seaweed
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Post by seaweed on Jan 3, 2013 0:59:55 GMT -5
Welcome and good luck, looking forward to seeing you on the bench soon and on the court later.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Jan 3, 2013 1:25:38 GMT -5
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Jan 3, 2013 1:49:55 GMT -5
Bruins Nation does not like Ben Howland, do they?
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Jan 3, 2013 8:43:11 GMT -5
Congratulations Josh--hopefully you will embrace this opportunity. We are really rooting for you.
I hope that this change is what this kid needs. In SoCal, Howland is increasingly a joke as many talented players are recruited each year to replace the many talented players who continue to leave. However, it would be a mistake to put Josh Smith's departure on the coach. Unlike others who left the Bruins over playing time, only to star elsewhere, there is a very legitimate explanation for Smith's lack of playing time. He needs discipline and some tough love. He has exceptional talent necessary to play at the next level and thus far none of the motivation and work ethic. Those of us who have watched him play several times can see how difficult it was for the rest of the team when he was on the floor. He simply cannot move.
With JT III's recent emphasis on size and a more uptempo game on both ends of the court, it is a little difficult to see how Smith would fit in at this point. This is not Sweetney II. Mike could move, even as a large individual. Nevertheless, I have seen enough flashes to get excited over Josh's addition to the team--as a significant risk with potentially very high upside--particularly since the coach seldom plays more than 9 on his bench.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Jan 3, 2013 9:36:52 GMT -5
Bruins Nation does not like Ben Howland, do they? Ye gods, I guess not! I just read through that post and comments. And I thought HoyaTalk could be negative! Someone oughta' introduce that board to the term "self-internal jealousy." I think they'd get a lot of use out of that.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Jan 3, 2013 10:02:17 GMT -5
However, it would be a mistake to put Josh Smith's departure on the coach. Unlike others who left the Bruins over playing time, only to star elsewhere, there is a very legitimate explanation for Smith's lack of playing time. He needs discipline and some tough love. He has exceptional talent necessary to play at the next level and thus far none of the motivation and work ethic. While I agree that Smith is likely more of the issue than Howland, it's worth noting that many UCLA fans think that Smith isn't the type to respond to "tough love." On message boards, the preferred motivational technique always seems to be disciplinary, but different people are motivated by different things. Josh may very well be a guy that needs positive reinforcement and motivation, and Howland may not be that type. Hope the staff recognizes how best to motivate Smith. Yelling or harsh penalties or other fear-based incentives often fail in the long run -- especially if they have failed with a person before. The staff needs to try things Howland didn't, not just do them more. Smith, as is, isn't going to get a lot of PT here. He has a year to get in shape. At his weight, losing 70 pounds or more over the next year is not impossible nor unreasonable. It will take willpower and work, but if he weighs 350 pounds, he can take off 5 a week easy for quite a while. There's no reason he shouldn't be obviously in better shape by Kenner and he could be his ideal weight -- seems like a Sweetney-esque 260 by December of next year (unless he's 400 lbs now, which I don't think he is). Two pounds a week is a decent sustained rate over a year for someone that size -- and doesn't require him to be perfect. He can be close to 100 lbs down when he plays a game if he needs it.
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Post by unclebeets on Jan 3, 2013 10:20:15 GMT -5
The fact that he's doing a 3,000 mile move would seem to suggest that he wants to make some serious changes, so here's hoping. Might be one where Pops calls in some of the troops to work with him over the summer.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Jan 3, 2013 10:27:37 GMT -5
SFHoya, you are right in stating that many believe that Smith does not respond to tough love or Howland's style. I probably should have said that since the Hoyas have now made a significant commitment to this player, there should be a legitimate expectation that the player will be equally committed to getting in condition. For someone so skilled, it is incredible that he will be viewed by many as a "project" just a few years after being considered a virtual certain future NBA player. I agree with you that the coaches must have considered this and developed some plan. We have too many "projects" at the post position right now to take on another without some confidence in his willingness to improve his condition.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Jan 3, 2013 10:43:53 GMT -5
SFHoya, you are right in stating that many believe that Smith does not respond to tough love or Howland's style. I probably should have said that since the Hoyas have now made a significant commitment to this player, there should be a legitimate expectation that the player will be equally committed to getting in condition. For someone so skilled, it is incredible that he will be viewed by many as a "project" just a few years after being considered a virtual certain future NBA player. I agree with you that the coaches must have considered this and developed some plan. We have too many "projects" at the post position right now to take on another without some confidence in his willingness to improve his condition. Agree with that. My ideal situation is to go from Josh into Hayes in terms of bigs. Getting bigs ready as freshmen is hard; they are few and far between and usually go straight to the NBA.
