I am going to be fully honest on Josh Smith

[Joker]

He's talented, immature and passionate. But now to what I really think. Since last season, the more I have been watching Smith, a player has came up time and time again but I keep ignoring it like that's dumb. Why? Who is it?

That player is Ben Wallace. Josh Smith resembles him. Offensively, Smith is a lot better. Defensively, they have a lot of similarities with Smith being a lot smaller overall. Both players can't really guard centers. The reason for Josh is he would be extremely undersized at the position and Ben is undersized as well. To be honest, Smith is more of a center than a power forward. The way he plays defense, and his limited (which he doesn't know yet) range plus his ability to protect the rim are traits very few power forwards have. The difference is Detroit had Rasheed Wallace who could defend and play both PF/C which meant that Big Ben could play in the post without having to guard centers. Josh Smith on the other hand has Al Horford who is much more of a power forward than he is. Horford really can't guard centers as well, he's too undersized and not athletic enough to make up for his lack of size at the position. Both players do not compliment each other well. Offensively, Smith has solid potential, he doesn't have a bread and butter skill but he's fairly good at a lot of things. Good slasher for his position, decent shooter from 15', good post offense skill, good at put backs, plays aggressive, very good court vision, elite dunker, good passer, good first step. Of course some of his weaknesses negate his positives: poor ball-handling skills, very low offensive IQ, unpredictable attitude, not very clutch, small hands which limits his mobility in the air, poor shooter outside of 15', does not fully understand his limitations. Overall, he could be a star in this league. I think both him and Horford have star potential in the right setup with Horford having elite potential with an elite playmaking PG(Nash) or an elite PG like CP3. Both are not far from reaching their potential, in fact they both can reach it as soon as next season. Feel free to comment.

[APE]

What about boxing out?

[Joker]

What about boxing out?

LOL, their not close on that. If Josh Smith ever gave effort and determination on rebounding, he would be great. I seen him do it for time to time, usually to prove a point and then he quits. He wants to be great, but there is something lazy about him. Probably his overall demeanor which has to change. Gerald Wallace comes to my mind when rebounding his mention with Smith. Wallace always had the potential to be a great rebounder but never worked on it till this season.

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/gerald_wallace/career_stats.html

I think Woody felt other things were hampering Josh more so than rebounding which was true and wanted him to work on those things. In order for him to become a complete NBA All time defender that is Josh next step.

[coachx]

Horford really can't guard centers as well, he's too undersized and not athletic enough to make up for his lack of size at the position.

http://www.hawksquawk.net/community/index.php/topic/346108-interesting-stat-about-horfords-post-d/

His defense is really better then good.

[mrhonline]

Smith's REB% on both offense and defense are excellent so far this postseason, FWIW.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

He's talented, immature and passionate. But now to what I really think. Since last season, the more I have been watching Smith, a player has came up time and time again but I keep ignoring it like that's dumb. Why? Who is it?

That player is Ben Wallace. Josh Smith resembles him. Offensively, Smith is a lot better. Defensively, they have a lot of similarities with Smith being a lot smaller overall. Both players can't really guard centers. The reason for Josh is he would be extremely undersized at the position and Ben is undersized as well. To be honest, Smith is more of a center than a power forward. The way he plays defense, and his limited (which he doesn't know yet) range plus his ability to protect the rim are traits very few power forwards have. The difference is Detroit had Rasheed Wallace who could defend and play both PF/C which meant that Big Ben could play in the post without having to guard centers. Josh Smith on the other hand has Al Horford who is much more of a power forward than he is. Horford really can't guard centers as well, he's too undersized and not athletic enough to make up for his lack of size at the position. Both players do not compliment each other well. Offensively, Smith has solid potential, he doesn't have a bread and butter skill but he's fairly good at a lot of things. Good slasher for his position, decent shooter from 15', good post offense skill, good at put backs, plays aggressive, very good court vision, elite dunker, good passer, good first step. Of course some of his weaknesses negate his positives: poor ball-handling skills, very low offensive IQ, unpredictable attitude, not very clutch, small hands which limits his mobility in the air, poor shooter outside of 15', does not fully understand his limitations. Overall, he could be a star in this league. I think both him and Horford have star potential in the right setup with Horford having elite potential with an elite playmaking PG(Nash) or an elite PG like CP3. Both are not far from reaching their potential, in fact they both can reach it as soon as next season. Feel free to comment.

