Josh Smith

[capstone21]

2004: The Hawks take high schooler Josh Smith as Jay Bilas rips the pick to shreds. "If you had to pick which guy was most likely to be a bust in the first round, it would be this guy," he said. "He has no right hand, and he can't shoot." That's followed by poor Smith having to defend himself to Stu Scott, capped off by a phenomenal exchange:

One thing that is true there...he can't shoot

[ag82]

JS is undoubtedly our best player. I don't get all the JS hate. I get the frustration but not the hate. You always knew that with JS you were getting a guy that played enough out of control that it scared both team's fans, but overall he is very much a plus for us.

I think it all depends on how you define best player, which probably differs with a lot of us on here. We have 2 guys who have been all-stars recently on this team and Josh is not one of them. The fans and coaches do not think Josh is worthy of being an all-star, which I think speaks volumes. I think if Josh continued to play the way he did the last year under Woody, he probably would have been an all-star this year.Josh puts up good numbers and does some incredible things on the court, but he also does some truly awful things that make you question his decision making. We have seen coaches or gms (i cant remember) talk about Josh being their 6th man. There is no other borderline all-star in the league who is talked about that way.A few weeks ago Ric Bucher was on the B.S. report talking about Lebron and how he can't be defined by his stats. His pure athleticism and natural gift are going to get him numbers every single game, but he has to do more to really cement his greatness. He has to show up in the 4th qtr of big games, win a championship, etc.. I think the same is true of Josh. He has this amazing natural ability and athleticism and will always score some points, grab some rebounds, get a couple steals, but he is just getting a lot of that from his natural ability and as long as he has that, he will put up decent numbers. Especially in the regular season when teams are just going through the motions, he will put up those numbers. When the playoffs come around and we need smart possessions, he becomes a liability. If he truly learns the game and plays it the right way, develops more of a post game and makes himself the force that he is fully capable of becoming, he will make all-star game after all-star game.I think its hard to say that overall he is a plus for us. In our 2 elimination games, he made 2 awful plays in the last minute that almost cost us each game (very well may have cost us the 2nd one). The turnover on the inbounds pass, which we made up for with great defense by Al and the awful jump shot that even non-hawks fans are still talking about. I just don't see how this can be our best player. Realistically, the way he plays now, he is probably the 3rd option on a championship team. (Just for the record, I don't think any of our current guys are the #1 option on a championship team, not just Josh.) Edited May 14, 2012 by ag82

[itsslomotionbaby]

dont forget about some of those asist finding bigs up under the basket and shooter on the 3 pt. line.at first people razzed him b/c all he knew how to do was dunk. then he tries to establish a jumpshot he is villified.ironically some nights his jummper brakes up droughts, its a shame some nights he is hitting the 3 better than our million dollar man.its allso a head scratcher how some nights he ends up with more assist then our pg & sg combined.I personally think the reason why he takes so many shots is b/c he wants to be a superstar and he realises this team needs one.

[Diesel]

Josh Smith is a very talented player... but to say Best player to me means that when the other team sits down to think about how to stop us, stopping Josh is a priority. Do you think Other teams are sitting there saying, we have to stop Josh?I can tell you just what Doc Rivers told the Cs...He said... Double Joe all night. When he steps on the floor, I want two of you with him. When he leaves the hotel, I want two of you around him. The same thing that happened in 2008 will not happen this year. As for Josh, hit him in the mouth hard a few times and then pack the middle. Give him the shot from outside and he will take it.There's not a whole lot of game planning to stop Josh Smith around the league. He's not Blake. He's too proud to be a guy who comes down the lane and dunks for a living. Too Proud. Even our coach says.. you learn to live with the bad with the Good. That's why we need a new coach. A real coach is benching him everytime he breaks from the offensive game plan. NO one player is bigger than the team.Even though we lost game 3, I believe game 3 showed what Drew could do as a coach. We had Joe and Teague and we took Boston (with everybody) to overtime... in Boston. Why? Everybody stuck with the offense. Had Tmac not got hurt, we probably win that game.

[thecampster]

Josh Smith is a very talented player... but to say Best player to me means that when the other team sits down to think about how to stop us, stopping Josh is a priority. Do you think Other teams are sitting there saying, we have to stop Josh?I can tell you just what Doc Rivers told the Cs...He said... Double Joe all night. When he steps on the floor, I want two of you with him. When he leaves the hotel, I want two of you around him. The same thing that happened in 2008 will not happen this year. As for Josh, hit him in the mouth hard a few times and then pack the middle. Give him the shot from outside and he will take it.There's not a whole lot of game planning to stop Josh Smith around the league. He's not Blake. He's too proud to be a guy who comes down the lane and dunks for a living. Too Proud. Even our coach says.. you learn to live with the bad with the Good. That's why we need a new coach. A real coach is benching him everytime he breaks from the offensive game plan. NO one player is bigger than the team.Even though we lost game 3, I believe game 3 showed what Drew could do as a coach. We had Joe and Teague and we took Boston (with everybody) to overtime... in Boston. Why? Everybody stuck with the offense. Had Tmac not got hurt, we probably win that game.

