47. Josh Smith
With summer dragging on and on and on before the NBA tips off, we’ve decided to initiate a multipart series that will be the definitive look at the best players in the NBA today. Over the next month or so we’ll run down the 50 guys that we think are the 50 best players, right here, right now.
With summer dragging on and on and on before the NBA tips off, we’ve decided to initiate a multipart series that will be the definitive look at the best players in the NBA today.
Over lunch at the Outback Steakhouse (word to Steve Irwin), your crack SLAMonline.com staff sat down and ranked the 50 best players in the NBA today. We realize that’s kind of ambiguous, but that’s how basketball is and that’s how we like it. Basically, though, we tried to list the 50 guys we think have the most value to their teams, right now, at this moment. This doesn’t mean they’ll never be traded, and it doesn’t mean they’re due tremendous contract extensions, but it does mean — since value is king in the NBA — that over the next month or so we’ll run down the 50 guys that we think are the 50 best players, right here, right now.
Before long it’ll be time for our annual NBA team previews. Right now it’s time for some law and order…
47. Josh Smith
by Lang Whitaker
The DVD showed up here at the SLAM offices in an unmarked envelope. We weren’t sure who it was from or how it got here, but I dutifully opened it and slipped it into my laptop. This is what was on there — Josh Smith in high school (playing AAU ball) and pretty much dominating action, with threes, dunks, whatever. That was when I became a believer.
His first year and half in the NBA were a series of dunks and ridiculous defensive plays (remember the night he had 10 blocked shots against Dallas?). At 6-9, he played everything from small forward to shooting guard, and it was almost as though his main objective was to humiliate as many people as possible. Like this.
And then, after the debacle at last season’s dunk contest, something clicked. J-Smoove suddenly went from trying to dunk on everyone to shooting (and making) jumpers, passing the ball to the open man, playing much more of an all-around game. Look at his splits from games in November compared to his games in April…
NOV: 14 games, 37.5 pct FG, 3.4 FTA pg, 5 rpg, 1.1 apg, 2.2 bpg, 9.0 ppg
APR: 11 games, 42.2 pct FG, 5.0 FTA pg, 7.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 3.4 bpg, 17.6 ppg
If ever a player was created expressly for YouTube, it was Josh Smith. To his credit, however, J-Smoove has realized that dunks are not everything (even for a magazine called SLAM). He’s becoming a complete basketball player, and he’s doing it much faster than anyone realized he ever would.
Oh, and he doesn’t turn 21 until the end of December.
37 Responses to “47. Josh Smith”
Sep.12 at 11:57 am
Myung says:
this comment is dedicated to paolo who said i write nothing worthwhile in my posts. he also said i write too often and too much. hmm. sorry. i can’t change that. or rather, i WON’T change that. and i still won’t get into the “how can you put player X over player Y?” arguments. pure subjectivity. lang, i’m sure you’ll get plenty of “this guy’s ranked ahead of boris because you hate boris and love the hawks” stuff. oh well. such is life. my thoughts on josh: amazing athlete. i mean REALLY amazing. he’s the best atlanta hawk to watch in person since dominique wilkins. very suspect jumpshot. appears somewhat disinterested on offense when the ball is not being given to him. arguably the 2nd best shotblocking non-center in the nba (i’d still put ak47 above him). i won’t argue whether or not he belongs on this list. i seriously am going to avoid all that nonsense. i’ll just say he’s definitely one of the 3 most important players on the hawks roster (the other 2 being joe johnson and marvin williams) in terms of turning around our sinking ship.
Sep.12 at 11:58 am
chiqo says:
37% to 42%… so he’s making jumpers, eh?
Sep.12 at 11:59 am
Gilbert0 says:
big, big fan of josh smith, especially the second half of last year when he starting nailing threes and dishing the ball. Pretty much like Lang said, started to become an all-round player. I think the same list in a year’s time may feature josh in the top 25 or higher. I expect big things from him this season.
Sep.12 at 12:39 pm
Hype says:
Ah, at least with this list we get 50 new writeups of players.. so I’m gonna take that positive spin on it.
Like Myung said, this isn’t that definitive of a list to argue in circles about. I’m just waiting until we get to #38: DJ Mbenga (such an amazing name!) now there’s someone we can chat intelligently about!
Oh and go Myung! Don’t let the haters get to you, keep them comments aflowing!
