[yuyuza1]

Josh Smith = ball hog.

He's playing for a contract this year and stifling his teammates because of it.

[Dre™]

Originally Posted by c_dog

That just exaggeration. Smith has a horrible dribble(worse than Marion) and worse jumpshot. People talk about how Shawn Marion can't create plays for himself and how he only scores on hustle plays, but Smith is even worse than Marion when it comes to offense.

Which is why I said "Poor man's". That implied he was not as good.

Deng isn't Randolph or Marbury. He doesn't have their off court problems, he plays good defense, and he doesn't talk smack off the court.

That had nothing to do with them being mentioned in my post but if you wanted to remind everyone about the cons of those guys, go ahead.

If Deng is less valueable because he's a good scorer then I wonder what you think about guys like Kevin Durant and Rashard Lewis. They're essentially the same players(except Deng has slightly less range) but Deng plays better defense.

Rashard Lewis is what he is, a good scorer and rebounder, but I've never been a huge fan. Durant has a chance to be a different class of scorer than Deng or Lewis, which is why he's so lauded. And I never said Deng was less valuable because he's a good scorer I said Smith was more valuable because his skills are rarer, so I don't know what your point is.

[TakaraJinRoh]

Based on talent and potential, Josh Smith is the obvious choice. But If I ,was to build a championship team, I like Luol Deng at my 3 spot, not an indication that he's better of course but Luol Deng is just more coachable and is more fundamentally sound. His skills can easily adapt with almost any system, he's much more NBA ready at this point (in terms of overall skill factor) than Josh.

[RoddneyThaRippa]

Can anyone explain why Woodson is allowing Josh Smith to hoist 14 shots a game, many of which are from the perimeter, i.e. not his range? That's what's wrong with the NBA today. Coaches are too scared to get guys to play within themselves. He's under 40% sixteen games into the season. Something isn't right there.

[RoddneyThaRippa]

Originally Posted by HKF

Don't worry there are enough big men on the horizon that you don't have to worry about this. You still need either a great center or a great power forward to win in this league, unless you have two of the top five players in basketball at the same time on the perimeter(ala the Chicago Bulls).

When I first read this, I thought you were talking about Ben Gordon and Deng or Hinrich and almost chucked my computer screen.

[c_dog]

Originally Posted by _Dre_

Which is why I said "Poor man's". That implied he was not as good.

fair enough, but he's more like a homeless man's marion. the stats may be close but their actual basketball skills aren't.

That had nothing to do with them being mentioned in my post but if you wanted to remind everyone about the cons of those guys, go ahead.

actually, those off court problems and their inability to play defense are why they're generally considered bad players/faux franchise players. deng actually plays good defense so he's already got that over those guys. you said deng is just a scorer but he's not, he's got the complete package. i don't think deng is necessarily a franchise player either, but he can be an all-star.

Rashard Lewis is what he is, a good scorer and rebounder, but I've never been a huge fan. Durant has a chance to be a different class of scorer than Deng or Lewis, which is why he's so lauded. And I never said Deng was less valuable because he's a good scorer I said Smith was more valuable because his skills are rarer, so I don't know what your point is.

it's just general consensus that they're some of the best players in the league at their position(durant not quite yet because he still needs to prove himself more, but he will be). deng is on par with these guys in fact i like him better than lewis at this point. you called him a glenn robinson(which usually is another way of implying he's a bad player/cancer) but he's not.