That game-winning 3 pointer will set Josh back 2 years

[AHF]

you're only asking him to do something that probably has never been done, but okay.

The point:

(a) Josh is a MUCH better interior scorer than perimeter scorer and moving Josh out to the perimeter on offense means that he is now one of 4 players roaming the perimeter and limits his ability to gather offensive rebounds, put-backs, etc. It also takes away perhaps the team's best option on backdoor cuts and other slashes to the hole.

(b) Josh is not an impact perimeter defender and moving him away from the basket on defense means he cannot provide the same shotblocking help defense that he does from the interior

© Moving Josh out to the perimeter lessens his ability to defensively rebound

With our existing roster, what is the advantage to moving Josh towards the perimeter on both ends of the floor?

[Dsinner]

you're only asking him to do something that probably has never been done, but okay.

Umm he played SF against Minny and did all of those things. It was only one game but it proves he is capable. He had his best all around game of the year at SF. Give the dude some credit on that one.

[AHF]

Umm he played SF against Minny and did all of those things. It was only one game but it proves he is capable. He had his best all around game of the year at SF. Give the dude some credit on that one.

I definitely give him credit for the one game against the Minnesota Timbewolves. I still think, however, that one game does not make a trend and I buy into 7 years of data more than a handful of games. Just because Magic Johnson can play a great game at Center doesn't mean that is the right position for him long-term - especially when you are talking about a game where his perimeter shooting was dramatically over his career norms.

[exodus]

Umm he played SF against Minny and did all of those things. It was only one game but it proves he is capable. He had his best all around game of the year at SF. Give the dude some credit on that one.

The problem is that we won't be playing Minny every game, and he was playing a guy who has played the 4 most of the previous two seasons and isn't noted for his D. We have already seen what happens when we play Smith at the 3. He simply doesn't have the footspeed to defend the position and his lack of shooting kills spacing. Not to mention taking him further from the basket makes it harder for him to block shots.

Smith's shot has to improve a lot to just be bad. His best ever EFG% on jumpers was 36% in his second season. That is 8% better than what he did last year but still sucks.

[Dsinner]

The problem is that we won't be playing Minny every game, and he was playing a guy who has played the 4 most of the previous two seasons and isn't noted for his D. We have already seen what happens when we play Smith at the 3. He simply doesn't have the footspeed to defend the position and his lack of shooting kills spacing. Not to mention taking him further from the basket makes it harder for him to block shots.

Smith's shot has to improve a lot to just be bad. His best ever EFG% on jumpers was 36% in his second season. That is 8% better than what he did last year but still sucks.

I agree he is better suited at PF BUT if he actually does improve into a decent outside shooter then we have a capable SF. While it may have been "just Minny" he was guarding a decent SF who has decent bigs. Although he was further away from the basket he was still getting his blocks. I'm not saying I want him at SF full time but if he improves his shot he CAN play SF when needed. This makes our roster even more flexible and gives our trades and FA signings more options as well. Nothing but good comes out of Josh being able to man the SF position and I think he's more capable than I used to.

[YP2K]

He's been great so far this year; especially defensively . . .

[exodus]

I agree he is better suited at PF BUT if he actually does improve into a decent outside shooter then we have a capable SF. While it may have been "just Minny" he was guarding a decent SF who has decent bigs.

At this point i think the odds of Smith becoming a decent shooter are very long. This is his 7th season. He has had games before where he has made jumpers. In the end the percentages don't lie.

Although he was further away from the basket he was still getting his blocks

Minny is the worst shooting team in the NBA. Smith didn't have to worry about closing out on shooters. Beasely missed 7 of his 8 jumpers.

Did you already forget the Cavs game? Hickson dropped his career high on Smith by making midrange shots and blowing past Smith off the dribble. Those are skills that most 3s possess. Even though Hickson plays inside he plays a face up game, like most 3s, that Smith has trouble with.

i don't have a problem with Smith playing a few minutes at the 3 when needed. But more than 10 minutes a game is asking for trouble.

[Dsinner]

Minny is the worst shooting team in the NBA. Smith didn't have to worry about closing out on shooters. Beasely missed 7 of his 8 jumpers.

Smith wasn't guarding the "team" he was guarding a normally good shooting SF. Plus you have to give Josh some credit for him making Beasley shoot those long jumpers/threes.

Did you already forget the Cavs game? Hickson dropped his career high on Smith by making midrange shots and blowing past Smith off the dribble. Those are skills that most 3s possess. Even though Hickson plays inside he plays a face up game, like most 3s, that Smith has trouble with.

Like you said he had a career game. No one, including myself and Josh, expected Hickson to shoot like that much less keep making it. He did the right thing initially playing off of him not expecting him to keep it up. However, he should have got in his face a little more after he realized he wasn't going to be missing any time soon. By then it was too late. That was def a poor adjustment on defense by Smoove but that was a freak performance that was properly game planned for.

But you're right in that he shouldn't be considered a SF and I think it's a matchup issue whether or not Josh can play SF successfully during a game.

Edited November 7, 2010 by Dsinner

[MaceCase]

What was the difference between Josh guarding Beasley at the 4 the past two seasons and guarding him at the 3 on Friday? Nothing, they were both out of position so don't use that matchup as proof of anything. Of the teams we've already played, the Cavs, Pistons, Wizards, Sixers, and Grizzlies all could of started Jamison/Hickson, Speights, Villanueva, Blatche and Arthur at the 3 against Smoove then the Suns could play Hak at the 3 tonite and it still wouldn't prove anything because those guys are all better suited for the 4 and absolutely do not have the mobility, handle or speed that most 3s in the league have despite their predilection for taking jumpers.

