Good Game For Josh Smith

[d2v16DKG]

:angel19: In my opinion, last night's game against Miami was a good game for Josh. I only had to yell at my TV twice when he took stupid shots. But for the most part, he played smart and within his abilities. Now why can't he do that all the time!!? The team plays better when Josh plays smart.

[buckeye242424]

I don't think people yeall at there TV when Josh is blocking shots, running the floor getting dunks, getting offensive rebounds all the while scoring at the same time with reverse slams... I'm frustrated with all the bashing of Smoove.

Flip doesn't take stupid shots sometimes? Zaza doesn't make stupid decisions once in awile? Even JJ jacks up an ill adivised shot now and then? For all the things Smoove does for this team, why everyday is there a thread bashing Smoove's shot selection. I have news, it's not going to change. I have two theories of why it goes on:

1. It's not pretty. His jumper is ugly. It looks like it's NEVER going to go in when it releases his hands. All of us, I'm assuming, have played, coached, or watched enough basketball in our lives to realize what a "pretty" or "fundamentally sound release" to a jump shot should look like. Josh doesn't have it. As soon as we ANITCIPATE even seeing him shoot an 18 footer, we cringe...when he misses, we subconsciencely become frustrated because his shot is ugly. We tend to not become as frustrated with let's say JJ, or Marv...when they take a bad shot because it's pretty.

2. Too high of expectations - Let me rephrase - Lebron, Kobe, like expectations. We see the potential Josh has. When we see games where he plays well, like last night, we expect that every single night. Again, that's not going to happen. I don't want to hear we're paying him 55 million, he should play better. There are many, many more NBA players that make a crapload of more money than Smoove does, that aren't nearly as productive. Also, he's 23! He's a baby! He's still 3 years away from his prime. Add to that, he's had terrible coaching in his career, he's only going to continue to get better.

Point being - Can we please take the 3-4 bad shots Josh chooses to take a game with a grain a salt. His positives heavily outweigh the negative. Not to mention, when those 3-4 bad shots drop every now and then, he suddenly becomes an all star around here.

[d2v16DKG]

I don't think people yeall at there TV when Josh is blocking shots, running the floor getting dunks, getting offensive rebounds all the while scoring at the same time with reverse slams... I'm frustrated with all the bashing of Smoove.

Flip doesn't take stupid shots sometimes? Zaza doesn't make stupid decisions once in awile? Even JJ jacks up an ill adivised shot now and then? For all the things Smoove does for this team, why everyday is there a thread bashing Smoove's shot selection. I have news, it's not going to change. I have two theories of why it goes on:

1. It's not pretty. His jumper is ugly. It looks like it's NEVER going to go in when it releases his hands. All of us, I'm assuming, have played, coached, or watched enough basketball in our lives to realize what a "pretty" or "fundamentally sound release" to a jump shot should look like. Josh doesn't have it. As soon as we ANITCIPATE even seeing him shoot an 18 footer, we cringe...when he misses, we subconsciencely become frustrated because his shot is ugly. We tend to not become as frustrated with let's say JJ, or Marv...when they take a bad shot because it's pretty.

2. Too high of expectations - Let me rephrase - Lebron, Kobe, like expectations. We see the potential Josh has. When we see games where he plays well, like last night, we expect that every single night. Again, that's not going to happen. I don't want to hear we're paying him 55 million, he should play better. There are many, many more NBA players that make a crapload of more money than Smoove does, that aren't nearly as productive. Also, he's 23! He's a baby! He's still 3 years away from his prime. Add to that, he's had terrible coaching in his career, he's only going to continue to get better.

Point being - Can we please take the 3-4 bad shots Josh chooses to take a game with a grain a salt. His positives heavily outweigh the negative. Not to mention, when those 3-4 bad shots drop every now and then, he suddenly becomes an all star around here.

In all honestly, when one of Josh's shots does drop, I cringe more because now he thinks he can shoot and will start shooting more.

[EazyRoc]

I don't think people yeall at there TV when Josh is blocking shots, running the floor getting dunks, getting offensive rebounds all the while scoring at the same time with reverse slams... I'm frustrated with all the bashing of Smoove.

