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ESPN has angered me again and I wanted vent. This morning's First Take had a segment in which they debated which was better Lebron's come from behind blocks or thunder dunks. That in itself is fine. I know they love all things Lebron, but they want annoyed me was how they said that Lebron's the only one in the league with the physical skills to pull that play off. Also that he's had more of those blocks that everyone else in the league combined. That's unnecessary hyperbole as many NBA players have that athleticism. Furthermore, that type of play (erasing a layup from behind was a Josh Smith staple before Lebron even decided he could make the highlights for defensive plays and started to pursue those plays. Now if Josh did one of blocks they'd probably say that he was emulating Lebron. It's too late. The ship has sailed. I just want to know looking back did Josh or the Hawks need a better publicist? Or were they doomed from day one to never get the love because we weren't a winning team back then?

The subject is kind of moot as sadly Josh does seem to run back on D like he used to. He seems content to pace himself with the opposing PF (or sometimes is still busy complaining). I wish I could say he's hitting the offensive boards with abandon so he's not in position for those blocks anymore. Maybe if he had gotten the media love back in the day when he made those defensive plays (just a fraction of what Lebron gets for it would have been nice) it would have reinforced the behavior of making no layup safe.

I just want to say shame on ESPN. In your zeal to build up Lebron, you've gone from ignoring other players to degrading them (by saying no one else can do it). No wonder casual fans don't realize that teams like the Hawks have exciting, highlight-worthy players.

End of rant.

Josh and Atlanta will never get the attention that they deserve as long as Joe is the star player. The sad reality is that your star has a huge impact on the public impression of your team, and Joe is not exactly the most electrifying player. Joe either needs to dunk more, or Josh needs to develop handles, a midrange jumpshot, and a prettier post game.

Not to mention that Josh really should go up to dunk more. A lot of the time he has the opportunity to do so but he drops in a layup instead. Now, that's smarter from a pragmatic standpoint, but it doesn't fire us up as much, nor does it draw as much media attention.

That, and LeBron IS more athletic than Josh - just look at the difference in acceleration.

Sometimes I wish a scientist can merge Joe and Josh's skills and then Atlanta would have a star.

I'm sure other fans are aware of Josh's run down blocks since their teams were a victim.

A question that was asked was if Kevin Durant can become a better than Lebron James. Some of the host almost laughed, but Ken Hamlin of the Dallas Cowboys said Kevin Durant can be better, but he needs to play for a bigger market to gain more exposure.

Lebron is the golden boy for ESPN and the NBA, but I get annoyed by all the praise they give him.

What's a scary thought is what it might be like if either Lebron wins a ring or relocates to a bigger market himself? Can ESPN and the NBA promote him even heavier than they do now?

I don't buy the market argument, and I think Durant is already getting lots of attention. I mean, Bron plays in Cleveland, where he is pretty much the only thing keeping the city from turning into Detroit.

Durant will be better than LeBron though.

Josh Smith is a bust, dontcha remember?

mrhonline wrote:Josh Smith is a bust, dontcha remember?

I forgot. Any positive mention of Josh Smith would serve to discredit Jay Bilas. I actually like Bilas as a commentator, but I wouldn't have him evaluating anyone. ESPN NBA draft coverage sucks!!!!! Between Bilas's horrible wrongness, Stuart Scott's interviews and the god awful Dick Vitale segments it is down right painful to watch.

evildallas wrote:

mrhonline wrote:Josh Smith is a bust, dontcha remember?

I forgot. Any positive mention of Josh Smith would serve to discredit Jay Bilas. I actually like Bilas as a commentator, but I wouldn't have him evaluating anyone. ESPN NBA draft coverage sucks!!!!! Between Bilas's horrible wrongness, Stuart Scott's interviews and the god awful Dick Vitale segments it is down right painful to watch.

I tend to throw up in my mouth every time I hear Vitale deep throat some of the players in the games he calls. LeBron is a queen. He is the best player in the planet. To bad that his overly hyped maturity is ignorant and just annoying. Hes great but hes a clown. The constant gagging ESPN does on his wang is revolting. It also scares the hell out me that his ceiling is so unlimited that as he grows, so does the coverage. If he changes teams its gonna get real bad. I wish he would go out west and leave the east alone.

What did Bilas do? He called Smith a bust? Explain please? I like Bilas and most of the college basketball broadcast and analysis team.

^^^ Draft night 2004, Jay Bilas said of Josh Smith that he would be the biggest bust in the entire draft class and that it was a big mistake for Atlanta to draft him. I can't find the exact quote on the web, but I found a lot of reference by people remembering that way.

He was a raw athlete whose game consisted mostly of raising hell, so indicative of the trend to draft with potential in mind, that Jay Bilas swore to all manner of gods that Smith would be the biggest bust of the whole class.
link here

I think it stood out because draft coverage on ESPN rarely has individual players thrown under the bus. Normally the worst you hear is questioning the fit with a specific team. You don't normally get I think this guy is going to suck. They referenced it during the last Orlando game that the comments upset Dwight Howard because he didn't appreciate his boy being dissed and that he knew he could ball.

I still like Bilas as a commentator because he's not out there like so many others doing a contrived Vitale impersonation, but that night I felt he was talking out his butt. How much had he seen of Josh considering that he was a straight from high school player? Was he basing it on Josh's facial expressions in an All-Star game? Or was he just regurgitating what someone else said? Or was he influenced by Josh not playing at least a year at Indiana? At least now when he discusses college players I'm fairly certain he's seen them play because of his job.

