In the NBA want to play famous, must have talent, but to become a good star, not only need talent, but also very good technology, so that they can play well on different teams, the owner of this article, Shi Smith is a very talented, but also in the NBA to play a famous player, but his skills are not good enough, after leaving the team that suits him, his performance is not good enough, and he can not afford the responsibility of the star, and finally drifted for a while, bleakly left the NBA, This article is about Josh Smith.
A very talented cap master
Smith's static physical condition is good, 2.06 meters tall, playing big forwards and small forwards can be, the arm span is also good, not outrageous, but not short, athletic ability, Smith explosive, high bounce height, air confrontation ability is excellent, such excellent athletic ability, so that Smith can do whatever he wants in the air.
In Smith's collection, you can see him galloping all the way in the fast attack, after receiving the ball from his teammates, directly taking two big steps, and then taking off, fully unfolding his body in the air, smashing the ball with all his strength, or in the position war, he started violently, grabbed the position advantage, stood up to the opponent, completed the layup or dunk, Smith's best trick is the cap, Smith's timing of the opponent's shot is very accurate, plus his extremely strong explosive power, so that he can keep up with the rhythm of the opponent, complete a big hat in the air, Smith completed 1100 blocks before he turned 25, how hard was it to achieve that achievement? A historic blocker like Olajuwon has not been able to do it.
Smith has a strong impact, good at playing fast attack, killing the basket, fast attack counterattack is the stage for him to express himself, giving the opponent hot pot under the basket is the way he shows his existence on the defensive end, but in addition to these two points, Smith's mastery of things is very little, Smith can pass the ball, but to make him a possession forward, he can not complete the task of organizing the team, he is better at icing on the cake, he can grab rebounds, but also not a master, Smith performance in terms of steals is also in the medium, look at Smith's average performance per game, He can fill in five pieces of data, but without that item is very refined, it belongs to all kinds of people, and everything is not refined.
As far as the offensive end is concerned, in addition to impacting the basket, Smith has no stable means of scoring, he can shoot in the middle, but the shooting rate is not good, it is not stable enough, the game is over, Smith will gamble, the more he shoots, the more he throws, the team's offense is messed up, in terms of three-pointers, Smith has been shooting, but the shooting rate is unbearable, rarely more than 30%, most of them fluctuate at 30%, Smith's ability to catch the ball and shoot is not good, and the one-on-one single is even worse.
He does not have exquisite pace and dribbling, has made a joke of holding the ball 10 seconds and walking 25 times, it can be said that without counterattack, Smith has no stable means to tear apart the opponent's defense at the offensive end, and when standing on the free throw line and scoring easily, Smith's performance is also very unsatisfactory, doing a front line, his free throw shooting rate is around 60%, and he can get a lot of free throws per game, Smith's offensive ability is really more general.
Defensively, Smith can block, but does not mean that his defense is excellent, his defensive consciousness is average, if in a good system, he can keep up with the system, do not add chaos to the team, the performance is very tough, the effect can also be, but without a good defensive system, then Smith will go with the flow, the performance will not be much better than his teammates. Defense is generally not a fatal problem for Smith, and the lack of good technology has allowed Smith's NBA career to suddenly turn from prosperity to decline, from a generation of "Eagle King" to a player on the bench.
A very gifted boy shines in Atlanta
Smith in high school, with his strong talent, won the attention of many people, people feel that he has a bright future, his door to the NBA has also opened, after thinking, Smith decided to land in the NBA through 2004, he was selected by the Eagles with the number 17, this year he was only 19 years old.
Rookie season, the Eagles conservatively, first put Smith on the bench, NBA career debut, Smith contributed 7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, performed very well, against the 76ers, Smith won the first double-double of the NBA career, 11 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. After playing 15 games on the bench, Smith was put in the starting lineup by the Hawks, and in the first game, Smith contributed 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks in 27 minutes, and the performance was wonderful, after which Smith took root in the starting lineup.
In the game against the Lone Ranger, Smith contributed 9 points, 10 blocks, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, becoming the youngest player in the NBA to block 10 times in a single game. At the end of the season, Smith averaged 9.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.9 blocks per game, doing well among rookies and being named to the all-rookie second team. Smith's outstanding performance won the trust of the Eagles, and they decided to correct Smith and let Smith enter the team to start, and Smith became the main force in the team and embarked on the road to becoming the "Eagle King".