Sep.12 at 12:47 pm
Myung says:
thanks for the back up, hype. i’ve enjoyed “talking” hoops with guys like you on this site. i guess it’s not meant to be a message board, but sometimes it has that feel. i mean, i guess paolo has a point. he said something really deep like “kaman is ugly, but he can ball.” how can i compete with that? i’d love to offer intelligent insight like that, but so far, i just keep falling short.
Sep.12 at 1:03 pm
scott says:
Josh Smith best player on the list to this point. Just look how much his splits improve every month of last season. If he can play like he did after the all star break last season watch out. Also, one of the most exciting players to watch play. It must be nice to live in Atlanta and see him play on a nightly basis.
Sep.12 at 1:11 pm
Myung says:
i’m still a fan, but i’d rather have a bunch of boring players who win than exciting ones who lose. but hey, i AM thankful to have an nba team (albeit a bad one) in my city. in that sense, i don’t take it for granted, since i know a lot of you guys live in other countries. so i guess you’re right, scott. it’s not so bad after all.
…and watch a team that’s missed the playoffs (BADLY) every year since 1998?
Sep.12 at 2:38 pm
dpak says:
The Hawks are starting to remind me of the Clippers of a few years ago. Josh Smith is amazing to watch when he’s on. When he’s not he simply looks lost. Watching him dribble is painful. But all that is quickly forgotten when he’s in the air. Guy dunks with a flair I haven’t seen in a loooong time. Flair in dunks seems to be a forgotten art. Vince Carter was one of the most athletic dunkers of our time but he has no where near the flair of lesser atheletes such as Desmond Mason or Corey Maggette. Josh Smith has that flair. I’m looking forward to watching him grow. He was great the second half of last season.
Sep.12 at 2:59 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
dpak, you refer to the 2002 Clippers. Correct sir. They had one great player putting up big numbers (Joe Johnson, Elton Brand) and a bunch of athletes that showed flashes. Josh Smith reminds me of a more explosive version of young Q Rich with shot blocking ability. Same body type.
Sep.12 at 3:45 pm
albie1kenobi says:
watching those highlight reels is amazing. he consistently got up high enough to knock his head on the rim. sick.
Sep.12 at 3:53 pm
tom says:
Josh SmIth my fav plaer at the moment shud be a allstar in my humble opinion
Sep.12 at 4:10 pm
Aaron says:
I have to do it but how can you put a kid that has shown no real consistency or bball IQ ahead of Boris Diaw? Oh wait, he plays for the Hawks…
Sep.12 at 4:10 pm
Shiz says:
Im gone play Jay Bilas, make up my own word and say that Josh Smith has major
windmillability. He’s up there with Vince. Can just uncork a windmill quick as that. One foot running, two feet just standin. He proly windmills himself to sleep at night. Once he gets an in-between game and works on that right-to-left crossover, he’s gonna be a major problem. My only problems are: 1) whats gonna happen to his minutes with the (hopeful) improvement of Marvin; and 2) WHY oh WHY did you place that tape down. You know those judges were idiots. People please listen cuz Im still fired up about this…he placed the tape to mark his steps. Like a long jumper or triple jumper in track, a regular practice is to measure your steps backwards from your take-off point (and more importantly take-off foot) to your starting point (and corresponding starting foot). I figured he wasn’t gonna try and jump from it, but because people were gawkin at it, they missed him dunk TWO HANDED from the FREEthrow line. CLEANLY! Which is like the basketball version of bigfoot more myth and almost-sighting than anything else. next year, NO TAPE…and League, NO NATE ROBINSON! Im not feelin dude at all. Lil’ nigguh shoulda been got the hook. I dont care if he looks like the average man, his ego is bigger than the Neverland ranch before bankruptcy.
Sep.12 at 4:31 pm
Shiz says:
Any news on whether Kevin “Shortarms” Willis will ever let J get that 42 back? Its gettin a lot of use all snug hidin underneath that warm up.
Sep.12 at 4:41 pm
chrisonepointsix says:
J-Smith will have a breakout season. His athleticism alone makes him an impact on both ends of the floor. As the season progresses and he matures his game will start to take even better form as he showed late last season.
