This guy is absolutely insane; i know you have seen his line from yesterday's game: 19pts 9 blks 4stls 9assists 6reb!!! Over the season he has been averaging 3.3 blocks!!! He is only 22 and he is currently standing at a career total of 702 blocks, currently in his 4th year. Let me put it this way, 5+ block games are nothing out of the ordinary to him. You can check how he ranks to the other players in the NBA in shot-blocking: he is for real. http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/blk_career.html My question is, at this rate, does he have a chance to touch Hakeem's NBA record of 3830 or Mutombo's record of 3234 (and still counting)?
That's nice and all, but Hakeem was such a good shot blocker that he would deflect the blocked shot to a teammate to run a fast break. I don't really know of any shot blockers in the league that do that on purpose, let alone consistently.
He'll slow down exponentially as his career goes on, as he is a guard relying on athleticism. No chance.
Wrong, he is all interior..... All his points are post up jump hooks and fastbreak dunks. He takes very few jumpers. He plays PF most of the time on D. You do not get 9 blocks on the perimeter
No. Or at least I should say it is way, way to early to talk about him passing Hakeem or even finishing in the top 10 of all time. After he averages 3-4 blocks a game for 7-8 years we can talk about it.
Coming from somebody that's forced to watch nearly every Hawks game I can back this up. He doesn't take many shots on the perimeter and when he does you're always left wondering why. He has the range but he's not a high percentage shooter and his overall shot selection is pretty bad. To quote my buddy that's a giant Hawks fan after everytime Smith takes a 20-footer or deeper, "Ohhh ok. Because that's what we want, right?!". Kind of like whenever Yao takes college three pointers. He's a very crafty scorer inside with a nice jump hook and vastly improved footwork. I guess working with Dream for a summer will do that to you.
Half of his shot attempts are jumpers (http://www.82games.com/0708/07ATL9A.HTM) but that's irrevelant when discussing what he does on defense. He essentially roams the court and has great timing and athleticism, but he isn't your prototypical forward who can defend close to the basket throughout his career. I know he plays alongside Al Horford right now but I can't see him playing PF 5 years down the road when guys like Kobe and TMac at the same age have half the athleticism of when they initially came into the league.
He would have to play 15 seasons averaging 3 blocks a game to even come close..... Dreams record is truly remarkable..... Mutumbo on the other hand, could be had.....
Also, it's very hard for roaming shot blockers to maintain a high level of consistency throughout their career. Look at Andrei Kirilenko, who has already peaked in that aspect despite having half the athleticism of Josh Smith. Kirilenko Career BPG: '02: 1.9 '03: 2.2 '04: 2.8 '05: 3.3 '06: 3.2 '07: 2.1 '08: 1.8
Have you ever watched Josh Smith, or did you just look his name up online? If you wanna call those 6-8 foot push shots jumpers go right ahead, come back when you have actually watched some hawks games. Edit, Josh Smith is 240 lbs and is not going to get any thinner, I see him converting into a full time Power Forward......
In 10 years time the guy will be 32 Assuming he can average 3 blocks per game over that period, while playing an average of 80 games per season, that gives him 2400 more blocks. add on his 702, and you've got 3102 blocks in 14 seasons. That's pretty damn good. But I'd like to see him average that many blocks per game as a 6'9 player while not getting injured, and still having the crazy hops at 32 to get up and spike the ball away. Clearly he has a great feel for shotblocking - and I wouldn't put it past him to sneak up there, but 3830 is an insane number of blocks.... Just to put things in perspective here: Dream averaged 3.1 blocks per game over the course of his ENTIRE career - as a 37, 38 and 39 year old man he was swatting 1.5 shots each contest. At this stage of his career, Josh Smith is averaging 32 minutes per game and 2.6 blocks per game - those are Kirilenko style blocks numbers (which are exceptional), but Dream was something else... I agree with Dave_78 --> let's see if Smith is swatting 3 shots per game in 5 years time, then we can talk.
Not a fair comparison Kirilenko played PF PF PF PF SF SF It's a tad harder to block shots when you're slotting in at Small Forward rather than Power Forward. But I hear what you're saying about 'maintaining the rage' on shot blocking
This thread discusses Josh Smith's ability to block shots and if he will ever surpass Hakeem. I responded accordingly. If you and baller4life want to talk about his jump hooks and how many Hawks games you've seen, go right ahead.
Your the one that said half of his shots are jumpers, And you were called out. You also said he played primarily on the perimeter, And you were called out. Deal with your false statements, and research a bit before you post about something you don't know next time.
Just being fair and accurate, that's all. He doesn't play on the perimeter on offense. He doesn't guard perimeter players on defense. I'm not sure where the ambiguity is but I think we all understand each other now. As for the question itself, I wouldn't be concerned at this time. 700+ blocked shots by the age of 22 in his 4th season is undoubtedly impressive but he's still in the Kirilenko boat, in my mind.