Josh Smith: A Fair Assessment

[ryandauwalker]

Josh Smith has the tools to be an All-NBA Player. He knows it, and the staff knows it.

PROS:

Developing jumper

Freak Athlete

Great help-side defender/blocker

Quicker than his defender - ALWAYS

Highlight dunks

Decent passer

CONS:

Shoots too much from outside

Has too many silly turnovers

Doesn't always play towards his strengths

Inconsistent effort/support of teammates

--

What does this table illustrate?

His issues are mental and his ceiling is absurd. Even though his developing his jumper has caused him to periodically be lazier and dependent on them, it could really round out his game if it's his secondary move (as opposed to his primary move of getting to the rack).

The fact that his shot has improved so much speaks to his work ethic. This is a rare element to an NBA player with his type of maturity, and it might be a signal that Smoove is more coachable than people might think.

If I'm Rick Sund, I would have a good sit-down with Josh this offseason and try to find an assistant coach who will focus his efforts on Smoove's character, development, and skill. He's got all the raw materials to be an all-NBA player, but the head of an 16-year-old high school kid. I think somebody mentoring him will be the best way for him to mature into the player that the Hawks (and himself) want him to be.

Edited April 5, 2011 by ryandauwalker

[benhillboy]

Josh has been playing starters minutes for a long time now. He seems stable in his personal life, getting adjusted to married life and all. I think he should've been mastered his game by now and be a two-time All-Star, but the mental and emotional baggage is holding him back too much, for too long. His shortcomings are so easy to correct, and that's what gets everyone upset, as well as people around the league who know his potential to be a 20-8-4-3-2 (back to 3 blocks a game, please) guy who is efficient and eliminating dumb mistakes. Everyone looks for that savior to come in and "break" Josh into a smarter, more consistent player, but he has proven to be non-receptive and stubborn when it comes to valid criticism and people trying to help him.

[jy23]

I'm honestly kinda tired of talking about this...we all know who and what Josh is. He's and extremely talented guy that could be doing so much more than what he's doing but he's held back by his approach to the game. It has nothing to do with coaches or the other players, its Josh. He works to improve his jumper and I respect that BUT he should make that his secondary option on offense not the ONLY thing on his mind when he passes half court. His effort on the defensive end has gone way down and he flat out just thinks he's a player that he's not....very frustrating but only because I know what he could be. Still love him but he frustrates the hell out of me

[JackB1]

You can't fix the mental part.

We will be having this same discussion about Josh until the cows come home.

[niremetal]

The fact that his shot has improved so much speaks to his work ethic. This is a rare element to an NBA player with his type of maturity, and it might be a signal that Smoove is more coachable than people might think.

First off, lots of players work on and improve their jumpers or other aspects of their game around the age of 24/25 and/or 5+ years into their career.

Second, Josh succeeded in having an improved jumper for about 2.5 months. Since January, his jumper has regressed to his career mean. I can't find the source for this now, but he shot something like 45% on jumpers in the first 2-3 months of the season, but under 33% since then. Just a quick look at his ESPN splits shows that he has shot 24-57 (24.6%) on 3s in Feb-April, though it doesn't provide stats on long 2s. Josh has had spurts in the past where he shot "not bad" from the perimeter; the two I remember best were the period right after JJ got hurt back in '07 and the last couple months in '08-'09. This seems like another one of those temporary bursts of "not bad" - it just was more pronounced because he shot so many more of the jumpers this year than he did on those previous occasions. Of course, since he still was way more effective working inside than outside earlier this year, the fact that he shot so many more jumpers was itself a bad thing, which is why his shooting percentages didn't improve despite his improved jumper.

That's all a long way of saying that people overhype Josh's "improved jumper." It doesn't look so improved anymore, and hasn't for the past couple months. Not to mention that teams leave him wide open for those jumpers, so they basically are like practice shots.

Oh, and also, even if Josh had permanently improved his jumper, color me unimpressed that Josh has focused his energy on trying to prove he has no weaknesses rather than on becoming dominant with his strengths. Josh will never, ever, ever be a threat as a perimeter shooter. But he could average 12rpg and be a good on-ball defender if he wanted to. Why didn't he spend his summer working on those aspects of his game instead of on improving his jumper from "consistently atrocious" to "mediocre at best?"

