Comments on: Austin Daye highlights from Goodman League-Melo League game

By: tarsier

tarsier — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:56:01 +0000

Seriously, name me one 4 that he is too weak to guard in the post. Smoove came into the league as a skinny kid. Now the man is a beast. Physically speaking, he is almost identical to Lebron. And he plays defense comparably. He doesn’t take a ton of space and push people around a la Perkins. But he disrupts movement, blocks passing lanes, and rarely lets his man go off for a big night. He doesn’t look like a defensive PF from two decades ago, but he does a good job of preventing scoring–which is what defense is all about. And his help defense is particularly good. Also, I don’t think I have ever heard anyone else refer to him as sluggish. The man’s explosiveness and athleticism are his calling cards. What do you really have against Smith? The fact that he has yet to play for a true contender? Or just the fact that his production doesn’t and never will reach his absurdly high ceiling?

By: rob

rob — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:08:51 +0000

sorry, I’m just not buying him as a championship caliber player. I dont care about his stats I’ve watched him play enough and he doesnt play smart championship basketball. He plays more streetball/stat-stuffing basketball. When the games on the line and his team is down, he is notorious for hogging the ball and jacking up bad shots in Ben Gordon fashion with no regard for his teammates.

And getting a few steals an blocks is not playing defense. Josh Smith cant guard anybody, you all are crazy touting him for his defense. He’s too weak to guard 4′s in the post, and he’s too lanky and moves his feet to slow to guard 3′s on the perimeter.

Like I said, he’s a great highlight reel if your into that sort of thing, but he’s never shown the tools to me to prove he can play winning basketball at the highest level, deep in the playoffs. That’s the most important thing to look for in a player. Daye has much more upside, and much more time to realize that upside. You can develop a players skills, but you cant really improve their IQ/mental make up. Either they get or they dont. He reminds me too much of Iverson, mentally/IQ-wise.

By: David

David — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:44:31 +0000

Maybe I’m not catching the sarcasm, but since when did Daye gain 30 lbs?

By: tarsier

tarsier — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:37:26 +0000

The defense is pretty sad. But it’s also hard to put up a highlight reel for a jump shooter. They’re “highlights” are really just made shots. And anyone can make those (even I can, albeit probably at about a 20% clip). What separates the good ones from the bad is all about what percentage of them they make. And you can never tell that from a highlight reel.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:32:04 +0000

What first round pick SG/SF doesn’t have that as their upside? The question is how likely is he to achieve it? I’m not very impressed by Daye because he has only ever shown flashes of upside. I am fine with inconsistency in a young player. But after two years in the league, a guy with any hope of reaching his upside should be playing around it at least 20-25% of the time. Daye puts his upside on display maybe 1 minute per game. That’s just nowhere near enough. I’d be thrilled to see Dumars trade him if he could get any decent return (a late lottery pick would be fantastic but that’s probably hoping too much).

By: tarsier

tarsier — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:23:57 +0000

Name ten players in the league who score more than 15 ppg and don’t take a lot of bad shots. And since when is Josh Smith selfish? He has low basketball IQ which would make it hard to make him the centerpiece of a team. But he has done phenomenally playing team ball in Atlanta basically since he got there. Does he ever complain about his touches? Has he ever finished near the top of the league in usage? He is in the same category with Odom, Iggy, and Gerald Wallace (although he is arguably the best of that group) as very good fringe all-star level stat sheet stuffing players who can do almost everything better than average and a couple things (like defense) very well. The kind of player every contender longs to have as a second or third best player.

By: neutes

neutes — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:05:51 +0000

This is absurd. Josh Smith averages 9 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks per game. He’s shot 49%, 50%, and 48% over the last 3 seasons. He can’t be taking that many bad shots as that would rank behind only Monroe and Wilcox on the Pistons in terms of FG%. You’re talking about Daye, who shot 41% last season, and is horrible at defense. I like Daye and all, but c’mon.

By: detroitpcb

detroitpcb — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:50:10 +0000

Daye is smooth. He showed a little more strength in his base in these clips – he was not knocked off balence as easy as last year and still made his fade in the paint after being bumped hard.

But other than that, there wasn’t much defense being played. Still, i would never trade this kid. he has 20 point per game upside to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists

By: gmehl1977

gmehl1977 — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:35:17 +0000

I don’t think Daye is anywhere near 230. l would be interested to know if he has put on any size at all or even if he has lost any.

By: Jodi Jezz

Jodi Jezz — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 04:01:48 +0000

Josh Smith plays defense and Daye doesn’t…Defense wins championships and Offense sells tickets…