no one in the league that could stop him driving into the lane.

[thecampster]

I wonder how much the work with TeamUSA helped him this offseason.

[sillent]

With growth comes maturity and maturity for Josh means more focus. Josh has showed flashes of all of his skills since he got into the league. Once he continues to focus on the game consistently( which I think he will show this year) this will definitely be a part of his breakout year(s).

[dalamchops]

what's amazing is that he stlil continues to improve in his 6th year

[Admin]

I do believe that this years version is the best Smith we've seen to date and I'm cautiously optimistic that this is going to become a new trend. What I really want to see from Josh is a willingness to give up the ball on the break (and him getting it back to finish!), I want to see him accept foul calls and not complain to the refs, and I want to see motivate our team and crowd with his hustle and defense. He has done that pretty well this year and if he can do that when things aren't going his way then we're looking at a perennial All-Star.

[JackB1]

JSmoove plays with heart and that's why, besides his defensive plays, I like him so much. He's also good teammate.

I hope he stays healthy and continues playing like that.

I wish he played more with his head and less with his heart :)

I am happy with the last game, but Josh has shown glimpses before, only to revert back to Evil Josh the next game.

When Josh has an AWAY GAME like he had the other night, let me know. That will be the next step towards stardom.

He seems a diffferent player at home and on the road.

The jury is still out..........Lets see what we think of Josh after 25 games.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I wish he played more with his head and less with his heart :)

I am happy with the last game, but Josh has shown glimpses before, only to revert back to Evil Josh the next game.

When Josh has an AWAY GAME like he had the other night, let me know. That will be the next step towards stardom.

He seems a diffferent player at home and on the road.

The jury is still out..........Lets see what we think of Josh after 25 games.

I love tis version of Smoove. But take a look at his box score stats in the 7 games. When we've lost, he's played pretty bad

- Laker game . . their frontline pretty much punked him, and he accumulated most of his stats in the 4th quarter when the game was over.

- Charlotte game . . he immeadiately picks up 2 fouls, and has to sit the bench until 8 min in 2nd qtr. Then I guess he tries to stuff his stat sheet all at once. From about thr 5 min mark in the 2nd to the 5 min mark in the 3rd, he attempts 11 shots and getting fouled on 2 more shots ( not counting the and 1 ). That means he attempted to score 13 times in about a 12 minute span

That's why JJ had those comments at the end of that game. That's why he referred to "the team" as being about "me, me, me . . and immature . . and not knowing their roles". It's obvious who he was talking about.

But in the wins, he's playing All-Star caliber basketball.

- he's laying off the long jumpers

- he's making all the right passes.

- he's crashing the boards

- he's challenging every shot in his area and getting blocks

- he's running the floor

- and he's hustling enough to disrupt plays and get steals

The last mental roadblock for him . . well 2 roadblocks: make his FTs . . and stop playing small against big and/or athletic frontlines.

But overall, he definitely gets an A- for his performance this season. It's early, but it's amazing to see him have a FG% of over 55%.

[DarnShadyRefs]

I love tis version of Smoove. But take a look at his box score stats in the 7 games. When we've lost, he's played pretty bad

- Laker game . . their frontline pretty much punked him, and he accumulated most of his stats in the 4th quarter when the game was over.

- Charlotte game . . he immeadiately picks up 2 fouls, and has to sit the bench until 8 min in 2nd qtr. Then I guess he tries to stuff his stat sheet all at once. From about thr 5 min mark in the 2nd to the 5 min mark in the 3rd, he attempts 11 shots and getting fouled on 2 more shots ( not counting the and 1 ). That means he attempted to score 13 times in about a 12 minute span

That's why JJ had those comments at the end of that game. That's why he referred to "the team" as being about "me, me, me . . and immature . . and not knowing their roles". It's obvious who he was talking about.

But in the wins, he's playing All-Star caliber basketball.

- he's laying off the long jumpers

- he's making all the right passes.

- he's crashing the boards

- he's challenging every shot in his area and getting blocks

- he's running the floor

- and he's hustling enough to disrupt plays and get steals

The last mental roadblock for him . . well 2 roadblocks: make his FTs . . and stop playing small against big and/or athletic frontlines.

But overall, he definitely gets an A- for his performance this season. It's early, but it's amazing to see him have a FG% of over 55%.

Great points. The thing that made me scratch my head about that statement from joe is it wasn't like the he was doing his role very well. That is why it is a team game. When ever your main scorers are having off nights, the rest of the team is suppose to pick up the slack. It wasn't like josh, Horf, and Marv didnt wait for the main guys to pick up steam before they decided to take matters in to their own hands to ignite the team. I have no problem with what josh and the others tried to do against the bobcats. The whole team was cold and they were just trying to go down fighting rather than standing around watching joe hoist 12 more bricks.

[exodus]

Looking at Smith's 82games.com page Smith is scoring 10 ppg inside shooting 70%. For comparison..

Amare 9.3 ppg inside 63.8%

Boozer 9.3 ppg inside 63%

Bosh 8.0 ppg inside 54%

Howard 12.6 ppg inside 70%

Aldridge 5.4 ppg inside 63%

Obviously Smith's inside numbers stack up pretty well with other bigs.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Looking at Smith's 82games.com page Smith is scoring 10 ppg inside shooting 70%. For comparison..

Amare 9.3 ppg inside 63.8%

Boozer 9.3 ppg inside 63%

Bosh 8.0 ppg inside 54%

Howard 12.6 ppg inside 70%

Aldridge 5.4 ppg inside 63%

Obviously Smith's inside numbers stack up pretty well with other bigs.

That's true, but a little misleading. Smith is scoring on te inside, yes. But it's when he's scoring that's really telling.

37% of his shots and 6.6 pts come within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock elasping. He's shooting a whopping 82% FG during that time. That tells me that he's getting fast break or put back opportunities that he's converting at a high rate on. It still counts as "inside scoring", but not the type of inside scoring you'd see those other guys doing.

At any rate, it's nice to see.

[exodus]

That's true, but a little misleading. Smith is scoring on te inside, yes. But it's when he's scoring that's really telling.

37% of his shots and 6.6 pts come within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock elasping. He's shooting a whopping 82% FG during that time. That tells me that he's getting fast break or put back opportunities that he's converting at a high rate on. It still counts as "inside scoring", but not the type of inside scoring you'd see those other guys doing.

At any rate, it's nice to see.

I hadn't really thought of that but the ratio of the guys scoring 9 pts or more inside are pretty close to Smith;

Amare 29%, Boozer 32%, Howard 46%

They all take a high percentage of their shots early in the clock. As far as Smith's percentage goes it is a bit surprising since he is scoring only 2.9 ppg on dunks.

[ATLNY7]

Josh Smith is playing awesome this season. I hope he keeps it up.