JSmoove May Be the Most Underrated Player in NBA

[AtLaS]

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Josh Smith = great athlete with low bball IQ and average skills at best. He can't shoot, he can't dribble(which wouldn't be a problem if he played in the post, has poor shot selection and tries to be a playmaker when he's not. Yes, he's a great shot blocker but for every single great play he makes, there's a bonehead shot or bad pass. He'll never be better than JJ or Horford. His whole game relies solely on athleticism because he has no skills.

So why aren't Tyrus Thomas, Stromile Swift, Gerald Green putting up the numbers that Smith is?

[exodus]

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Josh Smith = great athlete with low bball IQ and average skills at best. He can't shoot, he can't dribble(which wouldn't be a problem if he played in the post, has poor shot selection and tries to be a playmaker when he's not. Yes, he's a great shot blocker but for every single great play he makes, there's a bonehead shot or bad pass. He'll never be better than JJ or Horford. His whole game relies solely on athleticism because

he has no skills.

That is pretty harsh.

Smith has skills, they just aren't as good as he thinks they are. To reach his potential he has to accept his limitations and focus his efforts on the things he can do well.

His attepts to be a playmaker and a 3 point shooter are counterprodutive. I don't see Boozer taking 3s or making no look passes.

[RMJ]

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Josh Smith = great athlete with low bball IQ and average skills at best. He can't shoot, he can't dribble(which wouldn't be a problem if he played in the post, has poor shot selection and tries to be a playmaker when he's not. Yes, he's a great shot blocker but for every single great play he makes, there's a bonehead shot or bad pass. He'll never be better than JJ or Horford. His whole game relies solely on athleticism because he has no skills.

So why aren't Tyrus Thomas, Stromile Swift, Gerald Green putting up the numbers that Smith is?

The only stat that stands out to me is his blocks which I mentioned he was great at. He's the second option on a Hawks team that only has one scorer. He should be putting up atleast 20pts/gm. He gets practically all of his points in transition(dunk), off put backs(dunk), and at the free throw line.

[Swish]

No skills? Players with no skills are in church leagues, my friend. Smoove has big time skills. Players with no skills don't get DPOY votes, rank high in stat categories and win dunk contests.

Last time I checked, players with no skills also don't get drafted. Your theory holds no water.

[Cwell]

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Josh Smith = great athlete with low bball IQ and average skills at best. He can't shoot, he can't dribble(which wouldn't be a problem if he played in the post, has poor shot selection and tries to be a playmaker when he's not. Yes, he's a great shot blocker but for every single great play he makes, there's a bonehead shot or bad pass. He'll never be better than JJ or Horford. His whole game relies solely on athleticism because he has no skills.

So why aren't Tyrus Thomas, Stromile Swift, Gerald Green putting up the numbers that Smith is?

The only stat that stands out to me is his blocks which I mentioned he was great at. He's the second option on a Hawks team that only has one scorer. He should be putting up atleast 20pts/gm. He gets practically all of his points in transition(dunk), off put backs(dunk), and at the free throw line. That's a damn lie and u pulled that directly from your azz.U just showed your agenda.

[RMJ]

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No skills? Players with no skills are in church leagues, my friend. Smoove has big time skills. Players with no skills don't get DPOY votes, rank high in stat categories and win dunk contests.

Last time I checked, players with no skills also don't get drafted. Your theory holds no water.

His athletcism is what makes his so great at dunking and shotblocking. When i say skill I mean shooting, ballhandling, and passing which he is below average at. If he had just average athleticism he'd be playing in the NBDL.

[Cwell]

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No skills? Players with no skills are in church leagues, my friend. Smoove has big time skills. Players with no skills don't get DPOY votes, rank high in stat categories and win dunk contests.

Last time I checked, players with no skills also don't get drafted. Your theory holds no water.

His athletcism is what makes his so great at dunking and shotblocking. When i say skill I mean shooting, ballhandling, and passing. If he had just average athleticism he'd be playing in the NBDL. same can be said for lots of players.and not all of them are as young.and none of them are coached by a retard.

[Swish]

Sorry man, but thats BS. Players with no skills aren't in the NBA. Point blank. DPOY candidates have skills. This is a ridiculous argument.

