Smack / Dec 23, 2011 / 1:25 am

Josh Smith, The Hawks Fly Past Charlotte; Denver Blows Out Phoenix

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Josh Smith

Josh Smith (photo. Blake Peterson)

This might be the year Josh Smith finally makes the All-Star Game. We don’t want to jinx him – everyone knows the type of luck he has when it comes to this – but his game has matured, he has his body in the best shape it’s ever been in and the Hawks figure to be, at worst, a No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Last night in Atlanta’s 92-75 drubbing of Charlotte to end the preseason, Smith had 21 points and six rebounds, hitting 10 of 15 shots in the game. The coaching staff spoke on energy afterwards, and when you win the points in the paint battle 46-34, it typically means guys are working hard … For Charlotte, Corey Maggette was his usual foul-drawing self offensively (he somehow drew 10 free-throw attempts in 26 minutes), especially early on when he scored 13 of his 18 in the first quarter. But miraculously it was his defense that took center stage. In the third quarter, he took two big charges, which is like Monta Ellis passing up a shot. On another Charlotte defensive possession, Bismack Biyombo met Keith Benson at the rim on a play in the fourth quarter and sent him back to his corner, easily blocking Benson’s dunk attempt. We didn’t see it in real time, but we hope the announcers yelled out “BISMACK BIYOOOMBO!” We’re doing that all season long, whenever the dude does anything. That is easily the best name in the NBA … One of the guys in the league with a legitimate shot to breakout this year, Danilo Gallinari dropped 23 points in Denver’s 110-85 destruction of Phoenix. In the second half, he had one move on the fast break that was just butter: as a trailer, he caught a return pass, did a little half-step Euro step, brought the ball down and then flipped it around a defender’s shoulders with his left hand. From there at the start of the fourth quarter, the Nuggets ended it with a 16-3 run. Corey Brewer, the guy Dallas would’ve given away for a roll of Twizzlers if they needed to, dropped 20 … Off the court yesterday, the Suns bought out Mickael Pietrus, who hadn’t worked out at all with them in his time in the desert … Meanwhile, the Clippers picked up Reggie Evans. He might not really fit with this team, but he doesn’t have to. Give six solid fouls and it’s worth it. He can rebound a little too if you haven’t heard … The Nets can kiss Dwight Howard goodbye for a bit: Brook Lopez has a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone in his foot and will have surgery on it Friday. Too bad. What comes out of this? Orlando isn’t dealing with New Jersey until it’s proven that Lopez comes back fresh and 100 percent. So trade discussions may not happen until next summer. Also in related news, the Nets are now even worse. That frontline is going to look like a jayvee basketball team, and that’s even with Mehmet Okur. The former Utah star was picked up by New Jersey yesterday in a trade for a second round pick. Amazing how far he’s fallen … And who wants to play in the best fantasy tournament we’ve seen? Our friends at Lakers Nation are hooking it up … Keep reading to hear what Doc Rivers is promising Jeff Green …

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  • catdaddywhack

    damn. lazy and a liar… lol

    maybe Melo is just the anti-Ben Wallace…?

    pretty sure Wallace got tired of his share of hearing people talk about his scoring mentality.

    But Big Ben will be the first to tell you he likes to play offense and score too – its just too bad offense doesn’t like him back.

  • beiber newz

    here someone goes again trying to compare offense to defense. two separate entities

  • beiber newz

    please stop comparing offense to defense….one requires the use of practice with a basketball….AND THE OTHER DOES NOT!!

  • First & Foremost

    The MVP award is a joke anyway. With Amare shouldering some of the load on offense and Tyson doing the heavy lifting on defense, how can you even make the case that Melo is the most valuable to his team when he doesn’t have to do it all? Is he more valuable to his team than a a pg that had EVERY offensive play run through him? Is he more valuable than a forward that must score every time down for his team to have a chance?