From the Second Boss to the New "Eagle King"
The Hawks began to train Smith, but there was no rush, they were a little bit of decentralization to Smith, Smith averaged 9.7 shots per game in the second season, 13.8 in the third season, and 14 in the fourth season, in this season, Smith performed very well and set a lot of career records. Against the Bucks, Smith cut 38 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks, 38 points became Smith's NBA career highest single-game score, against the Rockets, Smith grabbed 22 rebounds, and 16 points, 2 steals, 2 assists and 1 block, 22 rebounds was Smith's NBA career rebounding record, against the Nuggets, Smith cut 22 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 blocks, and won the first triple-double of his NBA career.
At the end of the season, Smith averaged 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.8 blocks per game, as a second boss, such a performance is very outstanding, Smith grew up and has become a star, but because there is still a gap in ability and Joe Johnson, Smith can only be a person next to Joe Johnson, assist him, such days lasted for several seasons, until the 2011-12 season, Smith replaced Joe Johnson as the boss of the team, the new "Eagle King".
In his first season as the Eagle King, Smith averaged 18.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.7 blocks per game, shooting 45.8% from the field, a career-high, and Smith played his peak performance. The Hawks made the playoffs. In the playoffs, Smith's performance was very poor, his shooting percentage was very low, the offensive performance was very poor, which made Smith unable to tear apart the opponent's defense with his performance, and after playing 5 games with the opponent, the Eagles were eliminated.
As the second season of the "Eagle King", Smith's performance was similar to last season, the Eagles once again entered the playoffs, but this time, facing the Pacers' defense, Smith's performance was not as bad as last season, the fourth game of the series, Smith contributed 29 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, helping the team to equalize the big score, but Smith is still much worse from the top big boss, the next two games, Smith is inaccurate, the Eagles suffered two consecutive losses, eliminated by the Pacers.
When Joe Johnson was the boss, the Eagles could still play the second round in the playoffs, but without Joe Johnson, when all driven by Smith, the Eagles traveled for the first consecutive round, which not only reflected the lack of eagle strength, but also showed the lack of Smith's ability, his ability, only suitable for being the second boss, he could not maintain an excellent performance in a series, leading the team to win the series.
At the end of the 2012-13 season, Smith's contract with the Hawks ended, Smith became a free agent, he could sign with any team, and at this time, another team in the East, the Pistons, were looking for stars, hoping to sign players who made the team stronger, they set their sights on Smith, handed over a 4-year, 54 million contract, this contract is not small, Smith signed, became a member of the Pistons.
Expectations were high and disappointments were great
For their new signing Smith, the Pistons have high expectations and hope that Smith can lead the Pistons to make a difference, but after the start of the season, a basin of cold water was poured on the Pistons. Smith is good at impact, the space on the court is very demanding, but the space of the Pistons is not good, the interior line has Monroe and Drummond, the space under the basket is very crowded, Smith is not good at killing under the basket, and the middle shot, Smith is not good at shooting, the shooting is not accurate, the threat is not large, the sudden can not go in and the shot is not accurate, Smith's threat on the court is very small, at the end of the season, Smith averaged 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and the shooting percentage is a new career low.
Smith's performance has broken the Hearts of the Pistons, but more heartbreaking in the back, in the early 2014-15 season, Smith played 28 games, averaging 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 1.7 blocks, shooting 39.1%, on the court, Smith will not play at all, the Pistons saw this, died to Smith, decided to give up Smith, in time to stop loss, they made a deal with the Rockets, Smith became the Rockets' man.
Magical play to help the rocket turn the big turn
After coming to the Rockets, Smith was pressed on the bench, the average playing time per game is the lowest since entering the NBA, after the Pistons such a suffer, the Rockets have distrusted Smith, but Smith found some feelings in the Rockets, played better than in the Pistons, and became an important scorer on the Rockets bench. After entering the playoffs, Smith's playing time is strictly controlled, the Rockets are afraid that he will hit the head, playing randomly on the court, the Rockets This measure has a good effect, the first round against the Lone Rangers, Smith used excellent performance to help the Rockets defeat the Lone Rangers and advance to the second round.
