Stop Wit the Josh Wants to Be a 3 Talk!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LastDon]

Josh is jus doing what any tweener should do and that is work on your entire a game. The key to being a successful tweener in the league is finding what position puts you at an advantage offensively.

Josh advantage is clearly at the 4 which allows him to get defensive rebounds, initiate the fast break with his dribble and successfully beat other 4s on the break for dunks and layups. Analize the game squawkers and you will see that this is Joshes biggest asset!!! Basically this is his go to move besides catching alleys, put backs and spot up shooting.

But please stop wit the 3 talk squawkers!!! Josh is a tweener 4/3. The minutes he plays at the 3 should only be in spots because he is not that quick and he doesn't have any effective off the dribble moves. However, he is able to beat 4's with his limited dribble drive moves because he is quicker than most 4's. Anybody that watches the game knows that when Josh is at the 3 you should expect alot of pull up jumpers!!!!!

I posted this 3 or 4 times last season. JOSH PLAYS BETTER AT HIS NATURAL WEIGHT OF 235!!! At the beginning of last year when he was bigger his game suffered tremendously because he doesn't have the bounce. but I seem to be the only one that notice that amongst all you non game watchers/boxscore readers!!!!! ''Box Score Readers'' find the stat that shows the number of dunks Josh had in the first half of the season compared to the second half. I bet that he had more dunks in the second half of the season when he was down to his natural 235 playing weight.

P.S. IF YOU DON'T HAVE LEAGUE PASS OR GO TO THE GAMES IN PERSON SHUT UP TALKING BOUT THE HAWKS..CAUSE YOU'RE NOT A HAWKS FAN!!!!!!!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST THE EAST IS MUCH STRONGER BUT WE MAKING THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR!!!!! WATCH!!!!

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!

[DJlaysitup]

as far as our team goes.

Logically we will trade for Pau Gasol. He doesn't want to be a 5. So we will have a borderline 5 - an outstanding 4 and an outstanding 3. Our 2 is an all-star. We just need a 1.

[Diesel]

Until Josh sees himself as a 4, then this argument is moot. Josh shot more 3 pters than Marvin last season. We have absolutely no inside presence with Josh.

I think even our GM figured, it's best to draft a PF.... because we need an inside presence.

Let's stop playing Musical chairs with these guys and let them play where their skillset dictate.

[LastDon]

[DJlaysitup]

Ooops, missed my edit time...but as far as the 1 goes we have Speedy, AC, TL and others. Not the greatest but what the hay.

[DJlaysitup]

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....Let's stop playing Musical chairs with these guys and let them play where their skillset dictate.

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yep.

[DJlaysitup]

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...play where their skillset dictate.

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Hit it right on the button.."skillset"...this is not track and field...you have to be able to play. LB didn't get there off of anything other than shooting. I remember he went over to the bench in the 3-point contest and asked his fellow contestants - "Who is gonna come in second".

[vdunkndunk]

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Let's stop playing Musical chairs with these guys and let them play where their skillset dictate.

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I agree. But to me, Josh Smith's skillset dictates that he should be a 4. He can't really shoot or dribble, he's not quick for a 3, and he doesn't defend on the perimeter all that well, but he does rebound and block shots. And like the first poster said, he best utilizes what little ballhandling he does have when he's matched up against bigger, slower players.

Against 4's he can run in transition or turn and face and beat them off the dribble; against 3's he takes (and misses) way too many jump shots and hovers around on the outside where he can't get as many garbage points. If he could just add a bit of a back to the basket game he could be a very effective new breed PF in the NBA.

[LastDon]

You are one of the few people that actually watch the games so you have to see this kid inability to create for himself in the half court when at the 3.

If he plays more 3 this year that just means that he will hoist even more 3s than last year which would give us little to no chance of making the playoffs.

Im not from Atlanta but the problem I have with most hawk fans from Atlanta is that they see Josh Smith as being a potential superstar.

Don't get me wrong I love Josh Smith!!! I love the Hawks!!!, but Josh Smith will never be a superstar because his Jumpshot will never be pure and he doesn't penetrate well enough in the half court to be a superstar. He might make a few allstar games because of his growing fan base but he doesn't have the skill set to be a superstar.

If josh looses his jumping ability then he wouldn't even have the skills to play in the cba. His skills aren't that good Diesel, open your eyes and see it. To his credit he is extremely confident and he plays with energy. He is also one of the greatest atheletes the league has ever seen. However, those qualities dont make a superstar. Superstars have skills. He will be a good highflying tweener 4 but never a superstar.

