Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
He definatley deserves credit for his play. Just look at this clip from last years rookie/sophmore game. After knocking down the three he throws down an alleyoop with authority. When he's open he can throw it down good. I've also seen him dunk on Yoa too! Just wait until he reaches his prime, this is only the beginning.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
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Originally Posted by Real Men Wear Green
"Youngest player ever to" statistic mean nothing when it comes to high school players. IF he was truly this game-changing force when defending in the paint then he'd be put there more often but he's not. He's a 3/4 hybrid that doesn't have the size to stop a true big and that's why he's not a great defender, just a good help defender. He doesn't shut down his man like Deng and isn't going to alter the opposing gameplan like a great shot blocker would. "Vast scoring potential?" Nonsense. He can't even dribble. He's basically a young Shawn Marion.
You have to be the only person to think that someone who avg nearly 3 blocks per game and a steal and a half a game isn't a great defender. What do you base your comment on? "In the 5 Bulls games I watch per year I see that Deng stays in front of his man better than the Josh does in the 5 games I watched him play in."
Help defense, is defense. And if he is just a help defender obviously he's doing it in the paint because I have never seen a shot blocker avg 2.85 bpg swatting effin perimeter shots.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
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Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo5
You have to be the only person to think that someone who avg nearly 3 blocks per game and a steal and a half a game isn't a great defender. What do you base your comment on? "In the 5 Bulls games I watch per year I see that Deng stays in front of his man better than the Josh does in the 5 games I watched him play in."
Help defense, is defense. And if he is just a help defender obviously he's doing it in the paint because I have never seen a shot blocker avg 2.85 bpg swatting effin perimeter shots.
If he was a truly dominant shot-blocking force Atlanta would have a good defense. How many great shot-blockers play on bad defensive teams? What he does is catch the unaware. Opposing players don't realize that he's in range and get tossed. That's not the same as a guy like TD who discourages lay-ups. That's why I compared him to Shawn Marion. A truly great shot-blocker effects the opposing d far beyond his bpg average. Smith does not.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
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Originally Posted by Real Men Wear Green
If he was a truly dominant shot-blocking force Atlanta would have a good defense. How many great shot-blockers play on bad defensive teams? What he does is catch the unaware. Opposing players don't realize that he's in range and get tossed. That's not the same as a guy like TD who discourages lay-ups. That's why I compared him to Shawn Marion. A truly great shot-blocker effects the opposing d far beyond his bpg average. Smith does not.
So basically you are saying that he is not great defensively because 1) The other team doesn't know he is coming despite the fact that he has a career avg 2.4 bpg and 2) The other players on his team suck defensively.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
A bad misinterpretation. Again: How many great shot-blockers played on poor defenses? You don't seem to understand the difference between a great shot-blocking big and a guy like Smith, Marion, or Kirilenko. Take Hakeem Olajuwon; it's not just the shots he blocked, it's shots he changed...in fact, the ability to change shots is more important. Instead of going in for a normal lay-up players would contort their bodies and fire lay-ups from all kinds of funny archs and angles to try and avoid being blocked. And thus missed often. Opposing players generally don't do that against the Hawks though, and it's because although Smith does get blocks he does not intimidate. And that's why he doesn't have a great defensive impact.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
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Originally Posted by Real Men Wear Green
A bad misinterpretation. Again: How many great shot-blockers played on poor defenses? You don't seem to understand the difference between a great shot-blocking big and a guy like Smith, Marion, or Kirilenko. Take Hakeem Olajuwon; it's not just the shots he blocked, it's shots he changed...in fact, the ability to change shots is more important. Instead of going in for a normal lay-up players would contort their bodies and fire lay-ups from all kinds of funny archs and angles to try and avoid being blocked. And thus missed often. Opposing players generally don't do that against the Hawks though, and it's because although Smith does get blocks he does not intimidate. And that's why he doesn't have a great defensive impact.
So basically you are saying that he isn't a great defender because as a SF/PF he doesn't impact the same way that a shotblocking defensive center would? First of all, that is an apples and oranges argument, second of all if you watched more Hawks games and stop looking at sportscenter highlights, you would see that when Josh is in the lane he makes players alter shots. The Hawks are not a great defensive team because they don't play a good defensive scheme. The bulls play a great defensive scheme. Mke Fratello and Pat Riley coached teams play great defensive schemes. Avery Johnson even has the Mavs playing better defense. That still doesn't detract from Josh's great individual effort.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
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Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo5
So basically you are saying that he isn't a great defender because as a SF/PF he doesn't impact the same way that a shotblocking defensive center would? First of all, that is an apples and oranges argument, second of all if you watched more Hawks games and stop looking at sportscenter highlights, you would see that when Josh is in the lane he makes players alter shots. The Hawks are not a great defensive team because they don't play a good defensive scheme. The bulls play a great defensive scheme. Mke Fratello and Pat Riley coached teams play great defensive schemes. Avery Johnson even has the Mavs playing better defense. That still doesn't detract from Josh's great individual effort.
This made me laugh. 90% of Josh Smith's plays is SportsCenter highlights, and yet that's what you're complaining about. Apples and oranges? I'm talking bball and you want to eat fruit salad. Please stop trying to dodge the point: if Smith were a true goal-tender in the mold of guys like TD he'd have the Hawks playing better defense. Bulls' scheme is based on the shot-blocking abilities of their bigs, and Dallas also employs centers in Dampier and Diop that protect the basket. Josh Smith cannot intimidate at their level, so his impact isn't the same.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
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So basically you are saying that he isn't a great defender because as a SF/PF he doesn't impact the same way that a shotblocking defensive center would? First of all, that is an apples and oranges argument
Actually, it's not an "apples to oranges" comparison at all.
Sure, the players play different positions, but he's comparing SHOT-BLOCKERS and their impact on team defense.
Smith doesn't get a free pass from the team defense aspect of shot-blocking just because he's a combo forward.
And not every shot-blocking center is a huge defensive asset. See Marcus Camby.
Re: Luol Deng: Most Underrated Player in the League?
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