Turning point for Josh?

[Frenzy]

Im starting to believe that he shoots those jumpshots out of spite .

I actually thought about that too. But who knows....He knows what's right and what he needs to do, especially after this quote from him about being effective.

[BrazilianHawk]

Josh Smith, 15 feet from the basket, trying to take people off the dribble or launching a bomb is the equivalent of quarterback punting the ball or golfer using a putter to tee off. It just makes absolutely no sense and has little to no chance of producing positive results.

We need Al taking and either hitting or missing those shots. Only in an alternate reality do we need Josh Smith trying to be Kobe Bryant.

BEST.ANALOGY.EVER! I would +10 you if I could. :laugh:

[the_sheff]

What this guy doesn't seem to grasp is he would get so many easy baskets if he would simply run the floor. Too many times last game Josh Smith was the very last guy to reach the offensive end of the court. Thats after a made basket by Chicago or a possession in which we forced a turnover. If he would run the floor he would get to the rim just by being more athletic than his defender. Instead he jogs up the court, stands by the 3 point line, and then chucks if someone passes him the ball.

[dakast]

I need to put this out there...

There are many reasons why we lost that game last night and we've all called out everybody from LD to Marvin. Too much dribble, too much of us trying to make the homerun shot, NO HUSTLE, no energy, no focus, playing soft, not rebounding, blown layups, questionable substitutions. Etc., etc., etc. You can take these things and put them in the box with the guilty party's name on it. IMO, everyone but Jeff Teague had a box of sh!t from last night.

That being said, it's one thing to be off your game and another thing entirely when you are not playing your game. Horford didn't shoot the ball well and dammit...we need him to hit that shot. There's just no other way to put it. The thing is though, that's HIS shot. That's what he does out there. You don't see him trying to be fancy. You don't see him calling the play from the top of the key or launching a 3. You don't see him trying to do things that are outside of his game. He brought it on the other end with 14 rebounds and he missed shots on the other end - shots that he has made all year.

This is different from what Josh Smith did last night. Josh Smith has no face up/off the dribble game. None. His jumpshot is completely suspect. Do you guys NOT see him launching these shots and bouncing the ball off of his foot? It's one thing to lose a game because your guys are not hitting their shots. It's another thing when you've got a guy on the floor trying to be a player that HE. IS. NOT. And he isn't just doing this occasionally, he is LITERALLY out there CONSTANTLY throwing away possessions trying to be a shooting guard.

You give Al the shot from 15 to 18 and you feel good about it because that's his shot and he's at the top of the league in FG%...making a living on those. If they don't fall, you call him out and you let him know that he has to hit that shot. If the shots still don't fall, then what do you say? Does the player deserve to be dumped on? The shots just didn't fall. Marvin has been worthless, but again...his shots just haven't fallen. He's missed some bunnies and some wide open shots, but they just didn't go down. He sucks, he sucked last night, but can we really put the game on his shoulders? He's not making shots.

It's a different thing when you are out there throwing up sh!t that has NO chance of going in and trying to do things with the ball that YOU CANNOT DO. That's not having an off night. That's being immature, not focused, and not taking the game seriously. Moreover, his shots aren't falling, so now you've got a guy that isn't getting back on defense, jaw jacking with the refs, and hanging his head - giving up offensive rebounds to one of the best rebounding teams int the league.

Al not making his shots is the equivalent of a closer blowing saves or a goalie that allows 3 or 4 shots. They didn't get the job done and deserve some blame.

Josh Smith, 15 feet from the basket, trying to take people off the dribble or launching a bomb is the equivalent of quarterback punting the ball or golfer using a putter to tee off. It just makes absolutely no sense and has little to no chance of producing positive results.

We need Al taking and either hitting or missing those shots. Only in an alternate reality do we need Josh Smith trying to be Kobe Bryant.

Best post since the playoffs started.....keep up the good work.

[hawkshomer]

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2011/05/06/atlanta-hawks-larry-drew-on-josh-smiths-jump-shots/?cxntfid=blogs_hawks&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Article pretty much highlighting everyone's gripes with Josh.

[exodus]

But it's just so damn simple to stop taking jumpers. That's all he has to do to become a much more effective player. He doesn't even have to replace those jumpers with good shots, just don't shoot at all and the Hawks will be better off by default. I have to believe common sense will prevail eventually.

Common sense isn't that common. After all these years i think we can say that Smith doesn't have common sense on the court.

[NineOhTheRino]

Common sense isn't that common. After all these years i think we can say that Smith doesn't have common sense on the court.

Common sense is overrated. I'd take freakish athletic ability any day.

[Guest]

Common sense is overrated. I'd take freakish athletic ability any day.

Not using the "freakish athletic ability" to your advantage makes it even worse when you combine that with not using common sense.

[Sothron]

I honestly don't know if I can root for the Hawks if Josh Smith is still on this roster opening day next season (whenever that may be). I've never felt like a player was actively playing to hurt his OWN TEAM like I have with Josh especially the last two games.

[JackB1]

They should have traded him when he still had some value. After thie post season he will be impossible to dump.