    The award comes with too much of a political or popularity influence. If you take the emotional leader away from a team, that has just as big of an impact as taking away the leading scorer. Why are only superstars considered for the award? Why isn’t Stephen Jackson/Monta Ellis discussed, he had to play 40+ minutes every night and perform just to give his team a chance of winning. Without them their team has no chance of winning or even keeping it close. They don’t have competent team members filling out the majority of their roster and possibly coaching staff. Yet year in and year out 4 of the top 10 players in the league are only considered.

    The more and more stars are coming together, the less they should be considered for the MVP award. If I have 3 cars and one stops working I can still function with the other two. If you ride the bus and it never comes, that bus is more valuable to you than any one of my cars means to me.

    P.S. DeAndre Jordan can practice his offense without using a basketball. Andris Biedrins practices free throws without a basketball. j/k but he probably does.

  • catdaddywhack

    ??? yo twas more of a player pov comparison than an offense-defense comparison.

    oops, excuse me for butting in… sorry if i interrupted your argument vs the obvious… lol

    face it, when it comes to defense, melo is an uninspired lazy bum. but your right about the part about melo and defense being two separate entities. cant argue there…

  • Big Island

    I’m lazy and I play defense. People act like you can be a defensive stopper. No way. A good offensive player will score on a great defensive player. You can make a shot tougher, you can make people go to the spots they aren’t comfortable in, but you simply can’t stop a guy one on one. Great defensive players know where the guys want the ball and try to keep them off of that spot. They know the favorite moves of guys and try to take that away. If you’re quick you can play the passing lanes and gamble for steals (Lebron, Iverson), but you have to have a guy or two backing you up. Kobe, who everyone says is a great defensive player, has about 14 feet of guys behind him so he can gamble. Rondo plays the passing lanes because he has KG behind him. I don’t care who you think the best defensive player in history is, a good offensive guy would score on him if left alone. Ewing gave Mourning and Motumbo buckets, and I think everyone agrees that their defense was better than Ewing’s offense. Defense is a team effort, and one guy slacking ruins the whole scheme. Melo likes the ball on the wing. Overplay and try to make him get it at the top of the key. He likes to go right and shoot. Close out to his right hand and get up on him to take away the jumper. He can go left by you or do a hard step with a step back jumper. I wasn’t even great on offense but I can get a good shot off on a good defender. But if a good defender has help, and makes me go to the help so I have one pass to make and someone overplays that, it’s a turnover. And it took 3 guys working for one thing. There has never, in the history of basketball, been a guy who could flat out stop a good offensive player. NEVER.

  • First & Foremost

    @Big Island, I think you very well can stop a great offensive player. Literally take him out the game. With in the first few minutes get a double tech. And then then guard him real close AT ALL TIMES. Even if your team is shooting free throws and he is at half court posing. Get in his grill and tell him his breath smells. If he is tying his shoe, put your nuts in his face. Do everything you can to bother him to point he retaliates and picks up a 2nd tech. Even if it forces a 2nd double tech.

    Option 2: See Nancy Kerrigan

    Team sports are geared towards offense so it is highly improbably you completely shutdown a guy in all facets of the game.

    In Melo’s case, we have seen him watch himself watch a guy catch and shoot, without Melo even blinking. The guy wasn’t even coming off a screen. The root cause of this comes from him being naturally gifted at scoring. It isn’t hard to imagine him going through life lazily throwing a hand out there and saying, “I bet you miss…” as the guy shoots over top of him. Make or miss Melo comes down and makes his shot. a couple times up & down and chances are Melo’s offense was just outpacing the other guy.

    With a better defensive squad Melo could afford to gamble or at least play perimeter defense but the question is will he? He could just let everyone else play defense. You already know the games he will show up for: Boston, Miami, LAL, LAC. The other 59 games will have people defending him saying, “He can play defense if he wants to. Just look at the games vs. Lebron.”

    Be safe and have a happy holiday everyone. Enjoy the games too.

  • control

    It’s just insane that people are talking about Melo becoming any sort of defender under D’Antoni? Has anyone ever seen him coach? Or seen ANY player improve their defense even a little bit while he’s been head coach? If anything, their defense gets worse. Tyson is probably going to start sucking on D now, just because D’Antoni is around…

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