Smith has been doing well lately. He has obviously heard the criticism and tried to fit into the team and redeem himself. I still feel a little disappointed on his athleticism shown so far though. Make no mistake, he is still quite athletic, but this guy used to be a freak of nature and hands down the most athletic PF in the league. Now he doesn't dunk over defenders anymore. I can only hope this is more of a self-protection than an actual decline. His free throws continue to get worse over the years, which is always a big puzzle to me. Dude had multiple seasons shooting 70%+ from the line, most recently in 2010-11, and now he's in the same league with DH12 or even worse.
All I know is that Smith has been wr3cking off the bench, in his 4 games off the bench he's averaged... 17.5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assist shooting 53% from the field.
Damn. Pistons now 7 games straight since dumping Smith with the last 2 wins being against Spurs and Mavs. Maybe Detroit aren't looking that silly after all by waiving him. Could turn out a good move for everyone.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jennings said Josh Smith texted encouragement after the game: "He told us to keep it going. He said he's happy in Houston"</p>— Vincent Goodwill (@vgoodwill) <a href="https://twitter.com/vgoodwill/status/553048532752412673">January 8, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
as long as they beat the mavs, I'll cheer them. josh was not playing well with them. here he has dwight as extra motivation to keep focused and overcome whatever struggles he may have shooting-wise