Edited April 5, 2011 by niremetal

[terrell]

That developing jumper is more of a con imo. It's turning him into something that we dont need. Got enough jumpshooters around these parks. We need a defender, a shot blocker, and a post player, who can score inside. And occasionally make a highlight reel or two. Oh wait a minute, that could be Josh Smith.

[NineOhTheRino]

That developing jumper is more of a con imo. It's turning him into something that we dont need. Got enough jumpshooters around these parks. We need a defender, a shot blocker, and a post player, who can score inside. And occasionally make a highlight reel or two. Oh wait a minute, that could be Josh Smith.

Agree. Plus I doubt he'll be able to hit those jumpers consistently in the playoffs.

and I can't believe I just chimed in on another Josh Smith thread.

I tell ya these things are more additive than any drug out.

Edited April 5, 2011 by NineOhTheRino

[coachx]

You can't fix the mental part.

We will be having this same discussion about Josh until the cows come home.

Straight to the point and accurate.

After 7 years I have lost all hope of Josh improving from a mental standpoint.

[JackB1]

That developing jumper is more of a con imo. It's turning him into something that we dont need. Got enough jumpshooters around these parks. We need a defender, a shot blocker, and a post player, who can score inside. And occasionally make a highlight reel or two. Oh wait a minute, that could be Josh Smith.

EXACTLY! We don't NEED another jumpshooter. WHy doesn't he spend the same time he's spending on "developing" his long jumpers on developing

his low post game and his 15 ft. and in game? Whenever I see Josh score EASILY around the rim, it makes me crazy that he doesn't do it more often. Must

just be the laziness factor?

[NineOhTheRino]

EXACTLY! We don't NEED another jumpshooter. WHy doesn't he spend the same time he's spending on "developing" his long jumpers on developing

his low post game and his 15 ft. and in game? Whenever I see Josh score EASILY around the rim, it makes me crazy that he doesn't do it more often. Must

just be the laziness factor?

My guess is that Josh has always dreamed about being a multi-tool player. I don't fault the guy for trying to expand his game. Is there some rule book that states that the PF has to do all the dirty work? My second guess is that Josh sees the CENTER (AL) popping 10-15 footers like there's no tomorrow and thinks "WTH man...I can do that!"

Edited April 5, 2011 by NineOhTheRino

[ryandauwalker]

Like I mentioned, I think it is a good thing that he is developing his jumper if and ONLY IF he uses it as a secondary tool.

Unfortunately, he has turned it into something that he relies on too heavily as it's easier to sit and shoot rather than exert the injury to get to the hole.

Especially considering Horford's mid-range game is so solid, we need Josh to get to the rack much more often than he does.

[coachx]

My guess is that Josh has always dreamed about being a multi-tool player. I don't fault the guy for trying to expand his game.

I hold people accountable for their actions....you develop eyou outside shot in practice......not in the games.

My second guess is that Josh sees the CENTER (AL) popping 10-15 footers like there's no tomorrow and thinks "WTH man...I can do that!"

Don't be dense like Smoove is.

Hubie Brown stated that Al Horford was leading the entire NBA in FG % from outside of 10 feet. He stated Dirk Norwitzski was 2nd. When you lead the entire NBA in jump shooting percentage you should take a jump shot every time your open.

Edited April 5, 2011 by coachx

[MaceCase]

My guess is that Josh has always dreamed about being a multi-tool player. I don't fault the guy for trying to expand his game. Is there some rule book that states that the PF has to do all the dirty work? My second guess is that Josh sees the CENTER (AL) popping 10-15 footers like there's no tomorrow and thinks "WTH man...I can do that!"

I've already explained this in a previous thread and you can blame Woody. Woody may not have had a set offense but he had set roles for each player. He turned a college slasher and midrange maven in Marvin into a corner 3 specialist, he turned an off the ball specialist in Joe into an iso wing, required we had a knock down shooter at PG rather than a floor general, MADE Al develop his jumper to counter the size difference in the paint and asked Josh to operate in the paint.

If the picture is not forming in your head then I'll break it down to you: 3 of the 5 starters main purpose is to be floor spacers so JJ can iso and Josh can utilize his athleticism in the paint. The one year everyone listened most of them had career seasons and the team won 50 games. This season I'm sure everyone came in expecting more of the same in terms of their roles on the court but then Josh decided he much rather prefer to be a shooter himself. Joe even spoke on this saying players don't know their roles anymore hint hint.

