Josh CANNOT start Game 3

[MoBetta]

He cannot start another Game if he played like he had some sense this game could have been ours

Wats funny is Teague is a playmaker and Josh is a playkiller

[Popeye]

Smoove :roulette: :roulette: :roulette:

[wfhawkfan]

Neither can al horford, at least smoove has some impact. Al been soft since amare came through and crushed the buildings

[gutz]

Smoove is friggin awful period! you can't defend his play. He kills this team! f***ing bench him

[HalfHawk]

Better yet, I don't think Drew should show up to Philip's on Friday...

[Guest]

Neither can al horford, at least smoove has some impact. Al been soft since amare came through and crushed the buildings

This is the truth, Al was way worse than Josh tonight. Josh did make his typical stupid plays but at least he started to hustle. Al played with cement shoes and had a horrible drive. Three for twelve? Three for twelve? You have to be kidding me Al, your boy Noah has completely destroyed your intensity.

Hopefully in the ATL we can change things up, but the energy tonight was killer.

[niremetal]

It’s been 4 years since I’ve used this word (or any variation thereof) to describe Smoove. But in this series, he’s played like an idiot. Not simply immature, not simply out of control. No, like an idiot. I usually make a post trying to defuse the vitriol here at the Squawk down when the Smoove-bashing (or JJ bashing or Horf-bashing or Marv-bashing) gets out of control. My first reply to a MoBetta Smoove-bashing post was unkind. But I have nothing to say in his defense tonight. The number of times a Bulls run started or a Hawks surge ended due to a poor decision on his part was just too much.

I never saw him cut to the basket once when his teammates got doubled. He just planted himself 20 feet away from the basket and asked for the ball. That in and of itself is nothing new. What made it so astounding is that the Bulls gave him an open lane to the basket several times while Joe, Jamal, or Teague was getting trapped. But he never took it. He just stood still. It seemed like Thibodeaux knew he could be safely ignored on those plays.

And did he ever not snipe at the refs after a missed shot? Why isn’t he getting back on defense? Again, nothing new. But this is the fracking playoffs. On the road. Against a #1 seed. You can't take yourself out of 1 defensive possession, much less 8-10.

The problem with Smoove is that when he screws up, it seems to throw the whole team off. It’s not a “disappearing” problem as is usually the case when Joe/Al/Marvin get into a funk. It’s repeated sins of commission that stick out like a sore thumb during the game. Bad as they were tonight, at least Marvin and Al failed while trying to do the right things. They weren't forcing shots, positioning themselves in useless places, or taking themselves out of plays. Josh was. He wasn't even trying to do the right things.

The worst part is that we all know LD doesn’t have the guts to hold him accountable by benching his *ss for an extended period, so it won’t change. We hear from the mic'd up timeouts that LD is saying the right things not only to us, but to the team. The problem is that the team - and especially Josh - often does not seem to listen. That can't happen anymore if we want to win this series.

Edited May 5, 2011 by niremetal

[JackB1]

Neither can al horford, at least smoove has some impact. Al been soft since amare came through and crushed the buildings

Horf had 14 Rebs and 6 assists. Plus he's playing hurt.

[Guest]

Horf had 14 Rebs and 6 assists. Plus he's playing hurt.

Where is this Horford hurt stuff coming from? When he fell on his back in December/January? He was also 3 for 12 along with venturing into the lane only 3 times or so. A whole whopping 6 points? I thought he was nonexistent, Drew definitely should have played Zaza in the second half to see if it was because Horford was winded.

[DJlaysitup]

Smoove should be BENCHED! I honestly agree if he is going to play like a dingbat.

Also Marvin should be sent to Europe where they don't have 1 on 1 fast breaks very often and he wouldn't have to look like such a fool. AL should be benched as well since his shots aren't falling and ZAZA should be optioned to Siberia for all that dumb dribbling turnover junk. Craw should have his left thumb excised for shooting dumb shots when we needed more and JJ should be given no dessert for shooting while double teamed.

Staring lineup should be Jeff Teague (on a short leash for that airball in the third quarter), Pape, Damien, JPow, and Twin.

Either that or LD needs to give these guys a good talking to :stirthepot: .

[wfhawkfan]

Horf had 14 Rebs and 6 assists. Plus he's playing hurt.

Cmon man, there were 98 missed shots. Probably 4 of his assists were him being too scared to shoot and giving the ball to some one else. You cant honestly tell me that horf was any better than smoove tonight. Im not absolving smoove of anything, but horf is the "all star". No ft attempts, youre better than that, boss

[High5]

This is the truth, Al was way worse than Josh tonight. Josh did make his typical stupid plays but at least he started to hustle. Al played with cement shoes and had a horrible drive. Three for twelve? Three for twelve? You have to be kidding me Al, your boy Noah has completely destroyed your intensity.

