Why Smith shouldn't shoot 3s

[exodus]

Last game some people couldn't understand why I criticized Smith for shooting 3s. I guess their reasoning is that if we win and Smith scores a lot it doesn't matter.

It doesn't work that way. We don't have many stars on this team and in order for the Hawks to become legit contenders we will probably need smith to become one. He won't become a star until he learns to play smart.

So far in the series Smith is 3-17 from 3. Tonight he was 0-4. He also had a turnover when he was camped behind the 3 pt line and then, after the catch, tried to drive and stepped out of bounds. Those were 5 wasted posessions.

On his other shots he was 4-9 from the field which doesnt' look that good until you consider that he got to the line 10 times, making all 10. That is 18 pts on 9 shot attempts.

You can't get to the line very often taking 3s, especially when the other team is leaving you wide open and not trying to close out.

Another major issue is offensive rebounding. Smith is averaging only 1.3 offensive rebounds in the series. Considering how poorly we have shot overall that is pretty lame. By contrast Horford is averaging 3 offensive rebounds per game. You aren't going to get many offensive rebounds standing at the 3 pt line. Smith could be a terror on the offensive glass if he actually tried to be.

[thefloydian]

Yep.

Just wait though, as soon as he lucks into another 3-6 people will be coming out of the woodwork to say how right they were about his 3-point shooting.

[bronnt]

It's not just three pointers, it's any square up jump shot. Check out his shot chart from tonight. All four of his makes were inside the paint. All 9 of his misses were outisde the paint. Moreover, he got the line 10 times by driving toward the basket aggressively. Boston is willing to sit back and let him take jump shots if he's going to miss 9 of them without hitting a single one. He has to have some perspective on what's working and what isn't.

[thefloydian]

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It's not just three pointers, it's any square up jump shot. Check out his shot chart from tonight. All four of his makes were inside the paint. All 9 of his misses were outisde the paint. Moreover, he got the line 10 times by driving toward the basket aggressively. Boston is willing to sit back and let him take jump shots if he's going to miss 9 of them without hitting a single one. He has to have some perspective on what's working and what isn't.

Yeah. I really wish I knew what was going on in that guy's head. Does he just not realize he never makes a jump shot?

I don't get it.

[exodus]

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It's not just three pointers, it's any square up jump shot. Check out his shot chart from tonight. All four of his makes were inside the paint. All 9 of his misses were outisde the paint. Moreover, he got the line 10 times by driving toward the basket aggressively. Boston is willing to sit back and let him take jump shots if he's going to miss 9 of them without hitting a single one. He has to have some perspective on what's working and what isn't.

I don't mind him shooting a midrange J if he actually tries to drive and gets stopped. I can live with that. It is the 3s and long 2s i can't stand.

He should also work on the Duncan bank shots from the side. He might be able to actually make some of those.

[IonSen88]

Let's just be honest; Josh Smith cannot shoot and the lucky shots he drains won't change that. His passing is suspect too. I'd just prefer to keep him under the basket or flying to it...

[Johnnybravo4]

He has to shoot. If he doesn't shoot outside shots there is nothing to keep a defender from being halfway honest. I don't care if you are Lebron or MJ you cant drive when everyone has collapsed into the lane...it is a charge waiting to happen. This is what Detroit finally learned about Philly.

[AHF]

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It's not just three pointers, it's any square up jump shot. Check out his shot chart from tonight. All four of his makes were inside the paint. All 9 of his misses were outisde the paint. Moreover, he got the line 10 times by driving toward the basket aggressively. Boston is willing to sit back and let him take jump shots if he's going to miss 9 of them without hitting a single one. He has to have some perspective on what's working and what isn't.

I don't mind him shooting a midrange J if he actually tries to drive and gets stopped. I can live with that. It is the 3s and long 2s i can't stand.

He should also work on the Duncan bank shots from the side. He might be able to actually make some of those.

This is my view. Keep working on your jumper but stick to the midrange shots for now as far as jump shots go. Good original post.

[bronnt]

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He has to shoot. If he doesn't shoot outside shots there is nothing to keep a defender from being halfway honest. I don't care if you are Lebron or MJ you cant drive when everyone has collapsed into the lane...it is a charge waiting to happen. This is what Detroit finally learned about Philly.

So an 0-9 jumpshooting night keeps the defense honest on him? They're worried about him pulling up and throwing a nother brick, so they won't collapse down on him anyway? I think the Celtics are already quite happy to let him pull up and take a jumpshot. His form isn't very good-I can't really put my finger on it, but his delivery always looks disjointed to me. I think he might actually use his elbow instead of his wrist for most of the action.

At any rate, his good shooting nights are FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. Teams should already know this about him if they do their scouting. He's an enthusiastic jumpshooter, but a poor one. He's almost always money in the paint, regardless of what teams know about him. He's like Lebron in that when he decides to get to the basket, it's really tough to stop him because of his athletic ability.

I'd rather he not even take mid range jumpshots. Why not just get tot he hole and put the burden on the other team to defend you? Get yourself to line young man, and see if you can't get some foul trouble on KG, Powe, and Perkins.

[Admin]

to refute this? You can't because it's dead on. Until he learns that he isn't a 3pt shooter and shouldn't take them unless there is only a couple of seconds on the clock he will never become a true star like you said we need him to become. If he would just fake the jumper and take his man off the dribble he is almost unstoppable.

[exodus]

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He has to shoot. If he doesn't shoot outside shots there is nothing to keep a defender from being halfway honest. I don't care if you are Lebron or MJ you cant drive when everyone has collapsed into the lane...it is a charge waiting to happen. This is what Detroit finally learned about Philly.

