JR Smith has anyone noticed

[edmunds77]

JR Smith is blowing up and turning into a star for the lowly Hornets. I like Childress and Smith, but think of JR Smith as the prototypical SG and Josh Smith as the prototypical SF. What a combo that could of been. I say that because many people on this board before the draft wanted Josh with the 6th pick and JR with the 17th.

[Nicholasp27]

jr is nowhere near the player childress is

don't think that points=star...

jr doesn't rebound or defend...he passes decently and can score on a team that has NO NUMBER ONE OPTION

i'd rather have a 16/8/3/2/1 player than a 21/4/2/1/.3 player

if scoring and not rebounding or defending is "prototypical sg," then i don't want a "prototypical sg"

btw, josh smith isn't CLOSE to a prototypical SF...he doesn't have the shot or handles or overall speed..he has jumps and quickness, but that does not a sf make...

[Packfill]

JR is only 19 so he has shown some very good potential. You could make an argument that JR Smith would have been a better pick for the Hawks then Josh Smith. I like both of the Hawks picks though, and it is too early in each players career to clearly say which will be better in the long run.

[Nicholasp27]

u could make the argument, but u wouldn't win

JR will never be a great defender, will never be a great blocker, and will never be a great rebounder

he could be the next 25-30ppg scorer

smoove is already a great blocker...could become a great defender and is already an above-average rebounder...

smoove is also doing better at scoring and can easily improve that in future years...

much easier to improve scoring than to improve rebounding/blocking/defending

smoove could be the next ak47 without the injuries...

again, i'd rather have 18/7/3/2/3 than 21/4/2/1/.3...

[Packfill]

Why do you believe that JR Smith cannot become a good defender? The guy has the athletic ability. Obviously he will never be the shot blocker that Josh is, but Josh is not an exceptional defender yet either - other then the weakside blocks which at times comes at the expense of opening up his man.

Again, I am very pleased with Josh Smith's progress and believe, in time, he will become a good player. The reality of it is that he needs a lot of work. The same is true of JR, he needs a lot of work. Josh Smith could become the next Kirilenko or Shawn Marion, or he could become the next Darius Miles or Kenny "Sky" Walker. JR could become the next Ray Allen or Mitch Richmond, or he could become the next Ed Gray or Ron Mercer. Time will tell.

[Nicholasp27]

jr will never match smoove in rebounds or blocks...period

blocks and rebounds are more than just athleticism...jr is almost as athletic as smoove...but it's a timing, instinct, positioning thing to get rebounds and blocks

jr could be better than smoove in the future...cause smoove could be a bust...but smoove's ceiling is MUCH higher, due to his ability to rebound and block...

[Packfill]

Saying that JR will never match Josh in rebounds or blocks is meaningless. They are totally different players and play different positions. JR is a shooting guard. Josh is either a small forward or power forward - it is unclear yet which he will be more proficient at because his size suggests small forward but his game suggests power forward. Of course the bigger player should get more rebounds and blocks then a smaller player.

Saying that Josh's ceiling is much higher then JR's is because of rebounds and blocks is like saying Dwight Howard's ceiling is much higher then Lebron's because he can block shots and rebound better then Lebron.

Again, I have no idea which will be a better player but I strongly disagree with a general statement that Josh Smith has a higher ceiling then JR Smith solely because of blocks and rebounds - especially when we are comparing forward to a guard.

[macdaddy]

Ron Mercer is going to be pissed that you lumped him with Ed Gray.

I don't want any part of an argument about which 19 year old is better, but I do like that the Hornets are running a lot of offense through JR. I wish Smoove had more plays run through him in these meaningless games. His strong suits are rebounding, blocking, dunking so lets let him work on his post play and shooting. I think he's 'hit the wall' because he's bored waiting for some offense to come his way.

[Nicholasp27]

smoove was getting rebounds and blocks from the sg position

and lebron gets more assists and steals, etc than howard...and may have more of an impact on the team as a whole

if jr just becomes a scorer, he won't have as much impact on the team

blocking shots and rebounding on both sides of the court gets the team into the game and turns the momentum...smoove just has more potential to be a better all-around player...jr should be the better outside shooter

[edmunds77]

I still think it is impressive that JR smith is dropping 20 pluse and sometimes 30plus a night at 19 years of age out of high school. I think Childress is a great player and will be a Pippen type player for years to come. But and a big but, a team can't win very often without having a reliable scorer everynight. Josh Smith or may not become that, Al Harrington is a Shareef clone, Chris Paul may get 14 or 15 and Bogut could get 15-20. The teams that make the playoffs consistently always have that high scorer which the Hawks do not have right now. JR Smith could have provided it. I still like the Joshes though. Just hard to find that scorer type player. Can't have everyone on the team trying avg 7 boards a game.

[hotboyj]

We should seriously consider giving New Orleans our #1 for their #3 and J.R. Smith. If we could do that even if it meant giving up our last 2nd rounder and Diaw I would do it. Then I would trade Harrington for another 1st rd pick.

Could you imagine the lineup of

Louis Williams

J.R. Smith

Josh Childress

Josh Smith/ Andray Blatche

Martynas Andriuskevicius

Everyone could run the floor and finish with authority. I pick Blatche over Robinson, because of his play in the Tourney and Blatche has the most upside out of anyone in the 2nd round.

[Buzzard]

Quote:

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I still think it is impressive that JR smith is dropping 20 pluse and sometimes 30plus a night at 19 years of age out of high school.

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Being only 19, I cannot think of anyone recently who has been able to score any easier with exception of Lebron. So yea, that is impressive to say the least.

Not comparing him to Lebron as a total package, just the scoring and being only 19.

[TheDude]

as highlight reel as that sounds, i'd think you'd have to have a veteran in there unless you think that childress could lead the team.

[BigDirty]

If they are the starters next year they will get killed every game and they might not even win 10 games. But it could be a nice lineup in 2-4 years.

[Weez]

ok, then let them develop seperately until 2-4 years from now. Really, what Chicago proved with Chandler and Curry is that it's quite difficult to 'train' two guys that have somewhat similar games and are both out of highschool.

[Nicholasp27]

Quote:

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ok, then let them develop seperately until 2-4 years from now. Really, what Chicago proved with Chandler and Curry is that it's quite difficult to 'train' two guys that have somewhat similar games and are both out of highschool.

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somewhat similar games?!?!?

they are both tall

they both came from hs

they both played for the bulls

that's it...

chandler REBOUNDS and BLOCKS, but doesn't score much

curry scores, but doesn't rebound or block

hard to get 2 bigs who are SO different...

[Weez]

two bigs. that sums it up exactly...does either truly create their own shot? do they 'feed' off of each other at all?

no. their development comes GREATLY at the expense of the other. True, player B can work on positioning for boards...but do you not see the 'polar' of the fact that Curry is gifted offensively while Chandler is the 'defensive seven footer?'

[Nicholasp27]

exactly, polar opposites...not "somewhat similiar games"

[Weez]

you want Smoove to blossum? at the 3? don't pair him with a guard who needs to prove himself as well...

what are the biggest knocks on smooth? dribbling and creating his own shot...dont put him alongside a similarly young player who needs the rock.

[gohawks11]

i think we should of drafted loul deng before childress.