Every ignorant basketball post on this board seems to focus solely on the offensive end of the game (ie, putting the ball in the hole or one on one offense). There are 4 very important parts to basketball that are just as important.1. one on one defense2. team defense (knowing your responsibility)3. team offense (from setting screens, moving without the ball, being a decoy......what you do when you don't have the ball)4. floor recognition (ie...playing with your head up)Joe is a better scorer than Josh. You will never hear me say different. But Josh's 1 on 1 defense, his team defense, team offense and eyes up are all better than Joe. Horford is very close, might be better overall.This is why Josh gets numbers...not because he's athletically gifted. There are tons of guys who are athletic freaks that end up bagging groceries. How often before plays are run do you see Josh pointing people into place? How often do you see a player let their man get by them only to see Josh alter the shot at the basket or front the man in the lane? How many times to do you see Josh hit Marvin, Zaza, Al under the basket for an easy 2 or hit a man for an open 3 across the lane? How many dunk put backs, weak side rebounds, scrums on the floor? How often do you see any of these from Joe?Basketball is much more than being able to get into the lane for a floater and it is much more than shot selection. It's what I've been preaching for the last 18 months. It isn't Josh's jumpers with more than 7 seconds on the clock that concern me, it's his jumpers with less than 7 seconds left on the clock and what we did as a team with the ball before that that worries me. We have far more of those than the prior.

[Duff_Man]

Eight years and he still can't pass or dribble and has seemingly learned nothing about the game.If he would learn to throw an outlet pass and run the court, he'd be a great player.

[Buzzard]

Every ignorant basketball post on this board seems to focus solely on the offensive end of the game (ie, putting the ball in the hole or one on one offense). There are 4 very important parts to basketball that are just as important.Basketball is much more than being able to get into the lane for a floater and it is much more than shot selection. It's what I've been preaching for the last 18 months. It isn't Josh's jumpers with more than 7 seconds on the clock that concern me, it's his jumpers with less than 7 seconds left on the clock and what we did as a team with the ball before that that worries me. We have far more of those than the prior.

I also think it is just as ignorant to ignore offensive numbers like these:5 playoff games against the C's this season: .386 fg%, 0.00 3pt fg%Career playoff average for 46 games .420 FG%, .149 3pt %To say Josh is not getting it done in the playoffs is a understatement. These numbers are not the numbers of a player that anyone should want carrying our teams mantle into the playoffs. Our best player you say? Rasheed Wallace could have shot better this playoff season and he is retired. Edited May 16, 2012 by Buzzard

[NineOhTheRino]

We talk about dude as if he's MJ in his prime. He's a PF on crappy team so WTF man?

[Jody23]

We talk about dude as if he's MJ in his prime. He's a PF on crappy team so WTF man?

Really? I think the real question is this: Is the team crappy or is Josh inefficient and ill-advised play on offense what's crappy?

[NineOhTheRino]

Really? I think the real question is this: Is the team crappy or is Josh inefficient and ill-advised play on offense what's crappy?

Maybe crappy is a bit strong, but still it's a group that has never made it past the second round. Josh is just one part of a flawed collection of talent. Man I'm just tired of talking about this one guy as if he's the only reason this team succeeds or fails.

[Buzzard]

Maybe crappy is a bit strong, but still it's a group that has never made it past the second round. Josh is just one part of a flawed collection of talent. Man I'm just tired of talking about this one guy as if he's the only reason this team succeeds or fails.

When the declared best player by over 1/2 the fan base plays that bad what chance do we really have in the playoffs? A scrub could shoot better than that. You want to give Josh all the credit when we win in the regular season, but its not his fault he and we suck in the playoffs. Edited May 16, 2012 by Buzzard

[Guest]

Josh takes so much heat because we all see what he can become if he plays to his strengths, even after 8 years in we are still talking about his pottential. But he is his own worst enemy and if he doesn't fix the flaws in his game, we will all be saying years from now - that Josh Smith coulda been something really special. I want him to succeed so bad because "GOOD JOSH" is amazing for the Hawks, bad Josh not so much.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Josh Smith = Antoine Walker.

[Buzzard]

Josh Smith = Antoine Walker.

That is it in a nutshell. Toine had a better post up game but did not always use it. Josh is a better help defender. Their positives were great but the negatives drive most fans and coaches crazy...

[Joker]

Josh has more work ethic.

[Marvin24Williams]

That horrid Smoove jumper late in game 6 still saddens me

[NineOhTheRino]

Josh Smith = Antoine Walker.

horrible comparisonAntoine Walker was the definition of a one dimensional selfish me-first guy. Josh may make an ill-advised play every now and then but there no doubt he does everything with team's success in mind.

[Buzzard]

horrible comparisonAntoine Walker was the definition of a one dimensional selfish me-first guy. Josh may make an ill-advised play every now and then but there no doubt he does everything with team's success in mind.

How can you say that when he is bringing the ball up instead of passing to our PG? Or when he takes a long shot and ignores one or two other players who shoot better that are wide open? Josh is a selfish prick who happens to be one of the best athletes in the NBA

[NineOhTheRino]

How can you say that when he is bringing the ball up instead of passing to our PG? Or when he takes a long shot and ignores one or two other players who shoot better that are wide open? Josh is a selfish prick who happens to be one of the best athletes in the NBA

and the PG here is? The chance of a good plays resulting from Josh walking the ball up is every bit as likely as Teague Walking the ball up.besides...Al and Joe do the same but are never called out. Why?

[NineOhTheRino]

That horrid Smoove jumper late in game 6 still saddens me

The difference is Josh takes that thinking, "My team needs this." Antoine Walker is taking that shot is thinking, "Man this is guaranteed to make Sports Center's Top 10."