Here at TSFJ, we have done our best to try and defend Josh Smith. Our editor-at-large Kenny Masenda has come out and said that the coaches in the Eastern Conference as "as dumb as a bag of rocks" for not voting Smith into the All-Star game, and I personally believe that Josh Smith COULD be the best power forward in the East if he could ever get his mind right. But that right there is the problem, Josh Smith can never get his mind right, and because he refuses to do so, he is subject to having a bit of bad luck on his side in regards to his shooting ability. (You know, like constantly wanting to shoot long jumpers.)
Per Joey Yashinsky of Deadline Detroit Sports, Smith currently has the saddest, craziest streak in the NBA going right now.
Thus far in the NBA season, 140 players have started ten or more games.
Of those 140, 139 of them have posted at least one game where they’ve shot over 50% from the field.
[...]It leaves just one. One of 140. The only guy in the league unable to go out for even a single night and make more shots than he misses.
Josh Smith.
I don't know whether to feel impressed or belligerent. To be the only one out of 140 people to do ANYTHING is impressive, but...can Josh Smith, for one night, just find a way to make a few more shots than he actually misses? It's incredulous to think that Smith, one of the best players in finishing around the rim, is capable of constantly shooting so poorly from the field. The reality is simple though, Smith is shooting just 37.3% from the field this season and he refuses to think of himself as anything other than a shooter, and will constantly shoot threes and long twos to prove a point.
Just like he did when he hit this game-winner versus the Timberwolves.
Yes I know it was a preseason game, but still. This is just the type of thing that reinforces the notion in Smith's mind that he should keep shooting these wayward parabolas at the rim. The funny thing is, Smith has a beautiful left-handed jump shot. Too bad it hardly ever goes in. Josh Smith must be stopped, immediately.
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
