I agree that the team needs to get better in the halfcourt game, but to say that an uptempo system can't compete for or win a championship is wrong. OKC was top 10 in pace last year, Western Conference Champs. The 2009 LA Lakers were top 5 in pace, NBA champs.
When you compare players, you look at the advantages and disadvantages of each. I was using PER to demonstrate that Josh Smith's offense is inefficient compared to Jefferson's. Josh Smith may be a better defender, but I wouldn't consider him elite since he's only made the NBA all-defense 2nd team one time in his career. The strawman argument was using PER to gauge Asik. I suggest you go back and read. At times, it was about offense. At time, defense. And other times, how Jefferson/Smith would mesh with our current roster. There are always arguments within arguments.
Hey maybe D-MO pans out and we don't need to sign a PF to a max contract. And as tantalizing, maybe 2014 will be the year Directv carries CSN! I'm just a patient guy
I am fully aware of there being arguments within arguments but you are making up arguments that we never had. I never doubted that Jefferson was a better offensive player than Smith. I never doubted that Jefferson was a more efficient player than Smith . There is no argument if I am not disagreeing to you. The whole point of the discussion was about Smith being the better fit and the player that is not declining. You are the one using strawman by disputing a point I never made. PER was not a good indicator of which of the two is the better player or the better fit for us. Is it something that should be look at? Sure. But I never said it wasn't. For some reason you feel the need to repeatedly make it seem like I'm making points that I am not.
i remember thinking when we had kevin martin that andre iguodala would be the perfect fit to cover his shortcomings on both sides of the court (guard the tougher match up on defense, facilitate and grab offensive boards on offense). the argument i'm reading is that Josh Smith is similar in this case to cover up for Asik. But back then, as now, the price isn't right. Iggy and Smith are super-role players who get paid as first options/building blocks. They are swiss army knives who can do a little bit of everything and are a plus to their teams on both sides of the ball, but until either takes a serious pay cut to play with a contender, they'll both be destined to retire rich and ring-less. some points: 1) i think we play fast-paced because we don't have a post up threat (yet - we'll see what DMO can do). In fact, i believe McHale said something to the effect of "we'll just have to run" when asked about how to score without a post up option. 2) it's not as if this fast paced offense is destroying anyone. We're 31-27 and, like always, will be clawing our way for a 7th or 8th seed. why are we acting like this is the style of play that we'll be using for the next half decade and should consider only players who fit in with it? 3) pure opinion here: if we bring this style of play into the playoffs we will get done to us what the nash suns got done to them. 4) more opinion: our PF should cover up for Asik. In that he should have a serviceable post up-game, hit mid-range shots, and be able to help from the weak side on defense. Josh Smith does only 1 of these things well (and the least important of the 3, at that). 5) Fact: we are an extremely young team with a very wide championship window and the best way to ***** that up is committing a lot of money to a guy who is not a legit all-star. This is not the power forward your are looking for. yeah it'd be cool to see them play defense together. but not 12m a year cool.
Better option than Al Jefferson. If we are going to change the system and play a traditional half court set, then wait til after next season and try to nab Kevin Love, Lamarcus Aldridge, or Chris Bosh.
Some people are missing the point that getting J.Smith now will help this team out several ways. 1.) On-The-Court: Interior and Perimeter Defender, rebounder, shot blocker, average passer, average playmaker, versitility, athletic 2.) Off-The-Court: Giving J.Smith a 12-14 mil per year contract actually makes him tradeable for either L.Aldridge or K.Love who have or demand similar contracts. I believe that we do need a low-post threat at some point, but getting Al Jefferson or Paul Milsap before J.Smith would be a mistake for making future moves. I would rather see us target/acquire L.Aldridge but POR will not trade him away for peanuts. I can see them accepting J.Smith + T-Rob/T-Jones/D-Mo for L.Aldridge. In order to make the $ work the rockets need to give J.Smith a large contract.
Do nothing and seek highest reward and possibly highest risk in Howard in the summer. He's going to be a game changer for this team...not CP3, Bynum, or any other available players this summer.
This is the absolute best argument to acquire Josh Smith. Smith fits the team's current needs to a "T" and he could be used as the primary chip to trade for a star down the road. There is no denying that Smith's value will be increased when showcased in Houston's Space and Pace offense. And his D will dramaticaly improve Houston overall. The guy could be the difference between a playoff contender and a championship contender.
Josh Smith is exactly what the thread says. A gamble. And he could become the biggest gamble for Morey because that's a lot of money committed to a player that hasn't proven that he deserves the max. Fans have complained so much about the Rockets being mediocre and unless Smith comes cheap then the most this team becomes is a pretender. Like someone said. I'd rather wait than give a max contract to a player like Smith.
Smith has stated several times that he has never asked for the max. Beating a dead horse is one thing, but beating a non-existant one is the height of insanity, not to mention tiring.
This is a deal breaker if he commands 15+ million. He needs to come to Houston where his abilities will be exploited unlike any other time in his career.
This is absolutely posturing on Josh's part. He knows that backtracking was in his best interest. Last thing he needs to do is come off as self-entitled. there's a good chance that a team will give him a Max deal. I have a strong hunch that this desperate team will be Phoenix.
Sounds like this is personal to you. How else could you know, unequivocally, what his true intentions are? Agendas notwithstanding, Josh Smith is a Rockets' option next season.
Dwight Howard use to state that he didn't want to go to L.A. Gets there, "This is what I've always wanted." Words are words. What player isn't going to want the most he can get? That dead horse we're supposedly beating isn't so dead.
Hakeem stated that Dwight's preferred destination was always LA. Has Hakeem or some other guy with his cred come out and said that Smith is talking out of his ass? Smith may wathe mostnt he can get (who doesn't) but that doesn't mean he would not take less to sign somewhere he wants to be or will increase his value for his next contract. Angsting over what someone may or may not do based on your emotional projections is not just nonsense, it is a waste of time.
Looks like you didn't watch the game. A defensive stopper in the paint wouldn't have helped much tonight. Ilyasova/Dunleavy/Redick were hitting jumpers throughout the game. Offense was our problem tonight. We're too reliant on Harden. We need someone else capable of shouldering the offense when Harden is having an off night. Btw, did you ever address the 15 total minutes of playing time that would be left to Dmo/Trob if we did acquire Smith? How do you plan on developing our young PF's when Smith plays ~35 mpg? If I recall, you said we should play Dmo at the 5, and Dmo/Trob would get their chance to develop this season. I wasn't sure if you were serious since playing a young player out of position and expecting 2 rookies to develop in 1/4 of a season are both ridiculously stupid ideas.