Sep.12 at 4:41 pm
dkosei2 says:
Josh Smith has great upside and is well on his way to becoming one of the top ballers in the league… but I don’t think he’s top 50 quite yet
Sep.12 at 4:43 pm
Myung says:
shiz is probably one of my favorite people on this site. dude is mad funny. i agree, man. who cares about that tape? i don’t care if he lined up some pineapples on the floor, donned a jon koncak jersey, and put tape at halfcourt…did the judges (and the TNT commentators like magic and kenny…i love those guys but they annoyed me that night) not see the dunk shiz described? he got a 40 (i’m not entirely certain…but i’m pretty sure it was a 40) for that dunk. even the almighty vince took off from 3 feet inside the foul line when he tried his two handed free throw line dunk in 2000 (with no double pump). i admit i’m biased because i’m a hawks fan, but it should’ve been an iguodala/smith final. to be honest, with the dunks andre pulled off, i’m sure josh would’ve lost…but he should’ve at least made it into the finals. i give mad props to nate for his creativity and effort (what did he have, like 1023412 attempts that night?) but he shouldn’t have been in the finals. nate and spud webb (see, i’m not THAT biased) and candace parker need to be in other dunk contests…a sub 6 foot contest…or a women’s one… and if they want to compete with the big boys… then they need to be judged equally. if shaq entered the 3 point shoot out, would his made 3’s count double because he’s a center? sorry for that rant, but shiz rekindled a fire
Sep.12 at 4:55 pm
Aaron says:
No doubt Josh has immense potential. I’ve actually stated that he’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen to Shawn Marion and I was all for the Suns getting him in the initial discussion during the JJ saga. While he has a lot of sizzle, kid has a ways to go in terms of understanding the game.
Sep.12 at 5:20 pm
winston and the telescreen says:
wow
I’ve never seen that guy play
I guess after reading some of these posts that hes not that fantastic an all around player but on youtube he looks like one of the most exciting players of all time
I’ve never been that excited by a youtube highlight reel before
the dunks were nice
but the blocks were just insane
and I love the multiple blocks run down the court and dunk on your face combos
that kid is amazing to watch
and I like the kind of players that are there just to embarass everyone
Sep.12 at 5:32 pm
albie1kenobi says:
i was looking at my notes for the ASG07 (because i was trying to remember who pulled off the behind the backboard dunk, which was big AI) and this is what i wrote:
“the first WTF came when josh smith asked someone to put a masking tape about 5 feet left of the top of the circle, and he backed the hell away to the other side of the court. everyone stood up and wondered if that’s where he’s jumping from. he lost his dribble on his first one, then on his second try he took off from free throw line and got a 2-hand slight double-pumped dunk. it was actually a really great dunk, but everyone was so confused about the tape that he only got 41 points for that.”
my point is that the judges were idiots that night, with all kinds of injustice going on. Kenny’s gotta get more crap for that.
anyway, I would love to watch the ATLien play, and it seems like the NBA league pass is gonna be on broadband also. can anyone confirm this? I saw this on nba.com but how does it work???
Sep.12 at 5:40 pm
Shiz says:
Thanx Myung! I can honestly say that that mochary of a dunk contest ruined my all-star weekend. You know its a big deal when you got A.I. and Kobe screamin “WE WAS ROBBED”! Nate Dog is good, but not as great as he believes. Did anyone tell him that poppin collars in NY got played out fast? I’d much rather see Candice Parker than Nate. Homegirl is superfine!! Not on some Niaomi Campbell, Lisa Leslie if-thats-your-thing shit, but on some Damn, who is that?! fine. At any rate, I think Josh has the potential to be a Marion/Kirilenko type. But Aaron is right, to be that rare guy that can fill up 4 stat catagories, you gotta have a pretty high bball i.q. Oh yeah, freakish hops and superlong ball-hawking arms help.
Sep.12 at 9:37 pm
Wedgie Evans says:
J-Smoove is ranked above Diaw because he doesn’t need to play alongside the best point guard in the world to be effective.
Sep.12 at 11:13 pm
Drolfe says:
The thing that gets me is how long is strides are. One of those plays he’s sprinting down the left hand side on the break, running a perfect line, he gets the ball on the three point line, no dribble, just two strides and his face is at the rim. If Superman was allowed to play in the NBA he would play like JS.
Sep.13 at 12:21 am
Classic says:
This kinda reminds me of a young McGrady,you feel?
