I am tired of Josh Smith's shot selection

[MrNique]

Two thoughts:

-I'm all for trading Josh (count me amongst those pro-trade), especially if he can net us a quality player like Melo (or Nash or Curry), but people need to stop throwing Nene in the deal. He along with Lawson and Afflalo are their untouchables right now. More likely they'd try to pawn off mostly injured Chris Anderson's 5 yr. if we asked for a big.

-IF we are NOT going to trade Josh, is it time to move him to the bench? Keep going with the big lineup, but actually let our best 3 start, Marvin Williams. He's better defensively on the wing, and a better shooter. He's made big shots at the end of games before when it swings to the open man. Then Josh runs with Jamal, and he plays more 4 than 3 against bench players and finishes games when it warrents it.

[AHF]

-1 Woody

+1 Woody

Wow... Woodson getting credit for doing something right.

well.... I think that's what happened here. :unsure:

What Woody did last year falls into the category of "better late than never."

[JackB1]

Josh will never succeed until he gets a coach that he will listen to. He came to the NBA right out of High School and we all know what happened with Woodson and now under Drew he seems to have ven more freedom.

Josh needs to be told what to do and when and be held accountable. I guarantee if you yanked him EVERY TIME he went off course, he would eventually stop. The only way to get through to Josh is to sit his @ss down

IMMEDIATELY when he does anything detremental to the team. You basically have to train him like a new puppy.

[Duff_Man]

Josh Smith has and always will be a stat player. He is a born loser just like Reef was. You know that despite his stats, that you're not going to win games because of him.

Mark this down on your calendars, people...I agree with Hotlanta here. Josh is not a great player, yet in his mind, he is. He has to go.

[Duff_Man]

Again I say it shows how sad of state this team is in where someone like Josh Smith has the green light and is allowed to do whatever the hell he wants to out there. The players got LD his job and they don't respect him as a coach. Why wasn't Smoove benched? The crap he is pulling will not cut it during playoff time. How many shots does a player have to miss before he realizes that he may need to drive to the basket? Damn near all of this jumpers are wide open. I would rather Marv take 20 shots than Smoove. You all talk about his blocks but what about the turnovers. Last night he had 3 blocks and 4 turnovers his turnovers negated the blocks. We need to trade this guy while we still can.

And how many of those three blocks gave the Hawks a possession? Swatting it into the 4th row and giving the other team a re-start is not productive.

[Sothron]

Josh Smith has and always will be a stat player. He is a born loser just like Reef was. You know that despite his stats, that you're not going to win games because of him.

Completely disagree about Reef. That guy was the best low post player Atlanta has had since Kevin Willis was here. He was consistent, got contact, got free throws and shot a very high percentage for a big man. The only fault in Reef's game was being stuck on some bad teams. I don't know how many games he was here where he would be off to a monster start and somehow in the second half they would simply stop feeding him the ball.

[Duff_Man]

The only fault in Reef's game was being stuck on some bad teams.

That, settling for jumpers too much, and NEVER hustling back on defense. Reef was a good #2 or 3 but was never going to make it as a main option. Watching him infuriated me at times. He never hustled.

[HawkItus]

As the resident "LD Supporter" I'll offer this:

Woody did not do anything to make Josh not shoot jumpers. Josh decided not to shoot jumpers.

Name of external link

The term "extreme makeovers" is supposed to be reserved for decrepit houses and people suffering from midlife crises. Rarely does it apply to seasoned NBA vets like Josh Smith, Al Jefferson and Richard Jefferson. Smith and Al Jefferson are both in their seventh seasons; Richard Jefferson is in his 10th. After that many years, conventional NBA wisdom says there are no surprises about what players can do or how well they do it. Yet all three are posting double-digit percentage increases in a key facet of their games.

Nowhere is the surge more surprising than in Atlanta. Smith, the same J-Smoove who abandoned the three ball last season when he attempted -- and missed -- just seven shots, is now among the best three-point shooting power forwards in the Eastern Conference. Making 36.9 percent of his treys, Smith is shooting better than such feared marksmen as Danilo Gallinari and Rashard Lewis. Meanwhile, Al Jefferson was traded from lowly Minnesota to Utah last summer, and the career 70 percent free throw shooter is suddenly up 10 percent.

]

For Smith, the transformation required both a technical and mental shift. He thought abandoning the three to focus on shotblocking and rebounding would be his ticket to the 2010 All-Star Game. Instead, all he got was runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year and an uneven game. Enter Idan Ravin, the personal trainer known as the Hoops Whisperer for his unorthodox drills and positive reinforcement. In a two-week session prior to the season, Ravin, who has worked with Chris Paul and Elton Brand, straightened out Smith's lefty stroke so that the ball rises in a perfect vertical line instead of being brought over from the right side of his body. He also patched the hole in Smith's psyche with texts containing affirmations such as "You don't need their approval, so stop looking in their direction."

