Josh Smith being lazy to put a hand in someone's face

[timdawg777]

Has anyone else noticed times that Josh has been lazy to put his hand up on a jump shooter and they make the shot, but their odds would have greatly decreased if he put his hand up. Also, something seems to be greatly wrong with his shot blocking timing.

[PureGreatness]

i know people are getting annoyed by smith but this is just nit picking now.

[coachx]

Has anyone else noticed times that Josh has been lazy to put his hand up on a jump shooter and they make the shot, but their odds would have greatly decreased if he put his hand up. Also, something seems to be greatly wrong with his shot blocking timing.

His offensive game is really coming around. He is definately missing some of his lift with his verticle which is translating to less blocks but he is still finding away to score in the paint even when he can't jump over people.

Edited January 20, 2009 by coachx

[timdawg777]

Has anyone else noticed times that Josh has been lazy to put his hand up on a jump shooter and they make the shot, but their odds would have greatly decreased if he put his hand up. Also, something seems to be greatly wrong with his shot blocking timing.

He gets lazy on defense sometimes unless someone goes to the basket. Its annoying when you see people not put their hands up on a jump shot. The percentages greatly decrease. If I were the coach, I would definitely say something to anyone and pull them out of the game. I love Josh Smith, I just want to see the same defensive intensity all the time.

[Atlantaholic]

I have noticed this and it bothers me sometimes... He has done this a little every year, but this year it's more than usuall... It doesn't happen often enough that it makes me furious, but sometimes it's a little confusing to see him not contest... my guess is he doesn't want to give up good rebounding position.

[thecampster]

I have noticed this and it bothers me sometimes... He has done this a little every year, but this year it's more than usuall... It doesn't happen often enough that it makes me furious, but sometimes it's a little confusing to see him not contest... my guess is he doesn't want to give up good rebounding position.

We rather than go all ballistic like I have been all week (you know he did go for 22/14/3 yesterday) I'll instead maybe take this discussion a different direction. Maybe this injury was a good thing for smooth. Sure he can't jump right now like he used to and that is how he was used to scoring, on pure athleticism. I've coached youth sports for about 15 years and there are always kids at 12 years old that dominate everyone else based purely on being the first kid to grow facial hair. Then as that kid gets older and the other kids grow up, he is unable to adapt as he never learned the small details and skills needed to excell.

Maybe this offensive improvement we are seeing in Josh is due to him "having" to play closer to the floor. Maybe his defense is currently struggling do to him not having lift but has it forced Smooth to finally learn some of those little skills that will in the end make him a better rebounder, passer, back to the basket player and teammate.

Personally I'm willing to give up 3 months or so of Josh like defense if the overall end result is him seeing more to basketball than being the highest leaper with the longest arms on the floor.