I'm extremely dissapointed with the media this season for reducing the attention they pay to Josh Smith. Smith is your typ-ical super-athletic guy who starts out without focus and doesn't stick to the game plan. Up intil last year, he was launching 1 or 2 threes per game with a horrible asst/to ratio because he couldn't figure out his identity. He was always a great shotblocker and a good rebounder, but you couldn't help putting him in the same category as the ineffecient, ultra-athletic players who could never figure out their identity on the court like.. Steve Francis, Travis Outlaw, Kwame Brown, Tyrus Thomas, Stromile Swift.. I'm not sure I'm quite explaining he category well, but it's basically guys who have the tools but you always think "if he would just focus on this and this, the guy could be a terriffic, consistent player and worth every penny" Well, Josh Smith comes back to the team this summer in great shape. He decides to axe the 3-pters from his game completely, use his shotblocking to defend the rim rather than just weakside sportscenter blocks, and to use his size/athleticism to stay in the paint and grab rebounds for his team. He's also far more focused on man-to-man defense. In short, he's been terriffic this season and I don't think I've ever seen a young guy suddenly become sensible and motivated to truly be the best player for his team. 15.6ppg, 8.6reb, 2blk, 1.6 stl. More importantly: 4 assists (versus 2.2 TO's), 51.6% shooting, and 5.5 FTA. All in 34 minutes (less than any of his past 4 seasons). It may not be a giant leap but it's exactly what his team needs, and it makes him a better player. He has put his head down, gotten serious and is working hard. I would now LOVE to have him on my team, whereas in the past, I thought he wasn't the kind of hard-working, team-oriented kind of player we need on the Rockets. To me, what he's done this season increases his value by 50% easily. Good job. Would love to hear from someone who watches him very regularly.
Josh Smith is not a half-court offensive player, outside of cuts and putbacks he is an average jump shooter at his best and has one post move: goes right with a jump/running hook.
Much to my dismay, it only took him six years to figure out he's not a three-point shooter and that teams mysteriously concede the jumper to him for a reason. Now that he's eliminated that aspect from his game his PER and TS% have both reached career highs. Go figure. I could go more in-depth about Josh, but I'll just accept him for what he is and acknowledge the improvements he's made this season. He's like the Z-Bo of the Eastern Conference (in terms of improvement).
Yes, and he has realized all this. He is playing to his strengths now, which is what this thread is all about.
Steve has never averaged 7 rebounds and 7 assists in a single season. Nevermind that his seven assists came with 4.1 TO's. Just to illustrate how disgustingly bad that is for a PG, that's a 1.7 asst/to ratio. Josh Smith, this season, has a 1.8 asst/to ratio. To further illustrate, his best ass/to seasons were 200-2001 (1.96) and his final season with Houston (2.14 for 10 games only). That's not to say I don't like the guy or he wasn't a capable player. I think his second season was excellent for a 2nd year player. But he was never able to post a decent or average ass/to ratio, which is a key attribute for a PG... much like FG % and rebounding are key attributes for a PF (Josh Smith in this case). See what I'm getting at here?
I agree, Josh Smith is very solid, and has matured a LOT. He has found his calling as a defensive specialist and a slasher and excels at it. He is definetly underappreciated. One of my favorite players in the NBA.
<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Bqny1IUa2Wc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Bqny1IUa2Wc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> he needs more practice with the dream
Steve was not a PG... Look at DWades a/t... It is not that great either... That is the role that Steve played for our team... He led our team in points, rebounds and assists one year..............Seriously... Let's see Travis Outlaw do that...
He's a good player and he excels at what he does well which is a little bit of everything. My knock on him is that he's not a go-to-guy who can dominate for extended stretches of the game.... which is okay because some players just don't have the skill set for that. I think he's getting his fair share of props for a player that's good as a 3rd or 4th option which is exactly what he is in ATL. I don't think he'll ever lead a team very far if he's option 1 or 2.
josh smith is surrounded by guys that can play, bibby, joe johnson, marvin williams, al hortford, jamal crawford... they are tough and athletic. he's just a piece of the puzzle, an expensive one at that. overrated in my book, not a cornerstone of a franchise.
