They can tag team him. Three headed rotation Smith/DMo/Howard on him to keep the pressure on. So long as Jones is never iso'd against him again.
There just isn't time in the regular season. Reclamation projects like this are much better to handle in the offseason.
Dwight howard had trouble getting along with Stan VanGundy also. But Dwight seems to like Mchale and has certaily matured under him. Maybe Smith will too.
Not trying to bash Josh but this is a pretty funny article. http://grantland.com/the-triangle/a...-history-to-whom-josh-smith-will-not-respond/
If he plays an Artest type role we will be kicking ass. I'm pretty pumped to see this team out there.
This. Our offense last year was elite, and part of that was because we had a guy who could handle the rock and attack the rim from the perimeter from the PF spot. DMo has been great, but he is not effective unless he is within 10 feet from the rim with his back to the basket. Smith in the starting lineup as opposed to DMo will provide better spacing.
Its over a month before the trade deadline, players are traded in Feb and can make an impact quickly. The fact that we are doing this in December will give him 50 games to get his act straight and learn how to contribute before the playoffs where we really need him. But yeah, offseason would have been ideal, you have to take these chances when they fall into your lap. I hope he plays well enough to allow the team to make a quick decision on him in the offseason, If he plays well and we lock him in for a couple seasons the next few seasons could be really special.
unfortunately that goes for almost each and every player on this roster.. so I have no problem for smith being another one of the brickers...even our best player can hardly hit midrange or 3 with any regularity...
Smith's career 3pt% is sub-.300. I'd welcome him to shoot if I were the opposing defense. The only guy on our roster who shoots worse than .300 from 3 and are still shooting a lot is Papanikolaou.
Let's just hope that Smith can have an Ariza-like turnaround. From #1 option on a bad team and doing terrible things (like Ariza was like for us in the past) to understanding his role now with a championship caliber team and doing pretty damn awesome.
I don't really get where Smith gets the diva reputation from? He may have been when he was younger but I think he is incorrectly labeled. He may be a bit of a knucklehead but all in all has been a pretty good teammate and respectful for coaches. If I forgot something from his past I apologize. Like you said though, if he does go diva for whatever reason then yeah, kick him to the curb.