"Instant results," Smith says. "More than anything, he gave me confidence in myself." He needs it. Even now, Hawks' fans groan when he readies a three. Which is understandable. Such transformations aren't supposed to happen.

Edited January 27, 2011 by sultanofatl

[Admin]

yeah I'm assuming we can get Melo to sign the extension or I wouldn't even suggest a trade period. That is a given or we don't trade with them at all.

I would trade for Melo if the package was centered around Jamal and Marvin because Jamal is expiring and Marvin is replaceable and I'd roll the dice on hoping that Melo will sign with us in the off-season or we'll get something for him in a SnT. But the only way I give up one of our core players is if Melo is signed to an extension.

As the resident "LD Supporter" I'll offer this:

Woody did not do anything to make Josh not shoot jumpers. Josh decided not to shoot jumpers.

Name of external link

WOW well at least we know who to blame for this mess! "Hey don't worry Josh you don't need approval from your coach or your teammates ... just do what you want because you're handsome enough, you're smart enough, and doggonit people like you!"

[ATownWhatup]

Man, this man has a very low Bball IQ...Shoot it when it falls, stop it when it doesn't. Josh is not a shooter. Shooting 45% as a PF is not that impressive.

Sure, he's a very good help defensive but that's it.

He needs to be smarter and move in closer for the shot selections that he does decide to take. He is not that accurate so he needs to be smarter with the ball.

[AHF]

I like the closer:

Even now, Hawks' fans groan when he readies a three. Which is understandable. Such transformations aren't supposed to happen.

Oh, those foolish Hawks' fans.

Amazing how they leave out the fact that he is actually a less effective scorer this season and that he has positioned himself much farther from the basket on offense by doubling the number of jumpshots he is taking. As if this transformation is a good thing even if it continues at the current rate (the current rate means a 10 point drop in Smith's scoring efficiency from .536 last year to .526 this year). Then they also ignore the fact that his jump shooting has dropped considerably over the last few weeks - leaving one wondering how much regression will be apparent by the end of the season.

Well, I guess since Josh underservedly wasn't selected for the All-Star game last year he should just give up on what got him so close last season and go to a gameplan that will result in another All-Star miss this year.

[Admin]

Since it's an Insider article, here is the full text for those that don't have it. I was thinking for a minute that this was written earlier in the season when he was shooting a quality percentage but nope it was written yesterday by Rich Bucher.

This story appears in the Feb. 7, 2011 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

The term "extreme makeovers" is supposed to be reserved for decrepit houses and people suffering from midlife crises. Rarely does it apply to seasoned NBA vets like Josh Smith, Al Jefferson and Richard Jefferson. Smith and Al Jefferson are both in their seventh seasons; Richard Jefferson is in his 10th. After that many years, conventional NBA wisdom says there are no surprises about what players can do or how well they do it. Yet all three are posting double-digit percentage increases in a key facet of their games.

Nowhere is the surge more surprising than in Atlanta. Smith, the same J-Smoove who abandoned the three ball last season when he attempted -- and missed -- just seven shots, is now among the best three-point shooting power forwards in the Eastern Conference. Making 36.9 percent of his treys, Smith is shooting better than such feared marksmen as Danilo Gallinari and Rashard Lewis. Meanwhile, Al Jefferson was traded from lowly Minnesota to Utah last summer, and the career 70 percent free throw shooter is suddenly up 10 percent.

Then there's the Spurs' Jefferson, whose remodeling job is more subtle but actually more profound. For his first nine pro seasons, Jefferson was an off-the-dribble slashing wing, athletic and skilled enough to be a regular contributor on two Nets teams that went to the NBA Finals.

But none of that mattered when San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich sat Jefferson down after last season for what other Spurs call "The Big Talk." This is when Coach gets real about how a player's game needs to improve to really help the Spurs. Pop told RJ he had to trash his habit of setting up his shot with ballhandling. The offense runs through Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker or Tim Duncan, leaving little time for him to be creative. If Jefferson was going to score, it had to be as soon as the ball hit his hands or off one quick pivot. That meant everything from the release point on his shot to the way he moved around the court had to change.

First, shooting coach Chip Engelland shifted Jefferson's release from above his head to out in front. Then Popovich and assistant coach Chad Forcier drilled the following into him: stay low, knees bent at all times, always be ready to fire.

"Yeah, I had my concerns," says Jefferson. "My old way was 10 years in the making. What they were asking was simple but something I'd never done. But my competitiveness took over."

Synergy Sports Technology, a company that provides analytics to NBA teams, says Jefferson's efficiency rating for no-dribble catch-and-shoot scoring has gone from "average" to "excellent": 76.3 percent of his points scored, compared with 63.9 percent last season.

For the Jazz's Jefferson, it wasn't about changing his form, it was about letting it take over. Last summer, before the Timberwolves traded him, assistant coach Dave Wohl, who also had been with Jefferson in Boston, finally unlocked the mystery of why a player with such solid free throw shooting form, a kid who shot 90 percent in high school, was so bad from the line. The answer: He needed to stop thinking.