Hopefully in the ATL we can change things up, but the energy tonight was killer.

Horford was 3-12, but Josh was 4-14 after going 3-11 on Monday. And the different between a Horford 3-12 and a Josh 4-14 or 3-11 is Horford is missing shots he makes at over a 50% clip. Josh is missing shots he couldn't hit 50% of the time in an empty gym. Not that any team respects him enough to play him much tougher than an empty gym.

Both guys sucked, both guys deserve a lot of blame, but there's no way Horford is worse than Josh.

[Colin]

Smoove should be BENCHED! I honestly agree if he is going to play like a dingbat.

Also Marvin should be sent to Europe where they don't have 1 on 1 fast breaks very often and he wouldn't have to look like such a fool. AL should be benched as well since his shots aren't falling and ZAZA should be optioned to Siberia for all that dumb dribbling turnover junk. Craw should have his left thumb excised for shooting dumb shots when we needed more and JJ should be given no dessert for shooting while double teamed.

Staring lineup should be Jeff Teague (on a short leash for that airball in the third quarter), Pape, Damien, JPow, and Twin.

Either that or LD needs to give these guys a good talking to :stirthepot: .

For the record, Zaza got fouled both times he tried to drive on somebody and ended up losing the ball. He probably shouldn't be driving, but his arms were getting slapped nonstop.

[Guest]

Both guys sucked, both guys deserve a lot of blame, but there's no way Horford is worse than Josh.

Yeah I guess if you ignore defense then there is no way that Josh was better than Horford. They both sucked, but at least Josh started hustling on D in the 2nd half and made some big plays in the paint that almost made me think he was no longer fat.

It was pretty bad all around for our front court tonight.

[atlguitar]

how about instead instituting a policy, 2 jumpshots in a quarter results in a benching just like 2 fouls in a quarter does.

[Frenzy]

Horf had 14 Rebs and 6 assists. Plus he's playing hurt.

lol @ hurt. Please....

[DJlaysitup]

...Josh is missing shots he couldn't hit 50% of the time in an empty gym....

VERY Well put High5...that seems to be the key lately with Josh...nothing terribly wrong with missing a high %age shot...but he is taking some really dumb ones lately. It is hurting the team. Two dumb shots can't be made up for by one block or one dunk. Smart teams play the percentages and Josh is always going all-in pre-flop on a pair of fours. :banghead:

Edited May 5, 2011 by DJlaysitup

[Atlantaholic]

Josh and Horf BOTH need to get their s*** together for us to have a shot at this series, and it needs to start next game.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Atlantaholic

[Rattler4life000]

Then neither should horford. smith was better then him tonight.... I know u hate josh, but were you not

watching horror play tonight, awful and he is suppose to be an all star!

[Sothron]

It’s been 4 years since I’ve used this word (or any variation thereof) to describe Smoove. But in this series, he’s played like an idiot. Not simply immature, not simply out of control. No, like an idiot. I usually make a post trying to defuse the vitriol here at the Squawk down when the Smoove-bashing (or JJ bashing or Horf-bashing or Marv-bashing) gets out of control. My first reply to a MoBetta Smoove-bashing post was unkind. But I have nothing to say in his defense tonight. The number of times a Bulls run started or a Hawks surge ended due to a poor decision on his part was just too much.

I never saw him cut to the basket once when his teammates got doubled. He just planted himself 20 feet away from the basket and asked for the ball. That in and of itself is nothing new. What made it so astounding is that the Bulls gave him an open lane to the basket several times while Joe, Jamal, or Teague was getting trapped. But he never took it. He just stood still. It seemed like Thibodeaux knew he could be safely ignored on those plays.

And did he ever not snipe at the refs after a missed shot? Why isn’t he getting back on defense? Again, nothing new. But this is the fracking playoffs. On the road. Against a #1 seed. You can't take yourself out of 1 defensive possession, much less 8-10.

The problem with Smoove is that when he screws up, it seems to throw the whole team off. It’s not a “disappearing” problem as is usually the case when Joe/Al/Marvin get into a funk. It’s repeated sins of commission that stick out like a sore thumb during the game. Bad as they were tonight, at least Marvin and Al failed while trying to do the right things. They weren't forcing shots, positioning themselves in useless places, or taking themselves out of plays. Josh was. He wasn't even trying to do the right things.

The worst part is that we all know LD doesn’t have the guts to hold him accountable by benching his *ss for an extended period, so it won’t change. We hear from the mic'd up timeouts that LD is saying the right things not only to us, but to the team. The problem is that the team - and especially Josh - often don't seem to listen. That can't happen anymore if we want to win this series.

I agree with everything you said but I have to point out Josh did cut to the basket one time when someone was else doubled: he committed a charge and flopped on the ground begging the ref for a call when the Bulls were on the other side of the court.