ESPN interview with Josh

ATLHawksfan21 · Post #1 » by **ATLHawksfan21** » Wed Apr 3, 2013 11:11 pm

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/90867 ... josh-smith

Post #2 » by **Jamaaliver** » Thu Apr 4, 2013 12:36 am

Good article.

GrimeyKidd · Post #3 » by **GrimeyKidd** » Thu Apr 4, 2013 10:42 pm

I hope this article kills some smoove haters

Post #4 » by **ATL Boy** » Fri Apr 5, 2013 12:20 am

Beautifully written

Post #5 » by **Jamaaliver** » Fri Apr 5, 2013 12:51 am

GrimeyKidd wrote:I hope this article kills some smoove haters

You know Grimey, it really did...

But then I watched the game last night. And all those fuzzy feelings went away.

9 years is long enough.

Rip2137 · Post #6 » by **Rip2137** » Fri Apr 5, 2013 12:53 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:
GrimeyKidd wrote:I hope this article kills some smoove haters

You know Grimey, it really did...

But then I watched the game last night. And all those fuzzy feelings went away.

9 years is long enough.

Whats funny, I was watching the game and thinking "Man any goodwill he had from that article is going away one jumper at a time" as he took two atrocious jumpers in the 3rd.

The thing is though, even with his couple of bad shots, his passing and D were what had us in the game. He and the other starters went to the bench and it was OVAH.

geeman · Post #7 » by **geeman** » Sat Apr 6, 2013 1:29 pm

This is from a blog on ESPN

Smith represents a dilemma. On one hand, he offers a unique skill set in terms of being an elite defender (one of only six players in the league averaging at least 1.0 block, 1.0 steal and a defensive rebound percentage of 20 or higher) who also fits perfectly alongside Al Horford in Atlanta's frontcourt. On the other hand, he has a penchant for mood swings and aspirations that extend beyond his effective abilities. Smith is incredibly efficient around the rim, but takes a lot of low-efficiency shots from the perimeter; moreover, he also tends to be a ball-stopper, opting for isolation matchups on the perimeter.

Regardless, he can cause matchup problems. His agent will compare him to combo forwards like Nicolas Batum ($11.5 million a year) -- and point out Smith's versatile production -- but I'd argue that his production still doesn't warrant a maximum allowable contract, which would pay him close to $18.9 million per year. A four-year deal with an AAV of $14 million per year would be the most I'd commit to Smith, with a player option that would allow him to cash in one last time in free agency should he choose.

PLAYER CARD

Post #8 » by **Jamaaliver** » Sat Apr 6, 2013 4:44 pm

geeman wrote:This is from a blog on ESPN

Smith represents a dilemma. On one hand, he offers a unique skill set in terms of being an elite defender (one of only six players in the league averaging at least 1.0 block, 1.0 steal and a defensive rebound percentage of 20 or higher) who also fits perfectly alongside Al Horford in Atlanta's frontcourt.

PLAYER CARD

Do we really believe Smoove fits perfectly next to AL? Smoove's passing works well with Horford. But both are undersized. Both lack strong post games. We've been one of the worst rebounding teams with both on the floor. I just don't see it.

Five years, they've been effective, but not ideal combination.

jagstang76 · Post #9 » by **jagstang76** » Mon Apr 8, 2013 1:11 pm

I've been a huge Smoove fan since he came here. However, the more I think about it, it's been Horford and now Teague who have been the real catalysts for how well our team performs night in and night out. I wish we had traded Smoove this year and got something to work with that is more complementary. I would not mind having him back, but he cannot be a focal point and max player for this team. I love the idea of him, Horford, and Dwight playing together, but even that lineup has some drawbacks.