Josh SmithThe CEO of the S-W-A-T Josh Smith has made himself more money in his last two games than he has at any point in his life. He reintroduced himself to America in game three of this series as more than the Slam Dunk champion everyone remembers.
In fact, he looked like a left-handed LeBron on the fast-break, with eight of his 27 points coming above the rim. And last night he showcased an equally impressive ability to send the Celtics’ lay-ups and leaners to the frank man with a cirque-du-soleil aerial display on D. He rejected seven shots and maybe altered ten others, effectively striking fear in the Celtics whenever they thought about taking a shot near the paint.
Unless J-Smoove was on your fantasy team, you might not have realized the impact that this dude has on the game. TNT posted a preposterous stat that the Atlanta born and bred skywalker is far and away the NBA’s leader in blocks before the age of 22. Granted Smith is now in his fourth year, but he’s swatted more than 780 shots over that short stretch. He became the youngest player in League history to hit the 500-block plateau in March of ‘07.
While he changed the game by protecting the rim, forcing Boston to settle for deep J’s, his greatest contribution might have been the incredibly tough rebound that he pulled out of Kevin Garnett’s grasp in the final minutes. Paul Pierce came free for what looked like an easy hoop with less than two minutes on the clock and the Hawks up 91-87, but lost the handle on the way up. The lay-up missed on KG’s side of the basket, but Smith nabbed it before Garnett could get his hands on it. Instead of cutting the lead to two, the Celtics went down five.
In the blink of an eye, Smith has gone from being mentioned in the same sentence as Shawn Marion, Andrei Kirilenko and Tayshaun Prince to being a lock for a max contract. Not only does he put asses in seats, but his influence on the playoffs ranks only behind Chris Paul, Tim Duncan, Kobe, and LeBron.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
GEE...Self Destruction, ya headed fo Self Destruction! says:
Nice read for real and true. I haven’t really looked for dude that much as I been watching AL more than anyone on the Hawks and then Bibby.
Josh straight “made” a cat take notice. I mean I knew dude was good, but he is remarkable in strength, speed and jumping ability. I was cool on dude but now I am straight up impressed.
Hope he can keep it up.
DIME love the title.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
fallinup says:
It’s about time he showed up for the playoffs.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
GEE...Self Destruction, ya headed fo Self Destruction! says:
lol cold.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
marcus says:
i dont think he deserves the max contract if he flops in boston again, you should only pay the max to players who are superstars wherever they play.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
dh says:
7 blocks for a non-center? that’s incredible!
he had 9 earlier this year against philly and 10 against dallas his rookie year. he’s a shot blocking machine!
April 29th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
yoda says:
i dont have chance to watch hawks much, so can someone tell does he have outside shot or hes more around the rim guy? thanks
April 29th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Kevin says:
I’m a Raptors fan and I don’t see why you wouldn’t put Dwight Howard on that list. He WAS that series! If you don’t do a piece on Dwight, you’ll have to later admit you’d been sleeping on him. You think it was the Raps front line? Prolly a bit, but you’ll see next round, he’s is and will be unstoppable in this playoffs!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Jim says:
Not quite related, but one of my favorite bball moments was when he was in summer league before his rookie year. Me and my roommates would always skip a few days of summer semester and drive to Utah to catch some $5 games.
They were playing the Blazers and he tried to take a charge from Qyntel (woof woof) Woods near the end of the game and Qyntel just yammed on him from way outside the block for an and one; it was pretty sick and the fans were buzzing for a long time. But you saw Josh lined up waiting for the FT just nodding his head…
Two possessions later he lost his man and took off from WAY outside the lane coming baseline and did a pump reverse over at least two Blazers, it was ridiculous. It was a)the best dunk I’ve ever seen, and b) the summer league equivalent of Babe Ruth’s called shot. EVERYONE in the building knew it was coming and he delivered the hell out of it.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
shourjo says:
Yoda - he has a J. His FG% has been low more from his shot selection in prior seasons than anything else. In this series, he’s shown he can J from deep and from the foul line extended. I think we’re seeing the kid mature a little and pulling all the parts of his game together. The article is right - he’s serving notice in this series and let’s see how he brings it next season.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
kobeef says:
I wrote a response to Smack this morning that asked if Smtih could ever put up Lebron type numbers. Something weird happened and the link died but needless to say I like the Lebron comparison.