To even go ahead and blame Horford taking jumpers as the reason Josh does goes to show his immaturity. Does he pound the ball and take jumpers because he sees Joe doing it? Does he throw midcourt alley oops because he saw Bibby do it? Does he dribble behind the back and through the legs because hey, Jamal does it!? These are what these players are asked to do and excel at yet you are suggesting that only Josh sticks with the gameplan and only acts out of frustration watching everyone else do what they want? Man you always bring the funny.

[AHF]

Straight to the point and accurate.

After 7 years I have lost all hope of Josh improving from a mental standpoint.

He did it last year and he can do it again if he is disciplined about it.

[coachx]

He did it last year and he can do it again if he is disciplined about it.

I have lost all hope of Smoove being disciplined too.

He should not have to be disciplined any way. As a 7 year NBA veteran he should have some level of commone sense but he does not.

Edited April 5, 2011 by coachx

[NineOhTheRino]

I hold people accountable for their actions....you develop eyou outside shot in practice......not in the games.

Don't be dense like Smoove is.

Hubie Brown stated that Al Horford was leading the entire NBA in FG % from outside of 10 feet. He stated Dirk Norwitzski was 2nd. When you lead the entire NBA in jump shooting percentage you should take a jump shot every time your open.

Well please excuse my denseness kind sir but could you help me understand why this team needs the PF doing dirty work while the center is shooting jumpers like Chuck Persons? I could care less if he makes them. The system is the system!

There have been times in the season when Josh was shooting at a better clip than Marvin and Joe. Why not let those two do the dirty work?

Your argument that Al is OK since he makes them is underlying flaw with this team. With a little more work Josh will be just as good as AL. Does that then mean Josh gets the green light too? My argument is that the whole damn team should be focusing on doing some dirty work and not just the guy everybody loves to hate.

Why is the fact that Josh has been in the league 7 years even a topic of conversation? Does NBA years count extra toward time on earth years? He's still young; he's still a bit immature and but I don't see how the length of his NBA tenure is expected to remedy those things. Only remedy I can think of is long term exposure to good coaching.

Edited April 5, 2011 by NineOhTheRino

[AHF]

I have lost all hope of Smoove being disciplined too.

He should not have to be disciplined any way. As a 7 year NBA veteran he should have some level of commone sense but he does not.

I didn't mean disciplined as in "slapped on the wrist." I meant disciplined as in last year he consciously made the decision not to shoot 3's and took a disciplined approach to that where he resisted firing up 3pters even when wide open. That is the type of discipline that needs to return to his game.

Of course, it would have been nice if Woodson had instilled better habits from day 1 and used benchings or whatever was necessary to convey the message but that is spilled milk at this point.

[AHF]

With a little more work Josh will be just as good as AL. Does that then mean Josh gets the green light too?

.441 efg% to .528 efg% is more than a little bit of a jump necessary. That is a pretty wide gulf and that doesn't account for the fact that Josh's efg% on jumpers has fallen over the course of the season after his unsustainably hot start. I seriously, seriously doubt Josh ever shoots as well from the perimeter as Al is shooting this season.

To that end, though, almost all our players should be spending less time shooting jumpers. Joe should spend more time trying to draw fouls closer to the basket, though. Al should focus on developing his interior game as well. etc.

[jerrywest]

I got a mail from Blue Cross Blue Shields that they will increase my premium if I keep watching Josh Smith.

[coachx]

Well please excuse my denseness kind sir but could you help me understand why this team needs the PF doing dirty work while the center is shooting jumpers like Chuck Persons? I could care less if he makes them. The system is the system!

There have been times in the season when Josh was shooting at a better clip than Marvin and Joe. Why not let those two do the dirty work?

Your argument that Al is OK since he makes them is underlying flaw with this team. With a little more work Josh will be just as good as AL. Does that then mean Josh gets the green light too? My argument is that the whole damn team should be focusing on doing some dirty work and not just the guy everybody loves to hate.

Why is the fact that Josh has been in the league 7 years even a topic of conversation? Does NBA years count extra toward time on earth years? He's still young; he's still a bit immature and but I don't see how the length of his NBA tenure is expected to remedy those things. Only remedy I can think of is long term exposure to good coaching.

Al Horford is leading the entire NBA in shooting percentage outside of 10 feet. The system needs a big who can make jumpers.......not a big who simply "takes" jumper. If you can't make your perimeter jumpers common sense tells anyone to shoot closer to the basket.

Is common sense too much to expect ? Obviously it is when the subject is #5.

Edited April 5, 2011 by coachx