TheNorthCydeRises

I think there was a quote from Drew that said that he "tolerated" Josh taking those shots, because he does so many other things from the team. So while he may not have liked him shooting jumpers, he did virtually nothing to reign him in either. That's why he was firing away the last 2 seasons. I mean, damn . . he's taken over 1100 shots from 16+ feet in the last 2.5 years. He's on pace to shoot another 400+ shots from 16+ feet this year. That's 6 long jumpers a game from one of the worst long jumper shooters on Earth. LOL . . he could actually attempt almost 1400 regular season long jumpers in 3 years under Drew. That's incredible.

Josh's total shots from 16+ feet and percentage of shots under Woody ( regular season totals and percentages only ) 2005: 162 shots . . . 26.9% .. ( playing SG and SF, some PF ) 2006: 335 shots . . . 44.2% .. ( 1st year of JJ . . Al Harrington playing PF.. Josh playing a lot of SF ) 2007: 394 shots . . . 39.7% .. ( Offensive rating career low - 99 . . after this season, Woody is determined to make Josh play more inside ) 2008: 323 shots . . . 28.5% .. ( reduced 3 point att from 152 to 99, despite playing 9 more games ) 2009: 249 shots . . . 29.3% .. 2010: 233 shots . . . 23.3% .. ( career high offensive rating - 109 . . . . Offensive rating increased in 3 straight years . 7 threes total.) Woody isn't offerend a new contract . . . Drew is hired . . . then Josh's jumpers SKYROCKETED in Drew's "Pentagle ( aka - if you're open, shoot the ball ) System". 2011: 460 shots. . . . 44.2% .. ( shot almost 41% from 16 - 23 feet, which encourages him to shoot more jumpers next season ) 2012: 499 shots . . . 45.3% .. ( career best statistical season, but Offensive rating is only 101. . shot 37% from 16 - 23 feet .. 26% from 3 point ) 2013: 257 shots . . . 38.9% . . ( offensive rating - 94, a career low . . shooting 29% from 16 - 23 feet . . 29.5% from 3 point ). Drew destroyed in one year ( really one month ) that Woody had taken 3 years to get under control.

Josh's current rank at PF in these categories Minutes: 4th Points: 8th Rebounds: 11th Assists: tied 1st ( w/David Lee ) Steals: tied 3rd ( w/Paul Millsap ) Blocks: 3rd This is the Josh that people see in the box score, and out on the court at times, that convinces people that he's an All-Star. Now for the rest of the categories Turnovers: 1st . . ( 3.0 a game ) Field Goal %: 44th . . ( tied with Pau Gasol . . who is getting ripped for having a bad shooting season, and Big Baby Davis ) Free Throw %: 67th . . ( 1 spot below Reggie Evans ) 3 Point %: 24th . . ( out of 42 PFs that have even attempted a 3 ) 3 Point Att: tied 12th . . ( w/Rashard Lewis ) This is the Josh that drives people crazy, and drives his offensive rating as a player to the bottom of the barrel.

OK . throw this trade out then I still say Ferry needs to call Mark Cuban/Donny Nelson and present this deal: Marion + Mayo ( or Carter ) + 1st round pick 2013 or 2014 . . for Josh We get the SF's that we need. We give Zaza and Ivan more PT. We still have cap room. And we get a draft pick. Cuban would do it, because he'd try to lure Dwight to Dallas with Josh. If he didn't re-sign Josh, he probably wouldn't cry about it either. Win-Win for both teams.

Wow @ the "should we just re-sign Josh" question and percentages.

Smith isn't dumb. He's an unnecessary risk taker.

Looks like some NJSI type of analysis to me. But people will take this as "gospel" because it's supposedly written by someone associated with ESPN. Having said that, Smith's defense ( especially on SFs ) has been more than solid this year. I still marvel at that game in which he completely shut down Rudy Gay in Memphis. No one should really question Smith's impact to the team. The team is light years better defensively when he's on the floor. It's the offensive impact ( the negative offensive impact ) that is the problem with the dude.

