This is Josh Smith

[Watchman]

OK . . this literally made me LOL forreal.

Too much catnip.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I thought it was a great article. I didn't know that Smith stayed in LA during the offseason. I thought that was an interesting tidbit. One quote from Josh especially hit me.

"I like passing the basketball," he said. "I like to reward people for good work. Every kid wants their mom to take them for ice cream when they do good. People want to get rewarded. And if they don't get rewarded, it can become, not a selfish thing, but like 'I'm going to take this shot because I haven't got any looks,' and then everybody else does the same thing."

He said this quote in the context of getting others involved, but I think it can also be applied to him, and why he takes some of the shots he takes. I think he feels that he needs to be "rewarded" as well. So as one of the leaders of the team, if he gets a wide open look for a 20 foot jumper, he's taking it, because he freely passes the ball to other people for 20 foot jumpers.

It's flawed thinking, because it plays right into the other team's hands, but I truly believe that's what he's thinking.

I've been literally begging for Josh to play like Shawn Kemp for the last 7 of the 9 years he's been in the NBA. His game should consist of constantly attacking the basket, grabbing offensive rebounds and putting them back in the hole, and posting up smaller forwards.

But once he ( or his people ) put in his head that he HAD to become a better jumpshooter to keep teams honest and become a better well-rounded player, it essentially made him a more inefficient player. Instead of working on the things that he already possessed, but could become much better at ( post scoring and rebounding ), he focused on the thing in which he was weakest at ( jumpshooting ).

Josh is the type of player who needs a very good pass first PG to create opportunities for him going to the rim. He doesn't trust Teague enough to let him create offensive opportunities for Josh. He may be much better playing with a PG like Ricky Rubio or even Jose Calderon.

It's almost unthinkable that Josh is about to attempt 200 threes this season, despite only making 30% of them.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

What fans love about Josh:

[*]Passing ability for a big man [*]Help-side defense [*]Ability to guard the premier offensive players in the league [*]Blocks and steals [*]Rebounding [*]Not a locker room headcase, likeable [*]Stat sheet stuffer [*]The big dunks and flashy plays

What fans hate about Josh:

[*]His constant settling for the most inefficient shot in basketball, the long 2. [*]Constantly out of position for a PF and hangs around the 3pt line. PF's should be no farther out than the FT line. [*]Speaking of free throws... WTF? [*]The 3 pt shot [*]Refuses to run the pick 'n roll [*]Goes away from what is working for him [*]Constantly trying to be a PG and run the fast break [*]The plays and turnovers that kill games in the 4th [*]He takes plays off. On defense, I've seen a few times when he didn't run out on a shooter. [*]He tries to do too much at times; just needs to learn to pace himself and trust his teammates to do their jobs.

Any others?

Sounds like he doesn't actually anticipate being a max player after reading this quote. That or he lacks the capacity to understand analogies. After reading this interview and watching him play, it is really hard to figure out which way to interpret this. Uhhh....I am going with my first interpretation for the time being.

I'm all for a guy to start the bidding high, but if he actually thinks he is getting a max deal he is crazy. I mean if you are wanting $6k for a car, you slap $10k on it knowing that gives you wiggle room for negotiating, but I think Josh is making that $10k firm. He thinks the weight is heavy now, just imagine how heavy it'll be if you have a max deal on top of that.

I used basically the same damn analogy on the max money issue... Josh got me paranoid that he is a member of Hawksquawk and reads what we type now... lol

[AHawks89]

YOLO

[Plainview1981]

The big thing that he pointed out was the lack of fan support which will always be true for Atlanta. The city does not support the team...they come out to cheer on other teams. That is one of the biggest detriments to us getting FAs to come here.

What little relationship there might have been before 1994 is just broken, and I doubt it's ever going to be repaired. Both the fans and the franchise are to blame. The franchise has made so many mistakes and they haven't shown that they want to be an elite team, and the fans have booed the team and they don't show up.

[Plainview1981]

My biggest problem with Smoove is that I just can't see where this disconnect is...

How can he NOT see how much more efficient he would be if he stopped shooting all those jumpers...? How can he just...NOT see it...

How do you become an elite scorer, when 40% of your shots are jumpers that hit for 30%...? It's just not his role, but it's obvious that we've been grooming him to think that way. Why else does he have this mentality. Dude should be focused on everything BUT shooting the ball...and he would be amazing. THAT, ironically WOULD reward him a max contract and shut people up.

Despite what they say in the article, I think he has some maturity issues. All the great players at some point realize what it is that they are really good and - and they do THAT. That's a big part of the maturity process as a player and to be honest, Josh has almost done the exact opposite.

Pretty much. He has been in the league basically a decade now. He showed some signs of growth a few years ago and then some more last year, but he regressed again this year to what he has been most of his career.

[Plainview1981]

Great article. His love for Atlanta is passionate and he wants Philips to be jumping and shaking for his Hawks.

They say this... But over the years they haven't played that great when the crowds have come out.

[DJlaysitup]

"I want to have an opportunity to have a legitimate shot at getting a ring. I've been successful in high school, AAU, I want to have a legitimate shot at winning a title."

I think this is from the heart as far as Smoove goes...I really do...and that's why he would be a fool to re-sign with the Hawks.

I dunno...I have been a fan of a player only to find out later that they were loony spending fools on bling and ended up bankrupt and fishing for any job they could get. I hope Josh isn't like that and has (or will) tuck away a chunk of cash for later. I wish I could put a bug in Smoove's ear and advise him that he looks like the kinda guy who might be watching the NBA at age 80.

That said - don't give up tooooo much money Smoove - but go to a team where you get your chance. DO IT NOW when you will be able to look back (win or lose) and say to yourself you had a chance to win a Championship when your physical skills were still "top notch" and you didn't get a ring just for riding the bench most of the time.

I've always been a Smoove fan (to a degree) for two reasons:

1. He came into the league raw as a cob and worked every year to get better at being a quality pro ball player.

2. He is a "Highlight" type of guy - he energizes the fans with his play - his dunks - and his blocks.

...has he finally grown up - or are these just words? I dunno.

Edited April 5, 2013 by DJlaysitup

[DJlaysitup]

Pretty much. He has been in the league basically a decade now. He showed some signs of growth a few years ago and then some more last year, but he regressed again this year to what he has been most of his career.

Seriously Hot? If he has regressed to what he was two-three years ago he would still be a very good player.

Hell's Bell's - I think Josh has basically gotten realistic. We all want him to be a 6-8 215 pound power forward who somehow dominates inside on offense - but that doesn't work in a league of jacked up 6-9 250 pound PFs.

The ASG/BK/Woody slotted Smoove into the PF slot because they were too ignorant to get a Center. THEY WERE TOO IGNORANT TO GET A CENTER. Simple as that.

It's why we have to watch AL Horford (at 6-9 1/2) go up against Curry of the Knicks (7'1")...we play a PF against centers and a SF against PFs and hope the threes fall in our favour.

This is all BK's doing.

If we had - Solid (Good) Center - AL at PF - Josh at SF - Devin at SG - and Teague at PG...we would be a fairly dangerous team.

Edited April 5, 2013 by DJlaysitup