Josh Smith - Last 5 games

[HawksFan87]

He most definitely isn't. Joe and Bibby both throw better passes than he does. Crawford does as well. Josh Smith gets assists, but he gets them mainly because the defense collapses on him when he gets the ball in the lane.

No he hasn't. If he had been playing great the WHOLE year he would have been an All Star.

That's a flawed argument. Big men hardly ever get the last shot. Just to clarify things too..I would say PP is Celtic's MVP. Although they were beaten last year in the playoffs w/o KG, they were still playing good basketball. Correct me if I'm wrong, but PP also won Finals MVP the year they won a championship. Bottomline the goal in basketball is to score the most points, and JJ is our best scorer. He makes everything easier for our players on that end of the court. Couple with that with the fact that he's our best perimeter defender, it's head scratching how people think Josh Smith is more valuable than our 4 time All Star.

your opinion not that it matters to me at all, And I stand by what I said Smoove IS the MVP AND best passer on the team..

Joe deserved to make it but, Al just got lucky he's on a great team. If he was on sorry team with those numbers he would not have made it..

Edited March 1, 2010 by jsmoovefan

[Cwell]

Al and Smoove are THE ONLY players on the team who want to fast break. The guards sure don't... That is why they bring the ball up so much. Smoove is the best passer on the team anywayz..

exactly, if the ball goes to Joe or Bibby it slows down immediately. We have two of the most immobile guards in the league, and Smoove knows we need to run to get easy buckets and not rely on isolation offense

[exodus]

Smith is currently 4th in the league in PER among 4s. I am a little surprised by this. The only guys ahead of him are Bosh, Dirk and Kevin Love.

The 4 guys just below him are Gasol, Randolph, Boozer and Amare. That is some nice company.

[niremetal]

exactly, if the ball goes to Joe or Bibby it slows down immediately. We have two of the most immobile guards in the league, and Smoove knows we need to run to get easy buckets and not rely on isolation offense

It truly is a sad indicator of how common sense goes right out the door when it comes to discussing favored and disfavored players that some people think that we have been in the top 5 in fast break points both this year and last year in spite of having guards that hate running the fast break. Having Josh and Al is certainly one of the biggest reasons why we're so high, but it's beyond absurd to suggest that we made it to the top 5 in fast break points despite having guards who hate to run.

And as far as him being the best passer on the team...um...ok. I guess that's why he has more turnovers and fewer assists than JJ and Bibby. Bibby is #3 in the league in Ast/TO ratio (3.68:1) and many-to-most of Josh's highlight reel dunks come off lobs from Bibby or JJ. Josh is an excellent passer for a big man, as is Al, but neither are as good passers as Bibby or JJ (or Teague or Craw, for that matter, when Craw decides to pass).

Come ON. Complementing Josh and Al's ability to pass and run the floor does not necessitate hating on JJ and Bibby's.

Edited March 1, 2010 by niremetal

[benhillboy]

Josh is beastin'.

[falc82]

Anyone read the game preview on ESPN for tonight's game? 2 takeaways pertinent to this conversation:

The Hawks (37-21) are 22-8 when Smith scores at least 16 points.

"Josh has probably been our MVP," coach Mike Woodson said at the time. "I just wish he would've made that All-Star team because he has played like an All-Star this year for us. Everything that we have done from a team standpoint in terms of winning and losing has a great deal to do with the way he has played on both ends of the floor."

Just found this interesting given this was a topic we were actively discussing on here.

[HawkWeisErrr]

Anyone read the game preview on ESPN for tonight's game? 2 takeaways pertinent to this conversation:

The Hawks (37-21) are 22-8 when Smith scores at least 16 points.

"Josh has probably been our MVP," coach Mike Woodson said at the time. "I just wish he would've made that All-Star team because he has played like an All-Star this year for us. Everything that we have done from a team standpoint in terms of winning and losing has a great deal to do with the way he has played on both ends of the floor."

Just found this interesting given this was a topic we were actively discussing on here.

That can't be true. You can't be the MVP if you are not the go-to shooter with the game on the line. :snowballfight:

[FrankWhite]

He has been playing excellent lately but Team MVP is a player that you can give the ball to in the clutch. I would not want the ball in his hands at the end of the game

Bill Russell won 5 MVP awards and I highly doubt he ever had the ball in his hands at the end many games.

[mrhonline]

I'm falling in love with this new Josh Smith.

[Brotha2ThaNite]

I'm falling in love with this new Josh Smith.

:thumbsdownsmileyanim: I don't know if the wheels on the wagon can hold all the extra weight now

[niremetal]

:thumbsdownsmileyanim: I don't know if the wheels on the wagon can hold all the extra weight now

It's not bandwagon-jumping if you've always watched, followed, and hoped for a player to play to his full potential, and then give him credit when he does it. February (18.6ppg, 10.0rpg) was the first time in Josh's career that he averaged a double-double for a full month in an NBA season. It marked the third-highest scoring average, highest rebounding average, and highest assist average of Josh's career. Tonight was the second-highest rebound total for a single game in Josh's career. Josh is playing better than he ever has in his career and people are recognizing it, but no one can pretend Josh has been playing like this all along unless they're blind or disingenuous.

