Am I the only one worried the Smoove has not

[exodus]

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I think some people on this board are more fans of a particular player than they are of the team in general.

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Understatement of the century right there.

I dread the day that Josh Smith is traded, but I personally expect Horford to push him out of Atlanta. The question for me is how many years it takes.

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Just a tad bit premature considering Horford hasn't played his first game yet.

[mrhonline]

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Just a tad bit premature considering Horford hasn't played his first game yet.

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And Josh Smith has yet to develop a consistent handle, jumpshot, post moves, defensive IQ, and a general sense of patience and maturity on the court.

IOW, I'm simply doing with Horford what many are doing with Smith. But I've resigned myself to two things:

1. I don't think Horford can play center on a team that isn't a "hardcore" up-tempo team. (And those kind of teams rarely win championships anyway).

2. I don't think the Hawks can afford to keep them both.

For the next couple of years, things should be fine. But as soon as Marvin's extension kicks in, I expect to hear rumblings.

[exodus]

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I'm simply doing with Horford what many are doing with Smith.

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Smith has actually produced in the NBA. Horford hasn't.

People focus so much on what Smiths weaknesses are that they forget what he does well. He put up some strong numbers last year, not the least of which was leading the league in blocks.

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2. I don't think the Hawks can afford to keep them both.

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I think they can keep Smith, Marvin, Horford, Acie and obviously JJ. but if they want to keep those guys Shelden and Chill will most likely be gone.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

. . when that whole AK47 soap opera started last month.

I'm not pushing the panic button on Smoove, but I do want to see his shot selection improve.

In defense of him last night, he was 6 for 10 on his shots from 15 feet and out, and he made 5 of his first 6 shots. So in the 5 preseason games, that would make him 11 for 26 on his shots from 15 feet and out ( 42.3% FG ).

And here's something else. If you subtract the 7 three pointers that he's taken this preseason, he'd be 10 for 19 on his actual midrange shot . . ( 52.6% FG ).

That my friends, would be the BEST MIDRANGE SHOOTING ON THE TEAM THIS PRESEASON. Better than JJ's 12 for 27 shooting from that range ( 44.4% FG . . . JJ has been excellent from 3 point range, by the way, at almost 46% ). Even better than Marvin's 12 - 24 from that range ( 50% FG ).

I can definitely live with that from Smoove as an outside shoter. His problem, is that he's very streaky, and when he's off, he doesn't know when to stop shooting and take the ball to the hole. He needs to do like Marvin has done, and completely resist the temptation of taking the 3-pointer.

But as the PF on the team, he still needs to make the commitment to take the ball to the hole, to get the opposing players on the frontline in foul trouble. If he's to play the 4 for us, he has to be the attacker he was in March and April, not the Rasheed Wallace-like player that likes to stay out on the perimeter.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I got a little carried away with Smoove's shooting numbers.

Damn . . that's too bad too.

He was 6 - 20 going into last night, with shots from 15 feet and out.

He went 6 - 10 last night, which actually made him 12 - 30 on those shots ( 40% FG ).

Subtract the 7 three pointers ( 1 - 7 from three ), he's 11 - 23 on his midrange shot. ( 47.8% FG ).

That's still DAMN GOOD for him, but it puts him slightly behind Marvin. Still, the point is still valid, both good and bad, about Smoove and his outside shooting.

[HAWKEYE]

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shown improvement in his offense this year?

Seems like the board has been so focused on Marvin's summer that Smoove's so called new post moves or lack there of have not been the focus of this board in the preseason! Heck even Woodson had to yank him last night for taking all of those bad outside shots. Don't get me wrong, Smoove is a wonderful athlete whom the Hawks need on the team defensively but offensively, he is probably no more than a complimentary player. He desperately needs to improve his shot selection and his basketball IQ to not be a liability on offense and to get his shooting percentage up to where it is comparable to other power forwards in the league.

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The "Dream" and Murphy Finishing School

When the student is ready the teacher will appear. The teacher will appear anyway when the enrollment fee is paid.

[exodus]

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I got a little carried away with Smoove's shooting numbers.

Damn . . that's too bad too.

He was 6 - 20 going into last night, with shots from 15 feet and out.

He went 6 - 10 last night, which actually made him 12 - 30 on those shots ( 40% FG ).

Subtract the 7 three pointers ( 1 - 7 from three ), he's 11 - 23 on his midrange shot. ( 47.8% FG ).

That's still DAMN GOOD for him, but it puts him slightly behind Marvin. Still, the point is still valid, both good and bad, about Smoove and his outside shooting.