CNN article from Lang Whitaker from 2005 with some words for Bilas

Smith grew up in Atlanta, and played on the Atlanta Celtics AAU team, alongside a murderer's row of current Kentucky center Randolph Morris and NBA Rookie of the Year candidate Dwight Howard. When the Hawks plucked Smith with the 17th pick in the first round, ESPN's college basketball analyst, Jay Bilas -- my co-worker Khalid swears Bilas looks like Bruce Wayne -- sat up straight and proclaimed that Smith was the player in the Draft "most likely to be a bust."

A few weeks after the Draft, Smith played for the Hawks' summer league team. "In our last game there," recalls Arthur Triche, the Hawks VP of Communications, "Josh had a play where he blocked somebody, got back to the other end of the floor and slammed it in. I was here through the end of Dominique's years, and I haven't seen anyone like this since. Especially a left-handed player? Please!"

Bust this, Bilas: after three months, Smith ranks seventh among NBA rookies in points per game (7.6 per) and fifth in rebounds (4.6 per). "I knew I was gonna get some stuff off early on," Smith says. "Now I'm focusing on my jump shot, working out with one of the coaches and staying after practice to get more confidence in it."

link here

There are no clips on youtube of Josh Smith after his name was called on draft night, but when he was walking up to the podium after David Stern called his name, Jay Bilas was completely hated on Josh. You could tell Josh was hearing all the garbage out of Jay's mouth and it was really unnecessary.

Josh Smith was ranked as high as 3rd on the mock draft sites a couple weeks before the draft.

HMFFL wrote:There are no clips on youtube of Josh Smith after his name was called on draft night, but when he was walking up to the podium after David Stern called his name, Jay Bilas was completely hated on Josh. You could tell Josh was hearing all the garbage out of Jay's mouth and it was really unnecessary.

Josh Smith was ranked as high as 3rd on the mock draft sites a couple weeks before the draft.

Actually that's the key part. He was making these comments about Josh from less than 20 feet away while Josh should be enjoying the highlight of his young life. This wasn't a studio comment made before or after the event. This wasn't an article grading the draft. This was done while Josh is shaking hands with the commissioner from on location where Josh could hear the whole thing although he wasn't in a position where he could respond. It was a low class delivery of an opinion.

Thankfully Josh turned it into motivation. Imagine if Josh wasn't tough and was more sensitive like Kwame Brown (his confidence was destroyed by Michael Jordan), then Bilas would have probably gotten his wish.

You guys wanna meet up and throw up eggs and other nasty things at Bilas's house? Im so ready. Bring it Bilas.

evildallas wrote:ESPN has angered me again and I wanted vent. This morning's First Take had a segment in which they debated which was better Lebron's come from behind blocks or thunder dunks. That in itself is fine. I know they love all things Lebron, but they want annoyed me was how they said that Lebron's the only one in the league with the physical skills to pull that play off. Also that he's had more of those blocks that everyone else in the league combined. That's unnecessary hyperbole as many NBA players have that athleticism. Furthermore, that type of play (erasing a layup from behind was a Josh Smith staple before Lebron even decided he could make the highlights for defensive plays and started to pursue those plays. Now if Josh did one of blocks they'd probably say that he was emulating Lebron. It's too late. The ship has sailed. I just want to know looking back did Josh or the Hawks need a better publicist? Or were they doomed from day one to never get the love because we weren't a winning team back then?

The subject is kind of moot as sadly Josh does seem to run back on D like he used to. He seems content to pace himself with the opposing PF (or sometimes is still busy complaining). I wish I could say he's hitting the offensive boards with abandon so he's not in position for those blocks anymore. Maybe if he had gotten the media love back in the day when he made those defensive plays (just a fraction of what Lebron gets for it would have been nice) it would have reinforced the behavior of making no layup safe.

I just want to say shame on ESPN. In your zeal to build up Lebron, you've gone from ignoring other players to degrading them (by saying no one else can do it). No wonder casual fans don't realize that teams like the Hawks have exciting, highlight-worthy players.

End of rant.

those people are idiots. Lebron has 50 blocks, and Josh has 103 blocks this year. Lebron has alot of run down blocks, but not only does Josh have more run down blocks, he also gets weak side blocks and strong side blocks

evildallas wrote:The subject is kind of moot as sadly Josh does seem to run back on D like he used to. He seems content to pace himself with the opposing PF (or sometimes is still busy complaining). I wish I could say he's hitting the offensive boards with abandon so he's not in position for those blocks anymore. Maybe if he had gotten the media love back in the day when he made those defensive plays (just a fraction of what Lebron gets for it would have been nice) it would have reinforced the behavior of making no layup safe.

I love how he had a badass run down block tonight. Hope he commits to hunting down those un suspecting players.

Bless him(Bilas) cause he know not what he speaketh of. Of course all Josh could do well coming out of Oak hill Academy is highlight dunk right?? Even his momma knew his jumpshot was broke but little did everybody including Jay Bilas know that he had exceptional timing on his shot blocking skills from the left side which is a rarity in itself. How many left handed guys in the league that can jump and have timing like Josh?? Little did poor old Jay know that although Josh is a bit of a hard head and has Rasheedism in his blood on calls, it is overcome by his work ethic and desire to be better in all phases of his game. this guy has as much heart and passion on the court as anyone in the NBA, do Hawks fans actually take the time to focus on him solely?? That's why he is so vocal and bullish on calls, his passion and desire to win is untappable. This guy battles his ass off night in and out, and as much as we would miss Joe if he was injured on this team, same thing with Josh Smith. If he gets hurt and misses a serious amount of time then you can throw the Hawks chances in the frying pan and make Sweet Potato Souffle and call it a year. Believe that.

SneakerKing33 wrote:You guys wanna meet up and throw up eggs and other nasty things at Bilas's house? Im so ready. Bring it Bilas.

Na, I'm good with Josh making Bilas look more foolish every year, but I appreciate the spirit.