He's been playing out of his mind. For the past month, he's been the team's best player, which saying quite a bit because JJ (23.7 ppg, 4.3rpg, 4.2apg, 49.6% shooting including 44.1% on threes and what must have been a stratospheric TS%) was playing at an All-NBA level too. But hey, if you don't want people to point out that this is an improvement over the Josh we saw before...

Edited March 2, 2010 by niremetal

[benhillboy]

I remember going apes$%t when the Hawks dragged their feet deliberating about when and how to sign Josh away from the GRIZZLIES after a spirited first playoff series. Days turned to weeks into over a month. It was ridiculous, but they finally got their man. Our man. This is the guy I envisioned. He's looking like a poor man's LeBron out there.

[DarnShadyRefs]

I remember going apes$%t when the Hawks dragged their feet deliberating about when and how to sign Josh away from the GRIZZLIES after a spirited first playoff series. Days turned to weeks into over a month. It was ridiculous, but they finally got their man. Our man. This is the guy I envisioned. He's looking like a BROKE man's LeBron out there.

I had to fixed that for you because the kool aid was talking a lil too much for you man lol. How come you didn't give your lovechild Marvin props today? He even let out his earth rattling scream that shook my laptop. He must have read your posts man

[Joker]

:thumbsdownsmileyanim: I don't know if the wheels on the wagon can hold all the extra weight now

I don't think no one wanted Smith to fail, we just wanted him to play within himself and I am happy he is doing just that.

[mrhonline]

Like exodus, it was always about the rebounding to me. As we're seeing now, there's no reason why he shouldn't average a double-double regularly.

[uga2006]

Dude has been balling. Hopefully he keeps up the good work. We really need him to be the consistent rebounder every night.

[Packfill]

Dude has been balling. Hopefully he keeps up the good work. We really need him to be the consistent rebounder every night.

He has what, 4 or 5 double-doubles in a row. A good trend to say the least.

[pimp]

Over the last 2 months Josh is out-rebounding Horford and getting more assist than Bibby and JJ

Rebounds

Jan.

Josh 9.5 rpg

AL 9.2 rpg

Feb

Josh 10.0 rpg

AL 8.5 rpg

AVG

Josh 9.7 rpg

Al 8.8 rpg

Assists

Jan

JJ 4.4 APG

Josh 4.3 apg

Bibby 4.0 apg

FEB

Josh 5.4 apg

Bibby 4.6 apg

JJ 4.2 apg

AVG

Josh 4.8 apg

JJ 4.3 apg

Bibby 4.3 apg

[BusBoyIsBack]

Josh Smith is right up there with Joe for MVP of this team right now. Especially the last couple of months. He's starting to look like the guy who started the season.

We will need him to keep this level of play up so we can stay on the heels of the Magic in the standings.

[sillent]

He most definitely isn't. Joe and Bibby both throw better passes than he does. Crawford does as well. Josh Smith gets assists, but he gets them mainly because the defense collapses on him when he gets the ball in the lane.

Joe!! ISo Joe? Turn the ball over after holding it for to long Joe? Umm yeah, sure, ok!!

No he hasn't. If he had been playing great the WHOLE year he would have been an All Star.

Yeah, like Iverson!! How can you hate on Smoove after doing nothing but what everyone has asked? He stopped taking so many threes, playing smarter basketball, taking more/good shots near the basket and being a force on defense and rebounds. He has been playing a great all around and making the right moves at the right time (most games) and some people still aren't happy. The scariest part (like many of us already said and knew) is that he still has more room to improve and his ceiling is still yet to be found. When it's all said and done I see him as a hybrid shooting guard or point/forward (think Lebron or a future "hybrid" Jordan and Dominique). Ok I'm ranting a little too much but point is Josh has definitely been a big part of us winning this whole season and is an all star whether he was picked or not.

That's a flawed argument. Big men hardly ever get the last shot. Just to clarify things too..I would say PP is Celtic's MVP. Although they were beaten last year in the playoffs w/o KG, they were still playing good basketball. Correct me if I'm wrong, but PP also won Finals MVP the year they won a championship. Bottomline the goal in basketball is to score the most points, and JJ is our best scorer. He makes everything easier for our players on that end of the court. Couple with that with the fact that he's our best perimeter defender, it's head scratching how people think Josh Smith is more valuable than our 4 time All Star.

Again, All Around Game Defense(blocks, rebounds, steals, charges, etc..) and Offense( points, assist, rebounds, drawing fouls,etc..). When you look at it as far as All Around MVP Joe is not in Josh's League!!

Edited March 2, 2010 by sillent