[bronnt]

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Josh Smith = great athlete with low bball IQ and average skills at best. He can't shoot, he can't dribble(which wouldn't be a problem if he played in the post, has poor shot selection and tries to be a playmaker when he's not. Yes, he's a great shot blocker but for every single great play he makes, there's a bonehead shot or bad pass. He'll never be better than JJ or Horford. His whole game relies solely on athleticism because he has no skills.

So why aren't Tyrus Thomas, Stromile Swift, Gerald Green putting up the numbers that Smith is?

The only stat that stands out to me is his blocks which I mentioned he was great at. He's the second option on a Hawks team that only has one scorer. He should be putting up atleast 20pts/gm. He gets practically all of his points in transition(dunk), off put backs(dunk), and at the free throw line.

You're absolutely exaggerating there. In fact, there's a few people who've exaggerated about Smith's incompetancies, probably due to remembering his struggles from the first couple of years and not really seeing that he's improved those skills.

1) He's a better ball handler than people give him credit for. Last year, he was beating a ton of guys with dribble penetration moves. One problem is that he'd occasionally get into bull-rush mode and guys would be able to draw a charge. Occasionally he'd make a boneheaded play, and dribble off his foot or lose the ball out of bounds, but it happened a lower percentage of the time than in previous years. His handle actually improved, and he has a solid ability to take it to the rack.

2) I wouldn't say that MOST of his points came in trasition or on putbacks. According to 82games.com, he averaged only .2 points per game off of putbacks. One thing he does extremely well is get to the foul line-5.8 attempts per game is quite solid. His FT% could be better, but he was absolutely money from the line during the playoffs, when he made 37 of 44. He's got a couple of post moves-it's not the dominant post game which is immediately evident, but his offseason work (someone remind me who was helping work on his post game...Hakeem?) seems to have paid off. His little baby hook is a solid weapon. He's able to work his way into a good position with his strength and quickness, and can use headfakes and drop steps. His shots are almost NEVER blocked because of his leaping ability. There were times in the playoffs when he was matching up with, and beating, KG in the post. That said, he does still get plenty of hustle points, and I can't see that as a bad thing.

3) How can anyone assert that the guy has no skills, and immediately follow that up by saying that he SHOULD be putting up 20 points per game? That's a pretty unresonable expectation to place on a guy who you say has NO skills. He has skills, it's just that he's often doing things which aren't his forte, like taking jump shots.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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No skills? Players with no skills are in church leagues, my friend. Smoove has big time skills. Players with no skills don't get DPOY votes, rank high in stat categories and win dunk contests.

Last time I checked, players with no skills also don't get drafted. Your theory holds no water.

His athletcism is what makes his so great at dunking and shotblocking. When i say skill I mean shooting, ballhandling, and passing which he is below average at. If he had just average athleticism he'd be playing in the NBDL.

The only thing that Josh Smith needs to work on is shot selection and the jump shot. All other areas he excels at. He's top 5 in assists (not below average passing like you pointed out), steals, blocks (takes skills to be able to do what he's done), pts as a forward (SF or PF).

Not to mention, this is strictly on the offensive end. On defense, he's already being recognized as a defensive threat, so he got 50% of the game down.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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No skills? Players with no skills are in church leagues, my friend. Smoove has big time skills. Players with no skills don't get DPOY votes, rank high in stat categories and win dunk contests.

Last time I checked, players with no skills also don't get drafted. Your theory holds no water.

His athletcism is what makes his so great at dunking and shotblocking. When i say skill I mean shooting, ballhandling, and passing. If he had just average athleticism he'd be playing in the NBDL. same can be said for lots of players.and not all of them are as young.and none of them are coached by a retard.

I agree that his athleticism is what makes him potentially great. To say that he has no skills though, is totally off-base. You don't keep improving as a player, without having skills. He can't shoot, that is true. But his dribble-drive going to the hole keeps improving. He just shouldn't have the ball in the open court much.

The "retard" coach is one of the major reasons why Smith has steadily improved as a player. He and the coaches have worked extensively with that kid for the past 4 years. But they can't make him tougher. He has to develop that on his own. If he gets tougher, the NBA needs to look out.

If he doesn't get tough, he'll always be a player who is good, but not an All-Star level player.

[Cwell]

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No skills? Players with no skills are in church leagues, my friend. Smoove has big time skills. Players with no skills don't get DPOY votes, rank high in stat categories and win dunk contests.

Last time I checked, players with no skills also don't get drafted. Your theory holds no water.

