Josh Smith Leading the Atlanta Hawks and Outplaying All-Star Counterparts

At the start of the 2009-2010 Josh Smith had a few goals he hoped to accomplish this season. Some of those goals were personal and some were team goals.

One of those goals, making the NBA All-Star game, seemed like a sure thing for Smith, as he was having one of the best seasons of his career, while being one of the leaders on a Hawks team that was playing like the NBA’s next elite team.

Unfortunately for Smith, it wouldn’t work out for him again as he was snubbed by the powers that be from being named to the All-Star game.

Smith could have packed up his bag and hung his head low with another season at home during the All-Star game. Instead, Smith has gotten better and has emerged as the MVP of the Atlanta Hawks since the All-Star break.

How good has Smith been since the All-Star break? In their 17 games, Smith has either led the Hawks in scoring, rebounds, and assists in 16 games.

He has led the Hawks in points five times, in rebounds seven times, and in assists 13 times. Smith had a career-high 11 assists last week against the Detroit Pistons.

But, just how good has Smith been? Well, let’s do some comparison analysis shall we. We will compare Smith’s numbers with the forwards who made the All-Star game in the East over him.

Kevin Garnett and LeBron James were the two starters for the East; while Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Gerald Wallace, and David Lee were reserve forwards for the Eastern Conference.

Other than Bosh, James, and Lee, Smith has been putting up better numbers than Pierce, Bosh, and Wallace.

While both Bosh and Lee have better overall numbers than Smith, Smith’s team has seven more wins than Bosh’s team and five more wins than Lee’s team.

LeBron James

LeBron James is most likely on the verge to winning his second straight MVP award. James has led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 12-4 record since the All-Star break.

His numbers are so close to averaging a triple-double that it seems surreal to even think about how well he is playing. He is averaging 30 points a game, 8.3 rebounds, and 9.5 assists a game.

He is also 11th in the NBA this season averaging 1.69 steals a game, 2.1 since the All-Star break, and has also been getting 1.25 blocks in Cleveland’s 16 games since the All-Star break.

The Hawks and Cavaliers played on back-to-back nights at the end of December with Cleveland getting the best of them both times. In both games, Smith did not lead the Hawks in points, rebounds, or assists once, proving that the Cavaliers are a tough matchup for both the Hawks and Smith.

Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors have a rough road since returning from the All-Star break. The Raptors are just 4-11 and are barely holding on to the eighth seed in the East with a two-and-a-half lead over the Chicago Bulls.

Bosh has been putting up MVP type numbers since the All-Star break, averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds a game. He has also missed seven games because of an ankle injury.

Bosh only played in five games in the month of February, missing the remaining February games after the All-Star break, and the Raptors are just 2-7 in March.

While Bosh’s point, rebounds, assists, and shooting has gone up, his minutes have decreased; leaving Toronto in a struggle to win games.

The Raptors and Hawks have met three times this season. The Hawks have won twice and Smith has led the Hawks in rebounding and assists in two of the games.

Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce

Both Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce have been playing exceptional for the Boston Celtics since the All-Star break.

Boston shares the same 11-6 record that the Hawks have posted since the break, leaving the two teams in a dogfight for the East’s third seed.

Currently the Celtics have just a half-game lead over the Hawks for the coveted third place standing. The two teams have already played all of their games against each other with the Hawks having swept the series.

Meaning, if these two teams do happen to be tied at the end of the season, the Hawks would get the nod over the Celtics and take third place.

Garnett and Pierce are each averaging 14 points a game since the break. Both are shooting better than 80 percent from the free-throw line and Garnett is shooting a solid 54 percent from the field.

However, the Celtics have been dominated by the East’s elite teams of Cleveland, Orlando, and Atlanta. They are just 2-9 overall against the three teams, including 0-5 at home, leaving many to question whether or not Boston can make a run in the playoffs.

Gerald Wallace

The Charlotte Bobcats’ Gerald Wallace is putting up the best numbers in his eight-year career in the NBA. His numbers were good enough for him to get his first NBA All-Star selection this season. He also participated in the weekend’s NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest.

The Charlotte Bobcats, who were just recently acquired by Michael Jordan, have been having one of the best years in the franchise’s history. They currently are 35-34 and are in seventh place in the East. They lead the Raptors by a half-game and trail the Miami Heat by just a half-game for the sixth spot.

Wallace’s strong play has continued. The Bobcats are 9-8 since the All-Star break and Wallace is nearly averaging a double-double with 16.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

The Bobcats are 1-2 against the Hawks with just one more game between the two teams in April. Wallace led the Bobcats in scoring and rebounds in two of their three meetings.

David Lee

David Lee has been a solid contributor for the New York Knicks all season long. He was a late addition to the All-Star team after Allen Iverson announced he would not be able to attend.

One of the players Lee beat out for the final spot on the Eastern Conference’s All-Star team was Josh Smith.

Lee’s 21 points and 12 rebounds a game since the break are better Smith, but his team is only 6-12, while the Hawks are 11-6.

The Knicks weren’t helped by dropping their first five games after the All-Star, but did rebound. The Knicks are nine-and-a-half games behind Toronto for the final playoff spot in the East.

However, the Knicks are more concerned about the offseason anyways after having cleared up cap space to help lure at least a couple of the soon to be big-name free agents.

The Knicks actually fared pretty well against the Hawks this season. They are 3-1 against with two of their wins by a combined a five points.

Josh Smith

Josh Smith has been a huge part of the Hawks’ success. Not just during this season, but since Atlanta drafted with the 17th overall pick out of high school in 2004, helping start the rebuilding process that has resulted in the Hawks being one of the best teams in the East this season.

Since the All-Star break, Smith has been on a tear. He has led the Hawks to an 11-6 record while scoring 17.4 points per game, pulling down 9.6 rebounds, and dishing out 5.5 assists.

Smith’s career average for assists is just 2.9 a game, and he is nearly doubling that output this season at 4.3 assists per game.

He continues to also be a dominant force on the defensive side of the ball. He is averaging 1.75 blocks and 2.3 steals a game since the NBA’s return from the All-Star break. He is also shooting 50 percent from the floor. Smith is a career 46 percent shooter.

Only James, Lee, and Bosh are the only Eastern Conference forwards to put up better numbers than Smith. However, both Lee and Bosh’s teams are not on playoff-bound like Smith’s Hawks.