In the second round, the Rockets against the Clippers, the strength of the Clippers can be much stronger than the Rockets, the first game, the Rockets will lose the opponent, after the second game, the Rockets will lose two big losses, and they have fallen behind the opponent 1-3. In the playoffs, a 1-3 deficit with an opponent is equivalent to being sentenced to death, and few teams have turned over, but the Rockets will not believe in evil, and they will fight to the end.
In the fifth game, the Rockets will play Harden badly, but the Rockets will play together, with a big win to drag the game into the sixth game, the sixth game, Harden's play is still not very good, Smith failed to stand up in the first half, he stood up in the fourth quarter when the situation was very bad, took over the game, that was 7 minutes and 10 seconds before the final game, the Rockets 94-100, 6 points behind, from the situation point of view, the Clippers not only lead by the score, but also grasp the initiative, when the Clippers attacked, the Clippers Barnes took the ball, Smith quickly snatched, Back to a three-pointer, the three-pointer blew the horn of the Rockets' counterattack.
Paul felt this, he responded, shooting a two-pointer, but it was not enough to withstand the impact of Smith, and then, Smith scored another three-pointer, after which the score did not move, Smith stepped forward at this time, stood up to break the deadlock, he hit a two-pointer, the gap narrowed to 3 points, Howard scored a goal, the point difference came to 2 points, it was the Rockets' turn to attack, Smith looked at the six-way, second pass Brewer, Brewer scored, the score equalized, Brewer hit another three-pointer, the Rockets contrasted the score, the momentum, After that, the Rockets overpowered the Clippers, winning 119-107.
Smith is the hero of the Rockets' victory, he played magically in the fourth quarter, blew the horn of the Rockets counterattack, let the Rockets equalize the score, throughout the fourth quarter, Smith scored 14 points, without Smith's 14 points, the Rockets will undoubtedly lose. The series entered the rush seven, grab the seven, Smith was still hot, in the first half he contributed 9 points and 1 rebound, assisted the team leader into the second half, after the start of the second half, Smith contributed 6 points and 1 block, helped the team to hold the advantage, and finally won the victory, 1-3 reverse Clippers, won the series, and advanced to the next round.
Smith broke out in time in this series, stepped forward at the most critical time, and gave the team a breath, and the way Smith scored was also very surprising, he used his worst three-pointers to crush the opponent's defense, especially the sixth game of the few three-point shots, so that people watching the game are amazing, people can't imagine that a man who is difficult to shoot 30% of the three-point shooting rate will hit three points in a row at such a critical time, the Clippers are stupid, they are stunned by everything that happens in front of them Smith, on the other hand, took advantage of the momentum to fight his own battle of redemption, reminding people of the man who wore a headband to help the Rockets win, and that summer, the headband gang became a hot word.
In the Western Conference Finals, against the Warriors, the Rockets did not fight back, they were eliminated, their magical journey was over, but this magical trip brought Smith a lot, and if he did not play a good performance, his NBA career was likely to end.
Three teams tossed away, bleakly left
In the summer of 2015, Smith did not renew his contract with the Rockets, but came to the Clippers he defeated last season, the Clippers expected him to be able to play his own momentum last season, but Smith proved with strength that last season's wonderful play was only a flash in the pan, in the Clippers' 32 games, Smith performed very poorly, the Clippers sent it to the Rockets, this time, the Rockets could not save him, Smith performance is still very poor, objectively speaking, Smith also expects to play a good performance, no one is unwilling to eat the NBA this rice bowl, But Smith didn't have the ability to play well, he still couldn't shoot accurately, he didn't have a basket, and it didn't work in the small-ball era.
In the 2016-17 season, Smith was unemployed, no team signed him, he came to the CBA, played for the Sichuan team, in the CBA field, he could not play, was released by the Sichuan team, returned to the NBA, played 3 games for the Pelicans, was cut, since then, Smith retired in the NBA.
Write at the end
Smith is a person who plays with his body, he has played a lot of time in the NBA with strong talent, but after his physical advantage is gone, when the team needs him to project, his technical weaknesses are fully exposed, he can't keep up with the team's requirements for himself, and he can't practice shooting, and finally it is only right to leave the NBA. Now, Smith is at home with kids, has a good day, and wishes him all the best in the future.