Definitely more of a center than he is a smal forward. But is pretty much right where he needs to be, as a power forward. Woody did play him at center in those days before Horford. Guys like Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman put a body on somebody everytime a shot was attempted. That enabled them to play much bigger than what they really are.

Smoove plays big when he's away from the ball handler, trying to measure him for a block. But when a body is put on him, he hasn't learned how to use his size and athleticism to his maximum potential yet. He's still young though, so he has time to develop that.

If Smoove were a little tougher and had more of a mean streak to him, he could be the All-Star version of Shawn Kemp

If Smoove hustled and played with energy the entire game, he could be the All-Star version of Shawn Marion.

Personally, I'd wish he'd play more like Shawn Kemp, with the type of aggressiveness and power that he brought to the table during his prime.

Calling Smoove lazy probably isn't the right word to use for him. Undisciplined is probably a better word. Just doing someting small like boxing out, could see his rebounding totals raise by about 2 per game.

I personally get frustrated by his rebounding, more than the jumpshots. Marion and Kemp would flat out dominate the boards ( 14+ a game ) sometimes. Instead of working on his shot, improving his rebounding is the one area in which he could possibly become elite in doing.

Overall, I think fans have to be real happy at how far he's come along. It's now up to Smoove to improve on those little things, in order to take his game to the next level.

Edited April 30, 2010 by northcyde

[coachx]

Calling Smoove lazy probably isn't the right word to use for him. Undisciplined is probably a better word. Just doing someting small like boxing out, could see his rebounding totals raise by about 2 per game.

I personally get frustrated by his rebounding, more than the jumpshots. Marion and Kemp would flat out dominate the boards ( 14+ a game ) sometimes. Instead of working on his shot, improving his rebounding is the one area in which he could possibly become elite in doing.

Overall, I think fans have to be real happy at how far he's come along. It's now up to Smoove to improve on those little things, in order to take his game to the next level.

+1

Your words could be seen as sugar coated to some..........but based on how far Smoove has come I agree with the way you phrase it.

[Joker]

Definitely more of a center than he is a smal forward. But is pretty much right where he needs to be, as a power forward. Woody did play him at center in those days before Horford. Guys like Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman put a body on somebody everytime a shot was attempted. That enabled them to play much bigger than what they really are.

Smoove plays big when he's away from the ball handler, trying to measure him for a block. But when a body is put on him, he hasn't learned how to use his size and athleticism to his maximum potential yet. He's still young though, so he has time to develop that.

If Smoove were a little tougher and had more of a mean streak to him, he could be the All-Star version of Shawn Kemp

If Smoove hustled and played with energy the entire game, he could be the All-Star version of Shawn Marion.

Personally, I'd wish he'd play more like Shawn Kemp, with the type of aggressiveness and power that he brought to the table during his prime.

Calling Smoove lazy probably isn't the right word to use for him. Undisciplined is probably a better word. Just doing someting small like boxing out, could see his rebounding totals raise by about 2 per game.

I personally get frustrated by his rebounding, more than the jumpshots. Marion and Kemp would flat out dominate the boards ( 14+ a game ) sometimes. Instead of working on his shot, improving his rebounding is the one area in which he could possibly become elite in doing.

Overall, I think fans have to be real happy at how far he's come along. It's now up to Smoove to improve on those little things, in order to take his game to the next level.

If Kemp had more skills defensively and a high defensive IQ, Kemp could have been a great defender. But as we all know, Kemp's heart wasn't in basketball. +1

Edited April 30, 2010 by nbasuperstar40

[DJlaysitup]

What about boxing out?

Not boxing out properly drives me crazy - but I will say this - refs don't call over the back near as much as they used to.