Sep.13 at 12:32 am
Aaron says:
Ok Wedgie, watch this video as a good example of what Boris brings to the table. Notice how he creates for himself and gives the Suns an entirely new look in a half court set. That over the head half court pass is sick… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN_ODU56inI
Sep.13 at 2:06 am
Paolo says:
Hi Myung. Why are you so worked up with this? I just a made a few comments on your comments, man. I know you’re not shallow enough to resort to insulting my intelligence. I mean, I know you have a life. I’m not here to disrespect you, man. I’m just voicing out an opinion. I’m just a hoop junkie myself. At any rate, I’m glad you made sense today. Your Josh Smith post was the bomb and I agree with it. Josh Smith’s salience to the resurgence of the Atlanta hawks is irrefutable. ANd his numbers make that undisputable. It is also a welcome sight to witness a young player realize that having a pro career is not all about flair. I hope he keeps it up.
Sep.13 at 3:45 am
Louie says:
Lang,from the list you guys have so far, please tell me you’re gonna give Gerald Wallace some shine.
Sep.13 at 4:21 am
bja says:
Does his jumper still look like the AAU tape? I never get to see the Hawks play. Even though they only showed makes, it sill looked ugly.
BTW, your posts ARE too long Myung. I’m starting to skip them. I want short, sharp posts and I find yours slightly rambling. Sorry dude, I love your passion for the game though.
Sep.13 at 8:13 am
myung says:
Paolo, sorry if I came off defensive. Probably a little immature on my part. I can admi that much. I’m at work in front of a computer all day and when I’m not, I often check it from my SK3, and I love this site so I tend to write more often than most folks. But if I’m too wordy (this one’s for you AND bja), then I can’t do anything about that. I tend to write a lot. That’s me. Always have, always will. Sorry to sound like a prick, bja, but I don’t care if you want “short, sharp posts.” I’m not here to meet your needs. Some of you guys hate my posts, some like them. Doesn’t really matter to me. I’m not writing to make people happy; I’m not writing for the sake of writing. I’m having some fun on this site and love the game of basketball. I like reading what many of the other knowledgable hoopheads have to say (like the slam writers, shiz, albie, hype, aaron, winston, etc). It’s a nice little community, if you will. Sometimes I write some substance, and sometimes I’m just having fun. If you got beef, then yeah, do like bja (who probably isn’t reading this because it’s already too long) and skip them. I could care less if you read my posts or not. But you telling me I write too often or too much or that I write nothing of value isn’t going to change anything. I’m 28 years old, and I’m not on this site to make friends or just write “to be seen.” I don’t want to get into some battle of words with you guys because that’s pretty lame (like I said, my initial repsonse was admittedly immature, paolo…sorry). But for the last time, if you want short and concise points, just skip mine and get on with your lives. Cool?
Sep.13 at 10:55 am
Paolo says:
No prob, Myung. I agree that we’re all in a small community here. We all love this site. Bottomline, we’re all having fun. It’s hard to find people that have the same passion and know-how in hoops. Props to you for that. And to everybody else for that matter. However, opinions, inevitably, clash. We should accept that. That’s the way it goes. Life goes on. I’m cool. You?
Sep.14 at 3:51 am
bja says:
No worries Myung. You post all you want. I don’t have to read them. As long as you’re enjoying yourself that’s what’s important.
Sep.18 at 3:11 am
Boing Dynasty says:
Strange.
Sep.21 at 8:32 am
rpcjr says:
sorry but his importance to his team is magnified by the fact that the team is full of imcompetent half players (Joe Johnson excluded). he’s a tweener at this point. like over-rated Harrington and soon to be over-rated Marvin Williams.
Sep.22 at 12:45 pm
Carlos says:
who ever said that diaw needs nash to be successful is soooo wrong…though diaw benefitted from playing with nash just like any other suns player…he stepped his game up on his own, he is a brilliant passer, his range is improving, and he can guard several different positions
Sep.22 at 2:49 pm
Carlos says:
might be the funnest dude to watch too bad hes on lowly atl but i guess they need something to cheer about…maybe in a couple of yrs theyll be making the playoffs and jsmoove will be making the AS team all he has to do is improve his shot a lil bit
Sep.24 at 5:57 pm
Justin H says:
Josh Smith Needs to Work on his jumper and his 3’s and he could be one off the best all around players in the game. P.S. You Should Do The top 100. 2 People a DAY
Jan.8 at 11:49 am
Jamie21 says:
no chance hes top 50!!!!….corey maggette beats him anyday mopete too!!!