What makes josh successful is that when he gets that rebound on D he doesn't have to wait on the guard to get the ball to start the break. He starts the break on his own with his dribble all the way to about center court. Then he passes to the guard and fill the lane for the highlight finish. This is his advantage at the 4 and most teams cant game plan for it because most 4s don't have the ability to guard in the full court.

[DJlaysitup]

agree V...problem is...how do we make our team better?

[DJlaysitup]

Did you watch the 2nd half of the season after Josh's operation?

He took over the games.

[Peoriabird]

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Let's stop playing Musical chairs with these guys and let them play where their skillset dictate.

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I agree. But to me, Josh Smith's skillset dictates that he should be a 4. He can't really shoot or dribble, he's not quick for a 3, and he doesn't defend on the perimeter all that well, but he does rebound and block shots. And like the first poster said, he best utilizes what little ballhandling he does have when he's matched up against bigger, slower players.

Against 4's he can run in transition or turn and face and beat them off the dribble; against 3's he takes (and misses) way too many jump shots and hovers around on the outside where he can't get as many garbage points. If he could just add a bit of a back to the basket game he could be a very effective new breed PF in the NBA.

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Agreed! It would be a waste to make Smoove a perimeter defender! On offense, his handles and shooting aren't good enough to play on the perimeter

[LastDon]

You are one of the view that seem to analize his game instead of jus watching the highlights.

[thesheedera]

Smith is one of those guys that I think tweener is a perfect description for, and not in a bad way. He's still young and raw, though he's lightyears more developed and polished than when he was drafted. Clearly he's a hard worker willing to do what it takes.

It can't happen overnight, but if you're a fair judge you have to admit that he's been developing beyond reasonable expectations.

He can be a PF, he can be a SF. He's not either yet, but he's a little of both. If he wants to dominate at one of those positions I think he could dedicate himself to it and do it.

Looks to me like he's going for both though - trying to build his PF and SF game concurrently.

In the long run the more well rounded he is the better for this team.

I don't care if he starts at SF or at PF, he's gonna help this team as a forward one way or another. Start him with Marvin when the matchup dictates it. Start him with Horford (or Shelden) when the matchup dictates that. But he needs to be in there early and often.

[Diesel]

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He can't really shoot or dribble, he's not quick for a 3, and he doesn't defend on the perimeter all that well, but he does rebound and block shots. And like the first poster said, he best utilizes what little ballhandling he does have when he's matched up against bigger, slower players.

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He block shots but so does Shawn Marion. Smoove doesn't play defense well for a 4. Neither does he have any type of inside game. Do you wonder why our team FG% is low and getting lower? It is because there's nobody scoring down low. Smoove plays High Post as if he were a Sf.

Smoove is closer to a three than he is a 4. Most of it is mentality. Smoove doesn't want to go in low and do the "dirty work".

[mrhonline]

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Until Josh sees himself as a 4

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You know what would've be tremendous? If Josh Smith had've spent some time working with Hakeem Olajuwon this summer while he was in Houston.

That would have been swell.

[DJlaysitup]

If you want the best team...JS should be a 3

[Diesel]

Look. If you put him at the four, he will still take the shots from outside. IF you put him at the 3, he will take outside and midrange shots in the flow of an offense.

Didn't you notice the difference in our offense this year. Last year (2005-2006)... Al Harrington played down low and he scored from the low post (along with Zaza).. When we moved Al and put Smoove in at 4, there was so much talk about how playing 4 is his natural position. Well Hell, he put up a record # of 3 pters for himself at 4. He doesn't like to bang... AND WORST OF ALL... He let players get their position so that he can go for the blocks that we all love.

How many times did Smoove let the offensive PF work in low... get position, watch the pass come in and try for the block attempt. That mighta worked in HS, but by the time you have an NBA quality PF, the guy already knows how to get his spot and score on anybody....

So offensively and defensively there's a bbIQ block there.. He wants to be a Sf... Not a PF. I think he has alluded to this since he's been here.

Like I see with most of our players, we play better with a running game. Woody plays the walk it up game and all our flaws are out there for everybody to see. Still, until he has a change of MIND, I think Smoove is best suited for 3.

[DJlaysitup]

Gasol will be the 4,

[LastDon]

Please believe that Marvin/Josh will start. If anything we need to replace Claxton/Zaza with Law/Horford.

Claxton starting is good though because even though he is not nearly as good Law he is better suited to start. The reason is because he plays solid D and isn't looking to score. But there shouldn't be no way in hell that Za Za starts this year in front of Horford or sheldon!!!!

I would preferr Horford since he is 6'10