The truth..That most can't handle

[Blunt91]

I think Childress can become a good "Spot" up shooter with practice( he has gotten somewhat better) but I don't think he will ever be a good shooter off the dribble. The main reason becaus of his shooting form. Unlessen he is willing to listen to the coaches and change his shootin form( Which I highly doubt since he has shot that way for a while) then I don't ever seeing him getting better in that area. Smoove has a better chance of being a better of the dribble shooter if he learns to dribble in traffic. I think Donta Smith has just as much upside as both Childress and Smith. Donta has better handles than Smoove and a better shooting form than J-Chill.

[Diesel]

What you are are what you are. Period.

Asking Chillz to change his shooting form or his style can be done and it will take many years and a lot of struggle, but why??

Why do all of that changing when he's already a good Sf and could be an allstar SF.

For instance... KG could become a low Post PF like Duncan, but why? His style is one that even Duncan has to admire... with his inside out game and ability to put the ball on the floor and find the open man.

About this idea of "getting better" that Chillz brings out. I don't think that there's any gaurd who works on his game as tenaciously as Jason Kidd. Hell, he's the best PG in the game... Yet, Kidd sucks at hitting 3 pters... How is that. How is it that somebody with Kidd's mentality not just "become" a 3 pt shooter?

Maybe because it's not as easy as it looks to change your game in that way.

I believe like Blunt that Chillz can become a better set shot shooter, but he's never going to be an off the dribble SG (or off the pick). Some things are natural... sorta like guys who are 7'0 and can dribble. Sure it came about from practice, but it came about over time.. That's more than an offseason or 2.

Chillz is a good 3, could be an allstar 3. Why change that?

[chillzatl]

to become a good shooter who is a credible outside threat. We're not talking about asking Vince Carter to become a point guard. He doesn't have to become reggie miller or richard jefferson. All he has to do is improve his outside shot, which he can easily do. That's not asking or expecting him to become anything that he is not capable of doing. That's asking him to expand and improve areas of his game that he can already do.

The fact remains, whether he's a 2 or a 3, he needs to improve his outside shooting. It in turn will open up the other aspects of his offensive game.

[jezmund]

I think he can definitely improve his outside shooting just with time. Just him out there taking shots in real games will improve his shot. Working hard over the offseason will improve quite dramatically, I believe. No reason he can't become a 37-38% 3-point shooter. He has the right attitude and work ethic. It will happen, trust me...

[Diesel]

Look at his natural instinct as a Sf. Most of that will Change (along with where he shoots from). What is the one surprising thing about Chillz. He's an usually good rebounder. That will change at the 2. His speed advantage will chage as a 2. His slashing ability will change as a 2. All of these things are what makes Chillz a very good 3.

What you will make is a mediocre 2.

Why punish Chillz to get Smoove on the court? Convenience is not enough...

If we had R. Lewis instead of Chillz, would you make him a 2 to get Smoove on the court too? How about if we had Shawn Marion? How about if we had Richard Jefferson?

[jezmund]

Lewis and Marion, No. Jefferson, Yes. Childress is much more under control handling the ball than Lewis or Marion. Marion is the most unorthodox looking player in the league. No reason why Josh Smith can't be a more effective player than Marion. I'm a Georgia Tech fan so I'm going to go with Coach Hewitt's philosophy in that you play the position that you can defend.

[chillzatl]

You just can't say that he will or won't be able to do this, not yet. He's got most of the tools to play both positions. It doesn't matter if he's at the 2 or the 3, opposing teams are going to put the person that is best capable of containing him, on him. Why do you theorize that his rebounding would suffer at the 2? Steve Francis does pretty well and he's a 1-2 combo guard. He has the speed and quickness to be equally as effective at either position. He has solid handles and passing ability. If he can take a 3 off the dribble, he can do it to opposing 2's as well. If anything he lacks the muscle it would take to play the SF position.

also, you keep saying "he's a SF" when the people that evaluate him and see him play every game, real or practice, say he will be an SG. The very same person that had the foresight to draft him in the first place. You're basing your opinion off of his height and limited TV games, they're basing it off seeing him play every day. Sorry, I have to side with management on this one.

I think it's way to early to say what he can or cannot do based on the limited exposure we all have to him. His skillset is too raw and undefined to say "he can only do this", at least for now.

[troubleman]

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Al is ..a 3/4 tweener..Can play offensively at either, defensively at neither. Al should be at best a 3rd option on a good team

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Al is a good enough defender to play either position. The problem with the Hawks is they don't have a shotblocker (besides Josh Smith).

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Chills is..a natural 3, has a nice post game, is an excellent slasher, an excellent rebounder and has a so so shot..Keep reading posts that he can practice and improve his shot. That is true, barely..If practice could make you a great shooter then many guys would be Reggie Miller like..

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Childress does not have to become a Reggie Miller shooter in order to become a good shooting guard. Rip Hamilton is a very good shooting guard, yet his three point percentage is horrible.

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Smoove...can jump, can dunk, has great timing on blocks...and thats it..He can't shoot, he can't handle the ball..He has no offensive game to speak of. He will improve, he needs alot of time, I don't see him being a superstar...Unless... He plays the 4..His lack of offense away from the basket won't hurt him as much at the 4. It will enhance his natural defensive abilities

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Josh Smith has the potential to be a superstar at the 3 simply because he is 18-19 years old with plenty of time to develope his game, and he is left handed which makes him a nightmare for most defenders. Smith needs to work on his jumper, strength, and his dribbling in order to become a great player. It is much too early to determine what type of player Josh Smith will become, because we don't know what kind of determination or work ethic he has.

[Diesel]

Normally it's the 2 guard who is guarding the 2 guard. When guarding a guy standing on the perimeter, it's hard to be back in the lane to rebound sufficiently.

How many 2's can you name that average over 6 boards?

It doesn't happen much unless the team plays zones.

[chillzatl]

Right, playing the 2 takes him out of what is typically considered a good position to rebound. But he's obviously got some natural talent when it comes to rebounding the ball, much like Francis. So while it might have an impact, I don't think it's going to eliminate his rebounding at all.

But that's just speculation on my part! It's just too early for us to impose our speculative limits on what he may or may not do.

BK and Woods could put him in at the 2 and his rebounds go down a few but his PPG goes up a lot. You just never know how he's going to respond, especially after an off-season of learning to play the position in a system that's somewhat designed around him.