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Jan 3, 2013 11:04:30 GMT -5
Welcome Josh. Dude knows what he has to do to get ready (or will be told by the staff) so he doesn't need to be told in every other post by us clowns that are probably in worse shape than he is! Wait - who is he going to listen to, we knowledgeable, objective fans or some silly staff members? ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) Josh should learn the pecking order around here right from the start! Happy to have you as a Hoya, big guy, let's make some history together.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Jan 3, 2013 11:33:42 GMT -5
My quick thoughts on the Sweetney/Smith comp: Link here.
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Post by NoBoumtjeInTheYaYaRoom on Jan 3, 2013 12:37:23 GMT -5
With WWW being reported at DJ's game along with Dakari's Lexington ties, it is very simple to see why the Hoyas jumped at The Josh Smith opportunity. The writing is on the wall that Hoyas will likely miss out on another top target but this time have a less flawed backup plan than a long term project like Bradley Hayes.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Jan 3, 2013 13:34:19 GMT -5
It's great that Herrington will be able to work with Smith on his conditioning and his Big Man's moves but there is no better person to teach him this summer than Zo. Not only was Zo one of the most competitive players ever, he had to overcome a serious illness to play again in the NBA. Zo had to work very hard to get his body back into NBA shape. Smith will have to put in the same hard work in order to get to first round of NBA draft. Big John time to bring the big guys back.
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aristides
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Post by aristides on Jan 3, 2013 13:43:53 GMT -5
Goodness. When did Bradley Hayes move into the flawed backup plan category? I thought he looked like a promising addition who could start paying dividends next year. That bomb was rather casually thrown back into the room prior to exiting.
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RBHoya
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Post by RBHoya on Jan 3, 2013 15:11:49 GMT -5
Goodness. When did Bradley Hayes move into the flawed backup plan category? I thought he looked like a promising addition who could start paying dividends next year. That bomb was rather casually thrown back into the room prior to exiting. I am a big fan of Hayes and still think his long-term potential is tremendous, even though he looked lost this year. But is there any question he was a backup plan to guys like Nerlens Noel or Daniel Ochefu in 2012? In truth the majority of the guys on our team were Plan B (or worse) at their position in the year they were recruited because we haven't landed many of our top targets over the last few years. Nate to Josh Hairston, Starks to Thornton (and arguably Marshall), Bowen to Roscoe and Kendrick, Hopkins to Rakeem Christmas, Trawick to Ty Johnson etc. Not a knock on any of these guys--in many cases I think we'd all agree we're happy with how it worked out in retrospect. Hell, a guy like Whittington and arguably even Porter were backup plans after we missed out on guys like Rodney Hood and Sam Thompson. The fact that someone wasn't our first choice doesn't mean they're not a good player. I think the only reason NoBoumtje called him a "flawed" backup plan was because we really needed a center this year (which Noel would have been) and Hayes is not ready this year. The flaw was in the plan, not the player.
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SirSaxa
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Post by SirSaxa on Jan 3, 2013 15:19:39 GMT -5
Goodness. When did Bradley Hayes move into the flawed backup plan category? I thought he looked like a promising addition who could start paying dividends next year. That bomb was rather casually thrown back into the room prior to exiting. I am a big fan of Hayes and still think his long-term potential is tremendous, even though he looked lost this year. But is there any question he was a backup plan to guys like Nerlens Noel or Daniel Ochefu in 2012? In truth the majority of the guys on our team were Plan B (or worse) at their position in the year they were recruited because we haven't landed many of our top targets over the last few years. Nate to Josh Hairston, Starks to Thornton (and arguably Marshall), Bowen to Roscoe and Kendrick, Hopkins to Rakeem Christmas, Trawick to Ty Johnson etc. Not a knock on any of these guys--in many cases I think we'd all agree we're happy with how it worked out in retrospect. Hell, a guy like Whittington and arguably even Porter were backup plans after we missed out on guys like Rodney Hood and Sam Thompson. The fact that someone wasn't our first choice doesn't mean they're not a good player. I think the only reason NoBoumtje called him a "flawed" backup plan was because we really needed a center this year (which Noel would have been) and Hayes is not ready this year. The flaw was in the plan, not the player. Agree with all your points RB.
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Post by NoBoumtjeInTheYaYaRoom on Jan 3, 2013 15:33:59 GMT -5
RBHoya hit it on the head.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Jan 3, 2013 15:45:33 GMT -5
If Smith can make it so Hayes can ease into back-up work as a sophomore or junior and definitely start his senior year, than that is perfect.
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Post by dungeon ball on Jan 3, 2013 16:00:05 GMT -5
I know it's not going to happen for a variety of reasons, but can you imagine what type of team we could have if Otto stays and Josh slims down and gets back to game shape? That's got to be national championship caliber.
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nychoya3
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Post by nychoya3 on Jan 3, 2013 16:20:24 GMT -5
Next spring, a roster of Markel, Trawick/DSR, Whitt, Lubick, Josh Smith (in shape) with Hopkins, Domingo, Cameron, and Moses coming off the bench looks potentially very good. Experienced too.
Of course, as everyone else has said, this only works if Josh is in shape.
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