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bronnt, on Oct 21 2008, 09:10 PM, said:
But the question for the blogger involved running a play with 9 seconds left (which is plenty of time to work a half-court set), and he makes a valid point about Josh Smith. If you can get him in the high post, you've got so many more options because he's quick and strong enough to draw an extra defender, and that lets you find the open man, whether it be Horford, JJ, or Marvin (though I probably would prefer Josh Smith taking on the double than trusting Marvin to take the big shot).
Pass me the tums if they run this play. I'm a huge Smoove fan, but I don't want him having to make decisions with the ball when the game is on the line and the defense is amped up. Trusting Smoove to take on a double team might get him to the free throw line sometimes (which I'm not thrilled with as he's not a great free throw shooter), but more than likely it gets you a TO, offensive foul or some kind of no-call bad shot. He also might decide he wants to use his jab step or step back for the 15 foot brick. Smoove is not ready to make these types of playmaking decisions, even from the high post, with the game on the line. Hopefully he will be at some point, but I haven't seen him make the right play consistently enough in the first qtr, let alone the 4th.
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As an aside, the Jordan/Pippen comparison doesn't quite fly. The thing about Jordan is that if you played him too tight, he could (and would) drive past pretty much anyone to the hoop and jam it in. Joe doesn't have that kind of ability to beat anyone off the dribble, drive into traffic, and finish at the rim. He's more likely to put up the floater from the top of the key, so it pays to play him tightly.
Joe may not have the blow-by or above-the-rim finishing ability of Jordan, obviously, but he is great at probing the defense under control and making the right decision with the basketball. He is excellent at the pull-up jumpshot and can use that big frame of his to create space for his shot off the bounce. He is also adept at passing out of double-teams to an open shooter (though he tends to hold the ball a fraction too long sometimes).
I would say the biggest weakness in my comparison (which was not really intended to be taken literally) is that Smith is no where near the offensive threat that Pippen was in his day. And let me restate that I am a Smith fan before my Hawks fan card gets revoked by the Squawk Police.
Then again, I wasn't really comparing Joe to Jordan or Josh to Pippen in the first place, at least not in terms of their skillsets. I meant only that you go through your #1 guy when it's crunch time, and Joe is far and away our #1 guy when it comes to creating offense, just as Jordan was for his team.
Edited by jhay610, 22 October 2008 - 06:56 AM.