A lot of people assumed Lebron didn’t do the dunk contest in 2004 because he would have faced Smith so you could say Smith is Lebron with extra athleticism. Think about it: he has strong passing skills, is a great rebounder, can score from inside and out and is a block machine. If anything, Josh is a threat for a Quad double.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
yoda says:
@ shourjo
thank you
April 29th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Taj says:
The Raptors definately need a guy like that!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Diego says:
Josh is solid on the points, boards, and blocks. His strengths are he is a rugged 6′9′’ beast with ridiculous hops. Guaranteed at least one highlight dunk a game.
He actually does have a 3-point stroke, but his percentage I agree took a hit from last year. (He trained this past summer with Hakeem and Calvin Murphy in Houston, and sometimes I thought this season, they disrupted his game. But against the Celts, his little jump hook is working.)
His weaknesses are he sometimes makes some real boneheaded plays, gets sulky, shoots too much from outside, and dribbles to start the break when he should dish to a guard (he doesn’t have a great handle on the break).
Josh is a stud, but no LeBron (or future Lebron).
April 29th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
DaPro says:
He does play like the Matrix with a better handle but just as makes spectacular plays, he also makes rookie mistakes sometimes. He looks to force the issue cause of the whole “alpha male” syndrome but my man has game! If he really figures out how to play of his natural gifts then he’ll be mentioned with some of best in the league.
I watched this kid since his rookie year and hasn’t put it all together yet but when he does, look out!
April 29th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
sans says:
I had three guys in the bar last night who were saying “That Josh Smith is supposed to be pretty good. I’ve never seen him before, but he’s supposed to be good.” West Coast bias added to the fact that the Hawks are rarely, if ever, on national tv has really hindered his popularity.
Way to go Hawks–two sell-outs in a ROW! Whoo! What? For the first time in this century? At least five years?
Despite his performance, I really don’t see Josh rolling in red next season. He’ll get Max contract dollars, but with Marvellous and Childress–both significantly cheaper options at 3–Smoove won’t be getting those dollars from ATL.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Gmoney says:
what did I tell you guys back in the beginning of the season? JJ needs a dime cover, and the Hawks were going to surprise some folks this season….I’m 2 for 2…
holla
April 29th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
2 Easy says:
As I have been saying all year long, the Heat should encourage Matrix to walk and throw the money at Smith. He’s a younger and better version because he can create his own shot and is a waaay better playmaker. Rebounding wise the Matrix is still better but Smith has him on everything else and he’s only getting better. As far as his horrible percentage goes, he needs to be taught how to look for better shots and to stop makin stupid plays and he’ll be the standard for that whole versatile 3 who can do everything for u
April 29th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
marcus says:
yea i holler with gmoney… better get smoove in front of a dime mag… that stud is freeeekin playin’ for cred and makin’ most outta his natural talent… bless j-smoove…
April 29th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
AKA O says:
the reason why he deserves a max is not because he a superstar or franise player(although he could be one)he’s the kind of player you NEED to win a championship…….he’s that important
April 30th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Dominic says:
Damn, Smith was huge…
wonder whether he gets knee problems jumping that high so much…
http://www.squidoo.com/JoshSmith
April 30th, 2008 at 7:10 am
MSkittle says:
True. He has freakish athleticism
April 30th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Suciniac says:
What’s with all the bandwagon jumpers.Guy has two good games and he’s mentioned as Lebron.The whole site is losing credibility with this type of shit.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Diego says:
Hawks attendance is as good or better than many franchises, and they have sell outs every year (in a bigger arena than most). Stfu if you don’t know what the f**k you are talking about.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Suciniac says:
What does selling out arenas got to do with your team getting in the playoffs, without winning 40 games you fucking moron.Dude’s got two games and you are comparing him to Lebron.Who the fuck are you going to compare Rudy gay to fucking MJ.
Oh, and be on the site bit more often before you start calling out people you retard.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
jaceofspades says:
always thought he could be like this. hes just gotta improve that jumper. i think he deserves a max contract. as far as a wingman goes.. hes pretty much got everything cept for the jumper and even thats improving. hes just gotta get it more consistent.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:38 am
doc says:
He nice but he aint fucking with Bron yall out of pocket for that.And Diego we all watch ball on this site we know Atl is famous for all the dam red seats you see at the games every night.Where the fuck yall be if yall sell out every night.The hot dogs cant be that good that yall out by the concessions all night.Fuck yall got strippers in the nosebleeds or something.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Pablo says:
Joe Johnson is still the best player on the Hawks, by far. He has taken all the big shots the last two seasons, and Josh Smith still has not learned how to dribble on the fast break.