Flip doesn't take stupid shots sometimes? Zaza doesn't make stupid decisions once in awile? Even JJ jacks up an ill adivised shot now and then? For all the things Smoove does for this team, why everyday is there a thread bashing Smoove's shot selection. I have news, it's not going to change. I have two theories of why it goes on:

1. It's not pretty. His jumper is ugly. It looks like it's NEVER going to go in when it releases his hands. All of us, I'm assuming, have played, coached, or watched enough basketball in our lives to realize what a "pretty" or "fundamentally sound release" to a jump shot should look like. Josh doesn't have it. As soon as we ANITCIPATE even seeing him shoot an 18 footer, we cringe...when he misses, we subconsciencely become frustrated because his shot is ugly. We tend to not become as frustrated with let's say JJ, or Marv...when they take a bad shot because it's pretty.

2. Too high of expectations - Let me rephrase - Lebron, Kobe, like expectations. We see the potential Josh has. When we see games where he plays well, like last night, we expect that every single night. Again, that's not going to happen. I don't want to hear we're paying him 55 million, he should play better. There are many, many more NBA players that make a crapload of more money than Smoove does, that aren't nearly as productive. Also, he's 23! He's a baby! He's still 3 years away from his prime. Add to that, he's had terrible coaching in his career, he's only going to continue to get better.

Point being - Can we please take the 3-4 bad shots Josh chooses to take a game with a grain a salt. His positives heavily outweigh the negative. Not to mention, when those 3-4 bad shots drop every now and then, he suddenly becomes an all star around here.

I think people's frustration with Josh Smith doesn't just end at his need to take ill-advised shots. It's a lack of consistency and focus that bothers me the most. No, I don't think Josh is going to be an elite player like LeBron or Kobe (although he seriously could be an elite, olympic quality player), but I do have high expectations for him especially when he has shown he can be a big-time player on many different occasions. His positives outweigh his negatives on a lot of nights, but then you will have nights when his negatives clearly outweigh his positives. Its been said a thousand times that he's at his best when he lets the game come to him, and I think last night was a solid example of that. Barring a few of those long jumpshots, especially the corner three that he airballed, he had a very good game. It seemed like he was more interested in helping his team to a win, instead of getting his numbers up like he was doing earlier in the season.

[JackB1]

My frustration with Josh is his inability to realize he IS NOT a jump shooter and needs to play on the inside and above the rim ALL THE TIME.

Last night's game was a perfect example. He was "dumb Josh" in the first half, taking long jumpers that looked like a bag of bricks. I even heard

some boos from the crowd after a few of these bad shots. Then in the 2nd half we saw "good Josh"....making spectacular dunks, blocks and that awesome putback that reminds us of why he is such a gifted athlete. Why can't he realize his strengths and just stop taking long jumpers? Until something changes, we will continue this love/hate relationship with Josh.

[Admin]

I don't think people yeall at there TV when Josh is blocking shots, running the floor getting dunks, getting offensive rebounds all the while scoring at the same time with reverse slams... I'm frustrated with all the bashing of Smoove.

Come to my house for a game then! I'm constantly doing my Stuart Scott impression with the "Boo-Yaaa" when Smith gets a nasty dunk or a "get that sh*t outta here" when he blocks a shot. I rarely yell at my TV when he does something bad, I'm more likely to pull a Woody and put my hand over my eyes and tuck my chin.

Point being - Can we please take the 3-4 bad shots Josh chooses to take a game with a grain a salt. His positives heavily outweigh the negative. Not to mention, when those 3-4 bad shots drop every now and then, he suddenly becomes an all star around here.

He deserves to be critiqued for his bad shots just as any other player does. The only time he deserves to be bashed are when he's simply not trying and that happens too often for my taste, but I still love Smoove and want him on our team for as long as he helps us win games.

[mattlanta]

Sometimes I wonder if Josh Smith's stupidity comes from Woodson's stupidity. If your player is constantly putting up terrible and uncalled for shots, shouldn't you be responsible to try and fix it? You are, after all, the head coach of the team...

[jerrywest]

Josh Smith is my elite running back who wants to throw the ball 10 times a game, and I cringe every time.

Last night he altered so many shots. Awesome game.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Sometimes I wonder if Josh Smith's stupidity comes from Woodson's stupidity. If your player is constantly putting up terrible and uncalled for shots, shouldn't you be responsible to try and fix it? You are, after all, the head coach of the team...

But he does! He constantly puts Smoove on the bench for taking those stupid shots.

At some point, Josh Smith has to be held accountable.

I perhaps blame Woody for not making the offense go through Marvin Williams more, but not Smoove's shot selection