As a 2004 prep-to-pro draftee Jefferson's learning curve was steep. And big things were expected of him from undermanned teams, first in Boston and then in Minnesota. Rather than let things flow at the line, his mind drifted to all of his postrelease responsibilities. His percentage suffered.

Wohl and Jefferson developed a remedy. Count to eight on every shot attempt to focus on the task at hand. Five dribbles, five seconds. At six the ball is rising, at eight he's letting it go. Jefferson made 36 in a row in a workout the first day and 35 in a row the second. With his mind clear and his burden shared, his top fear now is complacency. "When you hit so many in a row, you get cocky and start backsliding," Jefferson says. "I have to be consistent with it."

For Smith, the transformation required both a technical and mental shift. He thought abandoning the three to focus on shotblocking and rebounding would be his ticket to the 2010 All-Star Game. Instead, all he got was runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year and an uneven game. Enter Idan Ravin, the personal trainer known as the Hoops Whisperer for his unorthodox drills and positive reinforcement. In a two-week session prior to the season, Ravin, who has worked with Chris Paul and Elton Brand, straightened out Smith's lefty stroke so that the ball rises in a perfect vertical line instead of being brought over from the right side of his body. He also patched the hole in Smith's psyche with texts containing affirmations such as "You don't need their approval, so stop looking in their direction."

"Instant results," Smith says. "More than anything, he gave me confidence in myself." He needs it. Even now, Hawks' fans groan when he readies a three. Which is understandable. Such transformations aren't supposed to happen.

[HawkItus]

I like the closer:

Oh, those foolish Hawks' fans.

Amazing how they leave out the fact that he is actually a less effective scorer this season and that he has positioned himself much farther from the basket on offense by doubling the number of jumpshots he is taking. As if this transformation is a good thing even if it continues at the current rate (the current rate means a 10 point drop in Smith's scoring efficiency from .536 last year to .526 this year). Then they also ignore the fact that his jump shooting has dropped considerably over the last few weeks - leaving one wondering how much regression will be apparent by the end of the season.

Well, I guess since Josh underservedly wasn't selected for the All-Star game last year he should just give up on what got him so close last season and go to a gameplan that will result in another All-Star miss this year.

Yeah, it's sad and really speaks to the immaturity of Josh. Sometimes I wish Marvin and Josh could change bodies.

[Sothron]

I'm flabbergasted over that Bucher article. Is this what Josh Smith? A trainer to tell him to ignore criticism and just shoot it because he's special and unique and a wonderful butterfly? OMG. No wonder he's shooting with impunity now.

[Duff_Man]

That's just what Josh needs...more yes men.

I am also glad to read that his motivation is making an All-Star team. That's about where I figured his mind was at anyways.

[Swatguy]

Danny Granger is on the block.

Indiana is looking for.

"Ideally it'd get a power forward and a 2-guard who can create his own shot off the dribble," he wrote. "It would take a pretty big package for Indiana to let go of Granger, but it sounds like, for the first time, he's no longer untouchable."

Send Josh and Jamal for Danny and their number 1

[exodus]

Enter Idan Ravin, the personal trainer known as the Hoops Whisperer for his unorthodox drills and positive reinforcement.

I used to play pickup games with this guy in college at the U of Md. Not much of a player and i didn't know him very well but he said something strange to me one day. I was running laps at the old Cole Field House and he says to me "man your are in great shape" i was like uhhhh thanks. It struck me a little weird but given his career choice i get it now.

[Admin]

I used to play pickup games with this guy in college at the U of Md. Not much of a player and i didn't know him very well but he said something strange to me one day. I was running laps at the old Cole Field House and he says to me "man your are in great shape" i was like uhhhh thanks. It struck me a little weird but given his career choice i get it now.

Sounds like he was kinda sweet on you Ex!

[Admin]

Danny Granger is on the block.

Indiana is looking for.

"Ideally it'd get a power forward and a 2-guard who can create his own shot off the dribble," he wrote. "It would take a pretty big package for Indiana to let go of Granger, but it sounds like, for the first time, he's no longer untouchable."

Send Josh and Jamal for Danny and their number 1

With that much salary they'd have to throw in Dunleavy, Ford or Posey to make the deal work. I highly doubt that either team would trade a player of that caliber to an Eastern Conference team but I wouldn't be mad at that deal. I'd also try and get Hibbert instead of their 1st, even if it meant us including a 1st to make it happen. I think we could win with a lineup of:

Ford/Bibby/Teague

Joe/Evans/JC2

Granger/Wilkins

Horford/Powell

Hibbert/Zaza/Collins

A pipe dream for sure but one I'd love to see happen!!

[exodus]

Sounds like he was kinda sweet on you Ex!

haha it definitely crossed my mind at the time. However he did seem to have a little bit of brownoser in him. He was one of those guys that was always hanging out with the athletes even though he really wasn't one, sort of a lame hanger-on type.

Sure worked out well for him though. He must be making serious bank now.