Josh Smith Finally Appears Ready To Stop Taking Threes
By Cody Williams
@TheSizzle20
Getty Images
Whenever Josh Smith was finishing up his tenure with the Atlanta Hawks, there was an amazing phenomenon that would occur. Smith would get the ball outside the arc with a little bit of space, he would look at the rim, he would start his shooting motion, and the crowd would collectively scream “NO!” as he took the shot. This is what you need to know about Josh Smith: Outside Shooter.
Asked to play the three in his first year with the Detroit Pistons last season, Smith couldn’t resist the temptation to launch up three-balls. He took a total of 265 threes in the 2013-14 NBA season, making a mere 70 of those attempts for an abysmal 26.4 percent success rate.
With Stan Van Gundy coming in as the new head coach of the Pistons and seemingly with a plan to play his three big men in a rotation rather than as a clunky lineup, though, Smith seems to have finally seen the light.
In an interview with The Detroit News, Smith said that Van Gundy essentially said to him that he would no longer be playing the three. Smith added that a lot of his spacing as a small forward last year put him outside the arc, but no longer playing the position will make that less of an option for him. He’s also put on muscle to “withstand that physicality” of playing at the four.
Smith never outright said “I will never take another three-point shot in my life,” but he definitely indicated strongly that he was going to look to focus his game more on scoring on the interior.
The Pistons under Van Gundy are one of the most curious situations in the league. Not only does he have to try and find players on the roster who can consistently knock down shots, but he also is faced with balancing the Pistons’ rotation of big men. If Smith can indeed change his ways, though, he should be a much-improved player for this Detroit team that should have no problem playing well under his new coach.
Cody Williamsis a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.
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