So, why can't Josh Smith play the 3 in our system?

Totally agree on the free throws bit. Something has to give between him and Dwight. Between them they took a TON of free throws this playoffs and they both SUCKED, big time. Worse than Shaq.

No team has ever won a championship shooting 65% from the free throw line in the playoffs. The Lakers/Shaq teams were the worst free throw shooting championship teams and the lowest they ever got was a little over 68%. And that was with an insane sized Shaq carting 3 defenders into the basket when he dunked on their heads and averaged around 28 points a game under those circumstances while creating WIDE OPEN 3 point shots for Kobe, Horry, Odom, Fish, etc.

So, you'll get no argument from me on the free throw thing. But Smith's free throw problem are compounded by the fact that Dwight is simply awful at the FT line. Makes it virtually IMPOSSIBLE to play them together in the bonus when it's even difficult to have one of them on the court at a time.

So I'm in total agreement on the FT thing. But I'm assuming an uptick in free throw accuracy with Smith knowing those are the 2 things we emphasize offensively, 3-balls and free throws.

So the assumption is that Smith improves his 3-point shot and his FT stroke. Why can't he play the 3? And if his free-throw stroke hasn't improved, then why can't he play the 3 against certain matchups when we're not in the bonus?

 

Yes, let's definitely put that aside because that's not the way we play here nor do we want to play that way. We want to spread the forwards out in the corners and create space for Harden.

No question this happened. And no question it will continue to happen until the opponent figures out they've got to run at him. They didn't. He burned them. If he comes back even more improved.....gonna force them to defend him, which creates space, or give him a wide-open shot that he's gonna knock down at a high percentage.

or he can do the common blow-by and drive and dish or drive and finish.

Once again, you're making the assumption he's playing alongside 2 bumbling bigs who have no shooting range. I'm not making that assumption. I'm making the assumption that DMo continues to improve on his 3-ball and when Dwight and DMo are in the game together that DMo is spreading the floor, which is what DMo essentially does when Dwight and Harden are running pick-and-roll.

Not Jones. He can't shoot. And he's not going to be here long-term.

That depends on who the defender is. If DMo is going up against Marc Gasol and Josh Smith is going up against Jeff Green, I think I'd take Smith against Green over DMo vs. Marc Gasol. But if the matchup favored DMo, then sure, drop DMo in the post and keep Smith spotted up on the perimeter. Whatever makes the most sense based on the matchups. Right?

You're describing what happens when Terrence _ones is out there with Dwight and the defense ignores Terrence and fades in on Harden/Dwight. _ones can't shoot and he WON'T shoot the 3-ball. That's not the case with Smith. Smith will jack it. He has no fear. What Smith needs is mechanical repetition.

Agreed. Don't want him shooting any shots outside the paint and inside the 3-point line. And Smith demonstrated a significant in his shot selection these playoffs. He only took 3.6% of his shots between 16-23 feet outside the paint when previously in his playoff career he took 26.3% of his shots in this area. He basically eliminated those shots.

Yes, that's what I'm saying. And that's what he's doing. He's not turning and facing from 18 feet and throwing up trash.

Smith has been a mediocre offensive rebounder for his career. It's not his forte. But...he is a great transition defender. Either our best or second best defender in transition. It's much more important that he do that than go to the glass, especially with Dwight in there.

Josh Smith, of course. He's at worst our 3rd best defender. And in my mind he's probably the second best defender. But I won't argue that. He needs to be playing 30-36 minutes a game.

No they weren't. Brewer sucked a sour egg during these playoffs. He was simply awful.

No, it doesn't. Brewer and Ariza both defended point guards this season with a good amount of success.

Harden is already at the point offensively. It's simply a matter of matchups defensively. We always try to hide Harden on the least offensively talented of the 2, 3, or 4 men and with Smith in there it makes it easier to do that successfully.

Once again, he's an average rebounder anyways. And the majority of his shot blocks come from him roaming, helping off, and recovering in transition. I doubt his blocks numbers would change. Smith is a highly skilled defender. Has great recovery instincts from anywhere on the floor. He's super athletic. And he's one of the fastest big men end to end when he runs.

Didn't mention Smith matching up against 2's. I'm talking about Smith playing the 3. I'm not saying Smith can play all the time against any matchup. I'm not saying there aren't lineups that he wouldn't be effective in. But for instance when Cleveland goes big with Mosgov, Thompson, Lebron, and Shump with Kyrie...wouldn't you want Smith out there? I know I would. Now what about if you inject Love into that lineup?? Now we've got to match up again. Smith would be vital in either one of those configurations. We can trapse through the rest of the league and find similar things.

Right now, Utah is recruiting Paul Millsap back and they're talking to him about running out there at the 3 with Gobert/Favors. Why? Well, because Millsap is a great defender, a good athlete, and he is multi-dimensional offensively with a much improved jump shot including a good 3-ball. Why are they thinking about doing that? To counter small-ball lineups and force teams like GS out of their small ball lineups. That's why. And Millsap may just have the versatility to pull off exactly what Draymond is doing.

You see, GS has the ability to go small, super small, or BIG. Because of Draymond's versatility. And they played all 3 ways this past season. That's what I'm talking about. Smith's defensive and offensive versatility. Draymond isn't a great jump shooter. In fact, at this point, I'd take Smith over him. And Draymond has played plenty of small forward over the last 3 seasons very successfully.

I have doubts about his shooting. But I know his potential. And it's a matter of does he want it. Not can he do it. If he does improve his shooting and then becomes the perfect 4 for this team...that would be great. Draymond Green is apparently the perfect 4 for the Warriors. But part of that perfect is because Green can go to the 3 and the Warriors can beat up on other teams by being bigger. And Draymond can go to the 5 and run away from teams that are big, slow, plodders.

I'm not buying this after watching the versatility of Draymond on clear display the last few seasons.

To get one of the NBA's premier defenders on the court for more minutes and thereby make our defense more versatile and more effective.

 

Maybe so. Smith is 4 years and 3 months older than Draymond.

Wonder how much better Draymond is than Trevor?

 

If he can't improve his shooting, specifically his 3-ball and his FT shooting like you said....he can't be more than a backup big for us.

I totally agree with you. Him and Dwight at the line were atrocious! We can't have that and expect to win. The premise of this thread is IF he improves his stroke. He showed signs from 3. I can't get a handle on what his FT problems are besides just lackadaisical mind set. He seems to have this thing about not thinking about what he's doing and just playing. That's fine if you have established a proper mechanical routine that works that you have trained your muscles to. And that's where I think Smith has missed it.

I think this is one last opportunity for him to become a great player. He is so good defensively. He is actually a very good passer and creator. If he could simply master his stroke he could become very special.

As long as he's here I'm rooting for him. If anybody has the talent to turn himself into a plus free throw shooter and 3-point shooter, it's him. Will he? I dunno. But IF he does....I'm thinking he'd be a tremendous matchup defensively against these 3's I'm talking about with the ability to stay on the floor because he helps the offense as well.

We're talking about a possible championship team. If he masters his 3-point stroke and FT stroke and he stays he will be a huge part of that because of his versatility.