^ I don't think the argument is that Josh is one of the best defensive players in the league. Rather, it's that he's good and Jones is terrible. It's more the gap between him and Jones is big rather than smooth being elite on his own.
When Smoove gets major rotation minutes in the role he played for us last season, back up 5 and also able to play alongside Dwight at 4, he is one of the best defenders in the league. Have to remember, last year when Smith arrived, Dwight was out the first 18 games Smith was here. So we were still in a hole until Dwight got healthy and rolling and Dwight them missed another stint of games late.
The real issues are chemistry - the have not found the proper roles for all the players, there are players in contract years that are more concerned with their own goals then the team goals - and the coach has to get them to trust each other and play together. And we have a team built upon the 3pt shot, with players who are not good 3pt shooters. All that said, we have an incredibly gifted James Harden, some good supporting cast players, and the knowledge that - though flawed - this team reached the WCF last season. If they can overcome the small stuff and rediscover the trust that teams need - they can become contenders. DD
Yeah, I'm not saying Smith is a bad defender or his loss hasn't hurt in ways. And I'm as down on TJones as anyone. Even with his recent string of better offensive performances, man he's painful to watch. I'm just point out the Rockets, with various players in an out of the lineup both before and after Smith's arrival, had a better winning % before his arrival, and that just watching the games last year you know he hurt us in ways just as much as he helped. And just watching the Clippers series showed you that. But when he was "on", he was great, and when he was "on" and playing with an engaged Dwight, it was great. See against the Mavs. See 4th quarter against the Clips in Game 6 when they finally "solved" Blake, etc. But I am definitely not crying over his loss or clamoring to have him back. There's a reason he chose to leave... even in his best mental state he is a volatile player. If there was a straight up TJones for Josh Smith trade I'm not going to be mad or anything, I just don't see it really advancing the ultimate goal of winning a championship, either this year or in the future.
This is a easy answer the problem is Lawson and JONES... both you can't play either one of them for to many mins... THEY BOTH will mess up..
The trust factor starts and ends with James Harden. He has to exhibit the proper trust in his teammates before they will trust him back. And James is not in his contact year.
Pretty much this. When you have a lead, no need to hit grand slams on every play. Defense comes and goes.
A real issue is ariza shooting crappy numbers and brewer not being able to score this season. What the hell is wrong with this guy?
What tha hell.... Rockets were winning at half time... Playing very balanced on offense in the first half... Defense was ok, but was not rotating that well... So what happened in the 2nd half???? T_Man
The law of averages for the Hawks and the Rockets continued determination to turn the ball over and play defense in spurts, not consistently.
Yeah I saw that in the first half.... In the first half they were looking good offensively... Playing inside - out.... The big men were looking for each other and the guards and forwards penetrating and dishing to the big men... Which led to a lot of open shots on the perimeter... Did all of that change in the 2nd half??? T_Man
They lost the trust of the first half, the Hawks came out swinging and the Rockets reverted to what they all do individually and the team play crumbled and the game slipped away. They went away from PnR and Harden got them into ISO and the chemistry vanished....just like our winning ways. DD
If the Rockets maintain a frontcourt rotation of Howard/Capela/D-Mo, while playing Beverly, we will not continue to struggle defensively. The D looked terrible tonight, but I think this would be an isolated incident. Offensively its the same story, we've talked about the lack of structure for years now. The team would be better off with Thornton over Brewer, but even with that I don't think it would be enough. The problems are too deep at this point. But since we have to play with what we currently have. less Jones and Brewer, more D-Mo and Thronton.
The thing is we did not have enough seasons to observe him. The Josh we know was a good guy playing good basketball on the defensive end. The Josh Detroit fans have known, a chucker and bad IQ player. You get what I am saying.