His athletcism is what makes his so great at dunking and shotblocking. When i say skill I mean shooting, ballhandling, and passing. If he had just average athleticism he'd be playing in the NBDL. same can be said for lots of players.and not all of them are as young.and none of them are coached by a retard.

I agree that his athleticism is what makes him potentially great. To say that he has no skills though, is totally off-base. You don't keep improving as a player, without having skills. He can't shoot, that is true. But his dribble-drive going to the hole keeps improving. He just shouldn't have the ball in the open court much.

The "retard" coach is one of the major reasons why Smith has steadily improved as a player. He and the coaches have worked extensively with that kid for the past 4 years. But they can't make him tougher. He has to develop that on his own. If he gets tougher, the NBA needs to look out.

If he doesn't get tough, he'll always be a player who is good, but not an All-Star level player. that retard aint did a damn thing,just like on the sidelines.Smoove leaves and works hard on his own during the off-season every year.If Marvin did something similar he'd be alot better than he is.But he settles for that retard and goes to watch cartoons.

[JackB1]

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Smith has skills, they just aren't as good as he thinks they are. To reach his potential he has to accept his limitations and focus his efforts on the things he can do well.

His attepts to be a playmaker and a 3 point shooter are counterprodutive. I don't see Boozer

taking 3s or making no look passes.

You got it!

[Swish]

The point is that Smoove has all the skills and athleticism in the world and probably alot of BBIQ, the problem is there is no application at all. He plays recklessly, that is the only problem I see. Occasional lack of effort, yes, but it is not that load of crap that he is skilless.

OK, question for all you Smoove-haters. Is he or is he not the second best player in his draft class behind, obviously, Dwight Howard?

[AtLaS]

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The only stat that stands out to me is his blocks which I mentioned he was great at. He's the second option on a Hawks team that only has one scorer. He should be putting up atleast 20pts/gm. He gets practically all of his points in transition(dunk), off put backs(dunk), and at the free throw line.

So again, why aren't players like Tyrus Thomas, Stromile Swift, Hakim Warrick, Solomon Jones, Gerald Green, Jason Smith, Jason Maxiell, Jamario Moon, etc putting up the same numbers as Smith? If skills and BBIQ aren't required when being that athletic, then obviously those players should also be putting up Smith-like numbers, right?

[RMJ]

skills = shoot, pass, handles

some of you guys get skills mixed up with athletic ability

JS is below average in all of those areas which is why he'll never make a good SF or tweener. Now if he concentrates on being a pure PF and developes a nice low post game he'd be a top 10 player.

[EazyRoc]

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skills = shoot, pass, handles

some of you guys get skills mixed up with athletic ability

JS is below average in all of those areas which is why he'll never make a good SF or tweener. Now if he concentrates on being a pure PF and developes a nice low post game he'd be a top 10 player.

JS needs to improve his skills regardless of what position he plays. He's not big/strong enough to focus solely on his post game. He needs to be able to pull his defender out and beat them off the dribble, and in order to pull them out he needs to be able to shoot. Also, to reduce some of the charges he draws, he needs to improve his handles and make better passes.

[EazyRoc]

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The point is that Smoove has all the

skills

and athleticism in the world and probably alot of BBIQ, the problem is there is no application at all. He plays recklessly, that is the only problem I see. Occasional lack of effort, yes, but it is not that load of crap that he is skilless.

OK, question for all you Smoove-haters. Is he or is he not the second best player in his draft class behind, obviously, Dwight Howard?

Maybe after Al Jefferson, sure.

EDIT: I think you would also have to consider Kevin Martin, too. Although, I would say they are tied. As a matter of fact, Kevin Martin may really be the most underrated player in the league.

[Swish]

Forgot about Big Al Squared. (He has to be AL two after Horf!)

Smoove is better than Martin. I was just looking at his stats from Game 4-28/8 boards/7 blocks/two steals.

[EazyRoc]

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Forgot about Big Al Squared. (He has to be AL two after Horf!)

Smoove is better than Martin. I was just looking at his stats from Game 4-28/8 boards/7 blocks/two steals.

Hah, I really can't disagree after being reminded. Even though his team didn't make the playoffs, Kevin Martin averaged 23.7 (46%) 4.5 reb 2 asst 1 steal. Therefore, I'd put him right behind Smith.