I am sure missing his last 10 3s will keep the defense honest.

[thefloydian]

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He has to shoot. If he doesn't shoot outside shots there is nothing to keep a defender from being halfway honest. I don't care if you are Lebron or MJ you cant drive when everyone has collapsed into the lane...it is a charge waiting to happen. This is what Detroit finally learned about Philly.

I don't think you understand the idea of "keeping them honest" if you think bricking 3 after 3 is going to get it done.

[Johnnybravo4]

I am curious of what you want him to do if he is wide open and his man is standing in the lane? Run over the dude for a charge? He is a basketball player. He is not a 7 footer. He has to take the shot if he is open period. If he doesn't shoot then he should be benched. I swear you all watch games like they play on playstation.

The real question is why do we run an offense that results in Josh Smith having to take perimeter shots? He shouldn't be out there. He should be inside.

[exodus]

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I am curious of what you want him to do if he is wide open and his man is standing in the lane?

First of all he shouldn't be standing behind the 3 point line in the first place. Secondly if he does get it there and his man is in the lane there is no rule saying that he can't dribble closer to the basket.

The Celtics will let Smith shoot open 3s all day long. That is their best defense against him.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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I am curious of what you want him to do if he is wide open and his man is standing in the lane?

First of all he shouldn't be standing behind the 3 point line in the first place. Secondly if he does get it there and his man is in the lane there is no rule saying that he can't dribble closer to the basket.

The Celtics will let Smith shoot open 3s all day long. That is their best defense against him.

As much as I like Smith play on the defensive side... he has to resist the urge to shoot the 3 pointer... I don't get why he's standing on the outside when he's not a good outside shooter... he should be on the inside getting offensive rebounds and maybe on the receiving end of good passes so he can jam it in.

He should take a look at how Amare plays on offense.

[exodus]

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He should take a look at how Amare plays on offense.

This reminds me of something i meant to bring up.

I think Amare is a good example for both Smith and Horford the way he uses his quickness against bigger players and is constantly attacking the rim.

One of Smiths problems is that when he drives he frequently shoots quick, off balance shots over opposing bigs. Instead he needs to stay under control, keep his pivot foot and use his athleticism and fakes to work around them. Smith has done that very well a few times in this series with good results and i didn't see much of that from him during the season.

He can take contact well and if he can learn to be more patient and under control when he gets inside he can be a really tough guy to guard.

[Admin]

It also helps that Amare is either the best or damn close to it among big men at the mid-range shot. He almost never takes a 3 because he knows he isn't a guard but there isn't a big in the league that I think would beat him in a mid-range shooting contest. With him being that good from that range they have to honor that shot. I can definitely see Al getting there but I'm not sold on Smith ever getting there with the way he currently plays.

[TheTruth]

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I am curious of what you want him to do if he is wide open and his man is standing in the lane? Run over the dude for a charge? He is a basketball player. He is not a 7 footer. He has to take the shot if he is open period.

If he doesn't shoot then he should be benched. I swear you all watch games like they play on playstation.

The real question is why do we run an offense that results in Josh Smith having to take perimeter shots? He shouldn't be out there. He should be inside.

That is the dumbest azz thing I have read in a while. If Duncan gets the ball at the top around the 3 point line, and his man backs off to give some space, should Duncan then shoot the 3 because he is open? Come on man. Get real. You play to your strengths...and any jumper past midrange surely does not qualify as a strength. But you are right, why Smith is continually camped out around the 3 point line is ridiculous. Part of it is on Smith for being a dumbazz and the other part is on Woodson for continually letting it happen.

[bronnt]

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I am curious of what you want him to do if he is wide open and his man is standing in the lane? Run over the dude for a charge? He is a basketball player. He is not a 7 footer. He has to take the shot if he is open period. If he doesn't shoot then he should be benched. I swear you all watch games like they play on playstation.

The real question is why do we run an offense that results in Josh Smith having to take perimeter shots? He shouldn't be out there. He should be inside.

There's many, many different things he can do that are better than throwing up airballs. Al Horford also gets the ball on the outside on occasion with nobody near him, and he never throws up a three pointer. Sometimes Shaq pops out to get the ball at the top of the key-should he be throwing up treys?

If Josh has the ball with a lot of open space at the top of the key, he should make his defender pay for it. He can drive in to the elbow and force the defender to come out to him. If he comes out to meet Josh, his momentum is moving in the wrong direction, and Josh can just blow by him on the way to hoop. If the guy hangs back, Josh needs to go all the way into the paint and draw an extra defender and then pass out to draw the extra man. Or he could drive at an angle across the line, getting his man lost in traffic.

If he's that wide open, he can just stay where he is and the ball off to JJ while setting up a screen at the same time. He could stay where he is, pass the ball off to a guard, and then find an position to isolate and get the ball back.

I'd love to have a whiteboard here and draw up a dozen more plays in which Josh Smith has the ball, wide open, at the top of the key. Any of them is better than wasting the possession on a jump shot that has a 25% of going in.

[Johnnybravo4]

Yeah because the best way to shoot when you are not a good shooter is to get closer to your defender.

Besides I'd rather have smoove shoot 3's than midrange J's. Most NBA players are better 3 pt shooters than midrange shooters. It is a symptom of playground culture. Go to Run N' Shoot tonite and watch a game. I bet you will see most people either try to drive or shoot a 3...which is funny because 3's don't even count in streetball.