Wow! I "just" discovered the root of our problems...

[HawkItus]

I'm not going to call him a cancer and I'm not going to hate on him. Facts are just facts. He is not a good shooter, but last year there are only a handful of players that took more shots. Consider that more than a third of his shots are coming from outside the paint and he shoots more "long 2's" than anyone else...

I've been saying this for YEARS. People have been wanting him to be this elite, scoring, All-Star, leader... But he does not have that kind of game. He can't dribble, he is not a good shooter, and he takes a lot of awful shots. As long as we allow him to believe that he should be shooting the ball...we will struggle to get ahead of the pack.

It's just not smart basketball and it's terrible that we've allowed him to develop that way.

We, they, Drew.......doesn't matter......Josh is who he is......take it from a future HOF Coach

"A coach can't change people," Gregg Popovich said before the Spurs obliterated the Nets on New Year's Eve. "They are who they are. No matter what team you're talking about, a coach can be observant and try to put his team in situations both on and off the court where some of that can develop, some of the camaraderie sorts of things. But you can't change people."

Read More http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2013/01/brooklyn-nets-avery-johnson.html#ixzz2HQD5RXk7

[Wretch]

What Pop is talking about is a philosophy that I have lived by for years. It is pointless trying to make someone change. It's one of the reason's why I've been married for over 20 years. The fight to make someone into who you want them to be is one that you will lose. People develop into who they are going to be sometime during childhood and you can't change that. Pop is right on the money, talking about players and their habits and your limitations on changing a player when you come in to a new situation. In regards to Josh, a new coach is not going to change him. BUT...

Players learn. They learn from guys who have been in the league and they learn from coaches. They get better when they are put into a position to succeed - given direction that focuses on their strengths and support that enables them to maximize their potential. Josh was not given that when he got here. He was squeezed into a lineup full of forwards and raised on a diet of "we ain't gonna worry about the offense. The shit will take care of itself."

You can't change a person's attitude, but you can freeze their ass out of the offense. You can call plays for them away from their problem zone and you can let them know THAT is where their home is. You can assign them a role and tell them to do that or sit on the bench.

I don't think good coaches try to change players. Good coaches develop good systems to maximize player potential and they get guys to UNDERSTAND and accept their roles. Josh was never given the right role and until LD took over, he (and anybody else that felt like it) was basically doing naked cartwheels in a simplistic, non-structured, free-for-all offensive system...all the while being spoon-fed a steady diet of "you're the man and this should be your team."

Can anybody change Josh smith? I don't think so. Can they change the team and the system he plays in? Can they change his role? Yes. Would he accept it? It doesn't matter. Ultimatums are usually pretty one-sided and non-negotiable.

[itsslomotionbaby]

damb guys are you all forgettting one thing , smith has not been at 100% the last 2 games.we just ran out of gas. we had nobody coming off the bench to spark us now that lou is starting & morrow is out.

[Diesel]

The op is what Diesel was/is to Duck. Both Al and Josh had horrible games. They need another player to take pressure off of them mainly scoring among other duties.

Their defensive, rebounding, and scoring responsibilities to make up for Korver, Lou, and Jeff would cause major problems for any frontcourt duo much less an already small one. Lou is the teams best offensive player but the team wins mostly when either Josh or Al is the top scorer.

You're throwing 1 game into about 7 years of research.... Funny.