If Ferry isn't willing to trade for him now, then he is not serious. And I'll just say this. If a guy like Chris Broussard says that Dwight isn't interested in coming to ATL . . and Vescey says that Ferry is interested in Dwight . . . then Ferry needs to wake the hell up. Ferry can either confirm or kill the Dwight pursuit right now. But he won't, because he's not serious in obtaining him. He wants Dwight to fall right in his lap. That ain't gonna happen.

That plays looks a whole lot worse with the screen shots, than it does when you watch it live. When you watch it live, it would've taken a very high IQ play from Josh to get Deshawn the ball for the game winner. JR Smith was cheating halfway between Smith and Stevenson ( who was his man ). If Josh puts that ball on that floor and takes just one dribble to the hole, or does a jump pass to Deshawn, that would've been the type of high IQ play that would've given Deshawn the look he needed. But considering the game situation, and the fact that there are a little less than 4 seconds when Josh got his hands on the ball, he probably made the decision to shoot it, no matter what. And I think 95% of the players in the league would've shot that ball in that situation. On that play, I fault Josh more for not drifting toward the lane as Teague started his drive, so that he'd be in better position to receive a Teague pass or get an offensive rebound and put back . . . than I do for him taking that shot. That was a "hero" shot. If he makes it, the shot becomes his signature moment as a pro ( outside of the put back slam to beat Orlando in 2010 or the Wade block to seal a game in 2007 ( I think ). He was wide open. He had made a 3 just 4 minutes ( of game time ) earlier in that quarter. He WANTED to win the game with that shot. That was his potential legendary moment . . a 3 in Madison Square Garden to beat the Knicks. I think everyone on the team outside of Zaza and maybe Petro takes that shot. Those screen shots don't lie though. Deshawn was open and all Smith had to do is find a way to get it to him with 4 seconds left. But no way was he going to pass up making a game winner, just to make what would seem like the higher percentage basketball play.

Should've made this a poll question. Trade him to Dallas for Marion and Mayo

Definitely need a 1st round pick in that deal Wallace + MarShon Brooks + 1st round for Josh People may not like that deal, but we're not going to get equal value back in a trade for Josh, unless that team truly wants him. And most fans would dismiss a trade which WOULD give us value back in talent, but not in money ( Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay ) So what we need to do, is deal him for someone who can help us now, and possibly in the future. I'd love to deal him for OJ Mayo and Shawn Marion, and let Mark Cuban have that dream that he can unite Smith and Howard in Dallas.

The sad thing is that this trade would sell to the casual basketball fan in ATL.

Right . . . because the 3 - 0 record vs playoff level teams WITHOUT Josh Smith this year, proves that we will miss him when he is gone. Smith is NOT a superstar. That means that the talent he does possess is replaceable. His rebounds can be replaced by Zaza and Ivan and an increased effort from Horford His outside shots will be replaced by BETTER outside shooters. Maybe Korver gets 2 or more extra shots. His transition turnovers are eliminated, with Teague having the ball more than ever. The only thing that we don't have that can't be replaced, are Josh's blocked shots. But even with that, good position defense > blocked shots. If Smith isn't expendable, then give him a MAX deal. If he doesn't deserve the MAX, that means he's expendable.

That;s the problem though. If Teague did manage to get that shot up, instead of being forced to go under the basket, Josh would've been nowhere in position to get the rebound, because he's 25 feet away from the basket even as Teague drove. And the illegal screen is on BOTH Teague and Josh. Teague for not waiting . . . Josh for sticking his leg out trying to set the screen. LOL . . . nothing is ever Josh's fault. Here is how the Hawks ended the game 1:34 . . . Horford makes 2 point shot on a Josh assist . . (( GOOD JOSH )) 0:56 . . . Josh steals the ball from Melo . . . (( GOOD JOSH )) 0:52 . . . Josh called for an over and back, simply because he wanted to bring the ball up the court . . (( BAD JOSH )) 0:43 . . . Josh plays great defense on Melo and forces a miss . . . (( GOOD JOSH )) 0:22 . . . Josh called for an illegal screen, which gives the ball back to the Knicks . . (( BAD JOSH )) 0:12 . . . Melo drives for a lay up because Josh was playing for the block, instead of playing the man . . (( BAD JOSH )) 0:02 . . . Josh misses the game winning 3 pointer, when he shoud've been diving toward the basket . . (( BAD JOSH )) 3 good plays - 4 bad plays = loss at the end of the game It is what it is. Josh is 2 Face in the Batman comic. A good and a bad guy at the same damn time.

