JR. vs J-Smooth

[LastDon]

I understand that it's kind of unfair to judge these two players since I've only seen both of them once and that was in the Mcdonald All American Game but I will anyway.

JR Smith is a young player who has tremendous potential with his athletic ability and his long range shooting. He has a defined position and with improved ball handling, court awareness and strength could be a superstar in this league at the 2.

Josh Smith on the other hand is a player who in my opinion is a guy that has potential but for right now is just a athelete with limited skills offensively. He doesn't have a defined position but could develop into a good player at the 3 or the 4.

I think that Josh Smith was definitely more of a gamble than JR Smith because JR is already a good shooter and great athelete and he is fresh out of high school in comparison to Josh Smith who is just an athelete which at this point could translate into a few dunks, rebounds, and blocks

I think BK made a mistake by taking Josh Smith as a PR move for the city of Atlanta. The expirement failed with Glover and it's a big posiblity it could fail again.

[KBatPCSOM]

JR Smith is a chucker with limited handles.

Right now, Josh Smith is more athletic and has better overall ball handling and defensive ability. Josh Smith showed during the summer league that the question marks about his "skills" were overblown.

[emeans]

Josh Smith with Limited Offensive Skills??? Where did you get this from. The only thing Josh Smith is lacking right now is a little confidence, age and playing time.

He showed game after game that he can be potent offensively and defensively in Summer League. He can shoot the 3, mid range and slam it down consistently. Give him time to develop his game and get some confidence on this level. He will start to shine.

This was not a publicity move for the city of Atlanta. Everyone was shocked he was still on the board at 17. He was a Top 10 pick weeks before that, even rated as high as No. 2.

In terms of potential, he was ranked higher than JR Smith. JR didn't decided to go pro until he had a few nice High School All-Star games.

This kid will turn out to be a superstar....give it time!!

[Nicholasp27]

jr only got to go pro because he was hot from the 3 during the McDonald's Allstar game...otherwise he'd be in college right now

josh smith was always a lottery pick and was as high as #2...however, a report came out that said:

a) he couldn't dribble with his right hand

b) he couldn't play defense

c) he wouldn't listen

d) he got down on himself easily

the summer league and coach woodson's comments thus far say all of those are wrong...during the summer league, the press at the games (which usually bash the hawks) said that he had very good handles with both hands...they also said he could play very good defense (and he was 2nd in the league in blocks, even tho he is a SF!!)

so we got lucky that he got the bad press and dropped so low...as he woulda been worth a 6 pick, but we got him at 17!

[emeans]

Exactly!!! I couldn't have explained it better!!

[Employee8]

Could we have another "Paul Pierce" situation on our hands here?

It happened with Boston.....Maybe we hit the Jackpot here, too.

[Weez]

Well, one thing he didn't do tonight was 'lose confidence,' as he continued to take shots after several bad misses. He simply looks lost out there. Think about this ~ a three year player, and ncaa all-american JChill was 'wowed' by the pace of the game in the NBA...now think about JSmooth who only played one year of topnotch ball IN HS ~ he simply isn't sure what's going on. When left one on one, he does ok with hitting shots, getting them off...but his positioning and general movement on defnse were off, though it looked like he was 'trying.'

[Employee8]

Well at this point of his career, that's what he should do : TRY

[Weez]

yep, I agree. just hope that he's trying in the right ways, such as continuing to work on his handles (how many times did he dribble it off his opponents foot/lose his dribble last night? ~ yes, I realize he's scared to a large degree right now)...but he needs to realize that in 'learning the game' it shouldn't come at the expense of furhter development of basic skills.

[LastDon]

Personally, I feel that so far in the early stages of Josh Smith's career he is a tweener. At this point his game reminds me alot of Ed O'bannon because both players lack the explosiveness to beat their man off the dribble when playing the 3 and both lack the size to be a 4 in the league.

I'm not saying that Josh Smith isn't capable of making improvements in the flaws in his game but I just think the risk/reward factor was much greater with him than with JR. During the Mcdonalds Allstar game it was quite obvious that JR game is better suited for the NBA.

Lastly, JR Smith is shorter than J-Smooth but he has more athletism because he has a 44 inch vertical.