Because shorterm memory is also a problem on the Squawk', especially when it comes to Smoove, people have already forgotten that the last time Smoove saw extensive minutes at the 3 during the season was in the Sixer game matched up with Iggy in the 2nd quarter. That was also Iggy's highest scoring quarter that game with 10 quick points before Drew had to bring both Joe and Marvin back in.

Will I use that as definitive evidence against Smoove at the 3? No, there's plenty of other evidence that can support the argument against that that has been done to death but that is still a small sample size same as the Minny game.

Marvin is to be out a week or more and Mo might be as well so I say let's wait and see how well Josh can not only perform against but also defend the upcoming Hills, Carters/Richardsons, and Salmons/Maggettes before we start crowning him a decent 3. He may luck out too because we don't even go up against an allstar SF until 11 days from now in Granger and soon after Pierce. Hopefully our actual SFs are healed up by then.

[thecampster]

Josh's shot selection this season.

Player------------At Rim-------------------less than 10 feet------------10-15 feet--------------16-23 feet---------3 pointers

Josh -------2.5 of 3.2 - 78.59%---------.8 of 2.2-38.5%----------0.0 of 0.5-0%------------1.7 of 4.0-42%---.5 of 1-50%

So on jumpers 16 feet or greater he's 2.2 of 4.5....for 4.9 points in 5 attempts. That's reasonable. As long as it stays like this, the only problem with him shooting jumpers is he's not getting to the line. He's dropped by 1.5 attempts a game in FT's and 1.5 shot attempts a game too. Which is why the drop in scoring average.

Edited November 7, 2010 by thecampster

[AHF]

Josh's shot selection this season.

Player------------At Rim-------------------less than 10 feet------------10-15 feet--------------16-23 feet---------3 pointers

Josh -------2.5 of 3.2 - 78.59%---------.8 of 2.2-38.5%----------0.0 of 0.5-0%------------1.7 of 4.0-42%---.5 of 1-50%

So on jumpers 16 feet or greater he's 2.2 of 4.5....for 4.9 points in 5 attempts. That's reasonable. As long as it stays like this, the only problem with him shooting jumpers is he's not getting to the line. He's dropped by 1.5 attempts a game in FT's and 1.5 shot attempts a game too. Which is why the drop in scoring average.

The drop in FTs is definitely a negative but the line that drives the point home for me is really "as long as it stays like this." If I were a betting man, I would take that action.

[YP2K]

GREAT start tonight by Josh . . .

[Dsinner]

What was the difference between Josh guarding Beasley at the 4 the past two seasons and guarding him at the 3 on Friday? Nothing, they were both out of position so don't use that matchup as proof of anything. Of the teams we've already played, the Cavs, Pistons, Wizards, Sixers, and Grizzlies all could of started Jamison/Hickson, Speights, Villanueva, Blatche and Arthur at the 3 against Smoove then the Suns could play Hak at the 3 tonite and it still wouldn't prove anything because those guys are all better suited for the 4 and absolutely do not have the mobility, handle or speed that most 3s in the league have despite their predilection for taking jumpers.

Because shorterm memory is also a problem on the Squawk', especially when it comes to Smoove, people have already forgotten that the last time Smoove saw extensive minutes at the 3 during the season was in the Sixer game matched up with Iggy in the 2nd quarter. That was also Iggy's highest scoring quarter that game with 10 quick points before Drew had to bring both Joe and Marvin back in.

Will I use that as definitive evidence against Smoove at the 3? No, there's plenty of other evidence that can support the argument against that that has been done to death but that is still a small sample size same as the Minny game.

Marvin is to be out a week or more and Mo might be as well so I say let's wait and see how well Josh can not only perform against but also defend the upcoming Hills, Carters/Richardsons, and Salmons/Maggettes before we start crowning him a decent 3. He may luck out too because we don't even go up against an allstar SF until 11 days from now in Granger and soon after Pierce. Hopefully our actual SFs are healed up by then.

Speaking of short term memory read my last sentence in my last post concerning matchups vs Josh playing the SF position..

If the majority of the NBA is starting PF's at the SF position then WTF does it matter if Josh is a SF? or better yet, obviously the rest of the NBA has a different opinion that some of you as to what a SF's abilities should be. So, in short, if he's only facing a legit allstar SF every 20 games then who cares if Josh can guard a "legit" SF?

The drop in FTs is definitely a negative but the line that drives the point home for me is really "as long as it stays like this." If I were a betting man, I would take that action.

Why is Josh shooting less FT's a bad thing? The guy can't shoot them. He keeps shooting like this and he'll officially become a better jump shooter than free throw shooter.

[MaceCase]

Speaking of short term memory read my last sentence in my last post concerning matchups vs Josh playing the SF position..

If the majority of the NBA is starting PF's at the SF position then WTF does it matter if Josh is a SF? or better yet, obviously the rest of the NBA has a different opinion that some of you as to what a SF's abilities should be. So, in short, if he's only facing a legit allstar SF every 20 games then who cares if Josh can guard a "legit" SF?

Why is Josh shooting less FT's a bad thing? The guy can't shoot them. He keeps shooting like this and he'll officially become a better jump shooter than free throw shooter.

Maybe you missed my point, all those teams could of started their PFs at SF but they didn't and they don't. The one team that did people were praising him for his "best overall game" that just so happened to occur at that position as if it proved something. That one game was not indicative of any of his abilities at or against the position which is all there is to it considering that he's struggled to guard mediocre wings since.