It's the same ol story because the same ol culprits keep losing us games.

Here goes Broussard .. . talking about Josh.And you hear that . . . DWIGHT HOWARD ISN'T EVEN CONSIDERING PLAYING IN ATLANTA !!If that's true, then why even keep taking about the Dwight angle?

Hmmmmmm . . . . . just posted 20 minutes ago on Twitter Chris Broussard ‏@Chris_Broussard Josh Smith's reps will speak with Hawks' GM Danny Ferry this week about Smith's future in ATL, sources say.

And Jon Barry doing color commentary . . . hate him too.

Those damn red uniforms. I hate them.

Well the case for Josh or Al to make that team, could very well come tonight. Put up a great showing, and maybe they can sneak in.

In an off the court highlight, here is JJ being a spokesperson of the Delete Blood Cancer campaign. His mother has blood cancer ( I believe it's leukemia ), so he didn't hesitate to put his name and face behind this cause. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbR5hvBMezw

Celtics aren't going anywhere. They knock off the Heat in dramatic fashion today, with Pierce and Rondo leading the way. Look for the absence of Rondo to ignite the slumping Jason Terry and a guy who couldn't get minutes lately in Leandro Barbosa. Veteran teams don't die easily. I fully expect the Celtics to start playing better basketball without Rondo. They were a little too dependent on him anyway. Now this forces others to step up, and they will do just that.

JJ tried to make a major push to get into the All-Star game on MLK Day, with his performance vs their now hated rival NY Knicks. Along with the 5 triples . . . http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=StLfqTYtkbk He made what would be the game winner, which would be officially his 3rd "game winning" shot this year. He's continuing to be huge in the clutch, a trend he started last year with us. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHfAIiyd0k8 JJ = the new Chauncey Billups

Ivan was definitely instrumental in that game the other night. He scored 7 points in the last part of that 3rd quarter, including the And-1 that Alex talked about. Ivan went 4 - 5 FG for 9 points in the 10 minutes he played in the 2nd half, with the only shot he missed being a desperation 3 pointer from beyond halfcourt. He and Korver saved our azz vs the Celtics. Smith and Horford drifted through that 2nd half, but came up big in OT.

No Rondo, which means that a roster spot is open. The East currently has 3 guards listed for the game ( Wade, Irving, Holliday ). So does the league do the easy thing, and just replace Rondo with another guard, or do they give who they think is the next most deserving player, and give him that spot. If they decide to add another frontcourt player, here are the candidates - Josh Smith - Al Horford - Brook Lopez - Paul Pierce To me, those are really the only 4 you can consider for that last roster spot. Most people think Lopez was a huge snub by the coaches, so he may be the favorite to get Rondo's spot. Paul Pierce, in my opinion, was definitely deserving, even if his team was playing sorry. And we can definitely make a case for both Smith and Horford. But if they do take a frontcourt player, that means they have to shuffle some of those combo G/F types to fill in at guard, namely Deng and George. Lebron may also have to play a little SG as well. Melo may start at PF, but he'd end up playing more SF. And Garnett would have to move down to PF . . or he may symbolically start the game, but not get much playing time throughout it. If the go the guard route, here are the candidates: - Deron Williams - Joe Johnson - Monta Ellis - Brandon Jennings With the Nets not having anybody in the All-Star game, if they do choose a guard, it will probably be between Deron and JJ. Deron has played much better as of late, and so has JJ. The edge will probably go to Deron, seeing that he's a little higher profile player and is used to playing with the superstars in the East via the Olympic team. The two Milwaukee guards are basically the same player, but they have been key in seeing Milwaukee make a push to be in that playoff mix in the East. By the way, they're only 1.5 games behind us now . . and they're the #7 seeded team at this moment. So of those 8 guys, who gets the spot?