One step forward, two steps back: 'Bad' Josh needs to stop trying to upstage Jeff Teague

[hawks21]

Josh Smith is very capable of being a difference maker, but his streak of selfishness on the court that results in turnovers, disruption of team offense and ultimately losses such as this loss on the road in Boston is the main reason that it is better for the Hawks and Josh to part ways.

Smith had a great night, but when he began ignoring Jeff Teague (not even looking at him when bringing the ball up the court) and acting like he is Magic Johnson is one of the main reasons he hasn't been selected to an All-Star team.

Smith cries about getting fouled, but misses half his free throws..and this benefits the other team. There are just TOO MANY NEGATIVES with Josh Smith.

[Jody23]

The title of the thread is spot on. Many want to say "Josh just needs a point guard he can respect". Buffalo chips! He needs to respect the point guard no matter who it is.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Jody23

[hawks21]

Losing Josh Smith and gaining a so-called lesser talented player via trade would have still benefited Atlanta.

Addition by subtraction.

I am not a big Kris Humphries fan, but he has a modicum of talent, more of a post-up player, and is more of a team player. Additionally, it would have allowed Teague along with Horford to have a big distraction in Josh Smith removed.

[Mutombolievable]

Can we all agree that Jeff Teague is about ready to explode? The guy is playing great ball and I caught myself smiling over and over again as he got to the rim tonight. Yes, he did get ripped by Bradley a few times tonight but I thought he did an above average job against one of the premier perimeter defenders in the NBA tonight.

[benhillboy]

Can we all agree that Jeff Teague is about ready to explode? The guy is playing great ball and I caught myself smiling over and over again as he got to the rim tonight. Yes, he did get ripped by Bradley a few times tonight but I thought he did an above average job against one of the premier perimeter defenders in the NBA tonight.

Hell yeah. Doc and KG die a little inside with each layup or dunk. Since KG's been there, they almost always call timeout when it happens. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough timeouts to call for all the times Teague schooled them. I like Drew, more than most, but he absolutely takes blame for taking the ball out of Teague's hands late. I'd much rather lose with him making a turnover, getting a bad no-call, or missing a free throw with his relentless style if driving than Josh. I don't see how the kid never breaks a sweat dropping 25 and 10 like it ain't nothing, let alone on a bulldog like Bradley. They even put the longer Lee on Teague and he still got his. The kid has arrived, and he's probably at 80% of where he's gonna be. Getting Joe out the way was the first step. With more experience and hopefully Josh out the way, he's gonna be fighting for an All-Star spot because our team will be better than Philly and Cleveland and he can score much better than Rondo. You know he's on to something when the biased John Barry keeps singing his praises during the game. Dude said "wow!" about 3 or 4 times. Edited March 9, 2013 by benhillboy

[Wretch]

Turn him loose... I have been singing that song since Teague exploded against Chicago. It's not about making him the future, it's about giving him room to grow. That means good nights and bad nights. People were so worried about his playmaking and ability to finish, but you have to ignore that shit and you have to let him play HIS game. And you can't yank his chain when there's a mistake here or there, no matter how costly. You have to keep leaning on him and keep pushing him until it becomes PAINFULLY apparent what he CAN'T do. Then you make the decision to trade/bench/role reduce/etc.

Right now what we need to do is get Josh Smith out of his way and establish Hoford and Teague as the offensive identity. Also, I know the Motion Offense^TM is all about ball movement and whatnot. That's all well and good and we can keep doing it. I like the motion offense. But you don't sacrifice what Teague could potentially be able to do for the sake of ball movement.

Turn him loose!

[Admin]

I love Teague but there were several times on the PnR last night where a PG with good vision could have found Al rolling to the basket off of the pick and Teague didn't even come close to seeing it. I said to myself that if Josh had been the one with the ball he definitely would have seen the pass and probably have made it successfully. What worries me about losing Josh is that if we don't replace him with another point-forward type with excellent vision, it's going to really hurt our offense.

[nathan2331]

I love Teague but there were several times on the PnR last night where a PG with good vision could have found Al rolling to the basket off of the pick and Teague didn't even come close to seeing it. I said to myself that if Josh had been the one with the ball he definitely would have seen the pass and probably have made it successfully. What worries me about losing Josh is that if we don't replace him with another point-forward type with excellent vision, it's going to really hurt our offense.

I may be the only one who still this this, but I believe that Teague, Horford, and Smith can thrive together. I blame Josh's jumpers on Drew. If Drew really has told Josh to stop taking those shots and he still continues what does the coach have to do? Take his butt out the game. But that never happens. I have a feeling that if we got a coach who is adamant about Josh staying in the post then Josh would listen. It doesn't appear to me that Drew minds Josh's shots (if he did mind them then he has the weakest backbone ever) and that'd why I don't like him as our head coach.

[ViperXX79]

I love Teague but there were several times on the PnR last night where a PG with good vision could have found Al rolling to the basket off of the pick and Teague didn't even come close to seeing it. I said to myself that if Josh had been the one with the ball he definitely would have seen the pass and probably have made it successfully. What worries me about losing Josh is that if we don't replace him with another point-forward type with excellent vision, it's going to really hurt our offense.

I just don't think Teague is used to having Horford and Smith roll with him. More times than not they pick then stand there for jumpers. It's rare to see them roll and I'm sure Teague will look for it if they actually did it more than a hand full of times a week.

[Cwell]

I just don't think Teague is used to having Horford and Smith roll with him. More times than not they pick then stand there for jumpers. It's rare to see them roll and I'm sure Teague will look for it if they actually did it more than a hand full of times a week.

True. they never roll. Once last night Smith set the pick and started to roll and Jeff threw it behind him out of bounds expecting Josh to drift to the 3 point line which he always does. Al rarely rolls and Josh never rolls at all.

[hawks21]

I love Teague but there were several times on the PnR last night where a PG with good vision could have found Al rolling to the basket off of the pick and Teague didn't even come close to seeing it. I said to myself that if Josh had been the one with the ball he definitely would have seen the pass and probably have made it successfully. What worries me about losing Josh is that if we don't replace him with another point-forward type with excellent vision, it's going to really hurt our offense.

Josh does remind me of a less-talented Chris Webber. Webber used to act like he was a point guard at times when he played with Sacremento, but Webber was significantly stronger offensive player than Josh. However, at crunch time, Webber appeared to tighten up and he had missed his share free throws late in games.

[hawks21]

I just don't think Teague is used to having Horford and Smith roll with him. More times than not they pick then stand there for jumpers. It's rare to see them roll and I'm sure Teague will look for it if they actually did it more than a hand full of times a week.

I would like to see more pick and rolling to the basket plays, but Josh may not be cooperative and rather settle for the low percentage jumper.

Teague could be better and make his teammates better, but if you have a teammate who is on the floor--40+ minutes a game--who is unpredictable then it does make things more difficult. Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook would probably cuss out Josh for not doing what he says out there on the floor. And Jeff may have to have that on-court altercation moment of showing Josh who is 'point guard' and floor leader.