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Just like in New york when he went up for that soft dunk GW..He has been throwing lazy passes like he doesn't care he needs to get it together for this last stretch of games..

I noticed that how Josh plays is directly proportional to what shots he takes in the first quarter.

If he takes jumpers, he plays lazy the rest of the game, and only contesting surefire blocks.
If he posts up and misses, he plays average.
If he posts up and makes, he plays above-average.
If he drives, he plays like the All-Star he should be, and somewhere like an All-NBA Third Team player.

Too bad he almost never drives early on.

I've noticed this also, his aggressiveness on the glass is blase as of late, and the overall attention to detail on Defense and the lazy passes and focus are really concerning. Good thing is we're still winning these games with that going on, hopefully he can ratchet it back up right before the playoffs.

Isn't this the same old J. Smith of previous years? Why is anyone surprised?

Skyhawk1 wrote:Isn't this the same old J. Smith of previous years? Why is anyone surprised?

Yeah but he's done an excellent job of keeping these moments to a minimum this year as opposed to previous years. He usually starts off the year like a lost puppy and picks up as it goes along. This year he started off like a house of fire and have had lulls here and there in between, that's a welcome difference IMO. We're playoff bound and i'm cool with him playing a little blase now and then getting his feet underneath and him right before playoff time to unleash the Dragon, hopefully.

Lazy...Hum, Josh is has been called alot of things and I'm a season ticket holder, but lazy! I don't think so! That label is the one thing I hate when I hear guy tossing around. He's been the heart and soul of this team all year. can he have two or three sub par game without somebody calling him lazy!!

When he is focused on rebounding he can get 10+ consistently. When he isn't he can average 6.5 rebounds for a months as he did in December. That is my one big problem with him. His effort on the boards is very inconsistent.

Josh has a subpar game and is called lazy huh. cmon son. 1st Josh NEVER plays well against San Antonio. He is NOT a great player but he is a very good player so you cant expect him to play great every night. Some nights he is off which last night was a off game. Nothing more nothing less. If it becomes a theme them there is a problem. But its nothing more than a off game. Let me say it again HE NEVER PLAYERS GREAT AGAINST SAN ANTONIO. He had 1 good game against them and that was earlier this year in which he had 14 pts and 17 rebounds and Gregg Popovich wasnt gonna let that ish happen again.

just an off game...move on.

general wrote:Just like in New york when he went up for that soft dunk GW..He has been throwing lazy passes like he doesn't care he needs to get it together for this last stretch of games..

This is simply moronic. The fact is that he continues to be our only player giving 100% recently. Then he has a bad shooting game and here comes the BS again.

If you want to criticize his play that is one thing, but calling him lazy is the last thing you could say about him. If anyone wants to go after Josh for his effort this season then they either haven't watched very many games or just have absolutely no grasp of team sports in general (not hard to spot a guy giving it his all).

I think Josh Smith has earned a little slack from us. The guy's been a champion for us this year.

It's a long season, maybe all his hard work is catching up to him; or maybe he's got the same bug that seemingly half the country's had to suffer; or maybe he's playing hurt. Who knows?

My point is a man who has demonstrated the hard work that Smoove has deserves for us not to assume he's taking plays off.

I noticed in the Spurs game that he was especially lackadaisical drifting around on the perimeter and looking disinterested in putting the pressure on the defense and making plays for others... Maybe he's just tired?

Josh Smith plans to keep taking jump shots

Lately fans at Philips Arena groan when Hawks forward Josh Smith winds up to take a jump shot.

Smith said he doesn’t notice it but even if he did, it wouldn’t change his approach. If opponents are willing to give him open jump shots, Smith plans to keep taking them.

“They are just there,” he said. “I just try to shoot them with confidence.”

That strategy hasn’t been working so well. According 82games.com’s game tracking statistics, entering Monday Smith was shooting 37 percent on jump shots compared to 63 percent on shots in the lane.

Smith, who otherwise is having his best season, said he hasn’t looked at his percentage on outside shots. Told about the poor numbers, he shrugged them off.

“It’s all good,” he said. “It will get better.”

Smith actually makes jump shots at a high percentage when the Hawks are shooting around after practice. But that hasn’t carried over to games despite opponents almost daring Smith to take perimeter shots.

Smith said coach Mike Woodson doesn’t ride him about his shot selection “because he knows I play hard at both ends.” But the coach does tell Smith he wants him to drive to the basket.

“But when I knock down a jumper, he doesn’t say anything,”

Another fourth quarter last night where Smoove is the only player looking poised and making plays. lol at this (Please Use More Appropriate Word) thread once again.

I think the thread is more directed towards Smoove's dedication toward rebounding and playing in the post with a dominant attitude, he still drifts from time to time but unfortunately he's an hybrid PF so he can also do other things like dribble(below average but decent) for a post player and guard smaller players and etc.... So that side of his game wants to show itself sometimes to.

Lazy is not a good description of Smoove's play this year i agree, he has been the heart of this team to be honest. His focus has been the best in is career, Yes he has had periods of the year where he is not as determined on the back boards as i would like him to be but i'm expecting that to mount up going into the playoffs. In fairness Horford sometimes can be a lot more assertive on the boards at times also.

^^^ You're right. There are a lot of things Smoove can be criticized for. But his work rate simply cannot be questioned by anyone who watches the games, which is the main problem I have with the OP here who clearly doesn't watch too many.

Lazy or not he is definitely in a slump right now.

^^^ Looks like you lit a fire under him. Well done, sir!

JoshB914 wrote:^^^ Looks like you lit a fire under him. Well done, sir!

When i made this post he didn't have a field goal. I guess i should have posted this before the game.

Seriously though over his last 10 he is shooting 43% and averaging only 7.7 rebounds.