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Frankly the only thing i am worried about is his midrange accuracy. I am not worried about his 3 pt accuracy at all because i don't think it is essential to his game. Midrange shooting is definitely essential.

If he keeps missing 3s 1 of two things will happen eventually. Either he will decide to stop shooting them or Woody will take away his green light.

Remember that Smith wasn't shooting 3s at all his first year and most of his second. Then all of a sudden he started shooting them a lot. That means that Woody wasn't allowing him to shoot them for a long time and could revert back to that if Smith continues to misfire.

[AtLaS]

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If he's to play the 4 for us, he has to be the attacker he was in March and April

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I've already proved this horribly wrong. He was actually playing great from January through April, and was putting up basically the same numbers WITH JJ in Jan/Feb as he was without him in March/April. He also shot 50% in December.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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If he's to play the 4 for us, he has to be the attacker he was in March and April

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I've already proved this horribly wrong. He was actually playing great from January through April, and was putting up basically the same numbers WITH JJ in Jan/Feb as he was without him in March/April. He also shot 50% in December.

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Shooting 50% in December is great. But he only averaged 13.4 ppg and only had 3 games out of the 11 he played in, in which he scored more than 17 points.

Atlas, the difference between you and me, is that I don't want Smoove being a complimentary player this year. I want him to be a 20 and 10 player. A player that is a legit #2 option on this team. To acheive those numbers, he MUST be on the attack. And he MUST play PF when doing it, because he can't do what he did in March and April, playing SF.

In January, he shot a respectable 46% FG, along with 15 ppg and 7 rebounds. Once again, good numbers for a complimentary player.

February, he played great at the beginning of the month, but tailed off after the all-star break. 17 ppg, 8.6 rebs, 2.9 blks, and 42% FG. That FG% was so low, because he shot horribly after the all-star break.

I want to see the Smoove that averaged 20.3 ppg, 9.5 rebs, and 3.5 blks in March, that shot 46% FG, while going to the FT line 97 times in 15 games that shot 72% from the line. Not the complimentary player he was in January.

He played good in January and February. He played great in March and April.

[AtLaS]

I just don't see Smith as a legit goto offensive option at this time. Ideally I would love him to play the role of a Shawn Marion, a great player at driving to the hole, finishing, getting rebounds, and passing the ball. He doesn't have the jumper that Marion does as of yet, though. But of course if he improves enough, than I have no problem with him being the 2nd option. But as of right now, he is my ideal 3rd option. I just don't want him being FORCED into being the 2nd option and being faulted for not being efficient at it, at the age of 21. Marvin and now Horford were both drafted to be great players on offense, so hopefully they can handle some of the load this year.

Last season, Smith was FORCED to be the 2nd option because noone else could score, and he was nowhere near ready for it. That's why for a while I was saying this is like another rookie season for Smith because he was given the ball so much more often on offense, something he had never done before and I think his FG% suffered from it. This really began in January because Lue was no longer carrying us on the offensive end.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

Yeah I don't think Smith can be an effective 2nd scoring option on a playoff calibur team yet because of his inconsistent jump shot. But he has good court vision and good passing skills that can led to a bunch of assist if he keeps driving the ball, which is basically the same as scoring points himself. I think he's better off by focusing on playing team ball more offensively.

[Buzzard]

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Yeah I don't think Smith can be an effective 2nd scoring option on a playoff calibur team yet because of his inconsistent jump shot. But he has good court vision and good passing skills that can led to a bunch of assist if he keeps driving the ball, which is basically the same as scoring points himself. I think he's better off by focusing on playing team ball more offensively.

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I agree. Smoove is not someone you can just give the ball to and have high expectations he will win the one on one battles. But he does have great vision and passing abilities which are awesome weapons to go along with his out of this world athlectic ability...

[Murat]

I agree as well because Smoove is too inconsistent. I would like for him to do what he did in Decembar, when he avg..13pts but his fg% was high. I want to see these shooting numbers: 4-8, 5-10, 6-11..rather than this: 5-20, 4-14 and then a great shooting game like 8-12. That plus his all around game.

I want him to average 14-17pts 9-11 reb with a 48%+ from the field this season.

If he does that and Marvin keeps playin like he has in the preseason than look out.

[exodus]

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But as of right now, he is my ideal 3rd option

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Yeah i would rather see him as a 3rd option as well. If he gets 16/10 shooting near 50% that is fine with me.

Of course this is assuming that marvin becomes a legit 2nd scoring option which remains to be seen.