'New era, New demeanor' - Article written by Nathan Stanogias AKA nathan8

New era, New demeanor

We H-town fans are evidently fed up with 'might’s' or 'should's' when referring to the future achievements of our young core in Pat, Lowry, etc. If the organisation believes that their individual talents are all-star calibre then they need to distribute decent minutes to our future 'stars'. And to effectively understand that the ability of the roster constructed as of recent needs just a proven star talent paired with a proven center in order to take that next step into the post-season. The decade that past was promised to be the most anticipated of them all. The Yao & Francis era was believed to bring continuous playoff success, however that fell through. The trade that sent Francis to Orlando in '04 brought back the leagues scoring champ in Tracy McGrady. The Yao and T-Mac era was also promised to bring success to Houston, however grouping injuries and a sense of bad luck together, that tandem too, fell through signifcantly.

Fast forward to the 09-10 & 10-11 seasons. Concluding the 09-10 season, the Rockets ended with a plus .500 record in 42-40, which certainly exceeded expectations of many, even us fans. In the following 10-11 season, we wrapped it up with a 43-39 plus .500 record, again. Two similar season, two similar 9th seeds. The Houston Rockets are currently in a mediocre hole that is becoming increasingly deeper. There are many theorys floating around the direction of the team as of recent and with the hiring of Hall Of Famer Kevin McHale, the teams fate is yet to be clarified.

At this time there is no imminent direction set out for this roster, other than making the playoffs which is clearly the other 29 team's goals, even Minnesota. On a serious note though, without a star player and a decent center we have absolutely zero chance of making the playoffs this year. We are aware of that collectively, right?

Alexander ranted about this being a ''new era'', how about they walk the walk as opposed to talking' the talk. Furthermore shake up the roster where necessary. If I were Morey, I would make phone calls regarding every single player whom shows up on the rumour-mill from now through to the offseason, seriously. He claims to have done that every trade deadline and every offseason. This past offseason, when he acquired Thabeet in a trade for Battier and Ish Smith, Bill Ingram, a writer for Hoops world reacted to the trade by saying ''Thabeet, ****ing Thabeet''. I was reading through Bill's weekly chats and that was his reaction to Morey's decision. Frankly, that was my reaction as I entered the hoops world website an hour after the deadline had eventuated. I was hoping for a D-Will, a CP3, an Iguodala, a Granger, but all I got was ''Rockets land Thabeet and Dragic at deadline''.
Two words to describe my disappointment; Dismal and woeful!

Until the offseason unfortunately we're surrounded by uncertainties. It's evident that in generating appropriate offers to teams like; Miami for Bosh, GSW for Ellis or Curry, Memphis for Gay, Indiana for Granger or Atlanta for Smith or Johnson, that in turn a deal could be negotiated to suit both teams. The word 'untouchable' only counts for three players in this league. Anyone that is not named Derrick Rose, Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant is expendable.

One player in that list that stands out extremely is Josh Smith. With regards to his age, his underrated passing ability and his talent on the defensive-end, however disregarding his addiction to jump shooting that seems to replicate a junkie’s addiction to heroin, it seems fair to admit that Smith would fit our roster perfectly and in turn become our franchise cornerstone.

Packaging Luis Scola + Jordan Hill + Chase Budinger + 14th pick + (cash if necessary in order to complete swap) FOR Josh Smith on paper may seem a little absurd, however is it really? The post-trade roster would appear to be similar to this IMO:

Starting 5:

C - Hayes or Yao (our big 'unknown') or Chandler/M.Gasol in FAPF - Smith
SF - Williams
SG - Martin
PG - Lowry

Backups:

C - Thabeet or Cousin or Miller
PF - Patterson
SF - Blakely
SG - Lee
PG - Dragic


Evidently that starting 5 orchestrated above is extremely athletic. Considering that Lowry grows, Williams gets his shot to express his ability and Smith gets the guidance from our coaching staff and more importantly from Kevin McHale to formulate a consistent jump hook and low-post arsenal, led by Smith we could become one of the power-house teams in the West. Many will cringe when thinking about Thabeet receiving consistent playing time, but wishing that McHale's success in the post can rub off on Thabeet and provide a sense of passion in his game, in turn going down the 'Thabeet pathway' would prove to be a favourable outcome, even if his current resume isn't attractive.



On March 3, 2007, Smith broke the 500-block mark, making him the youngest player to do so in NBA history. Smith ended the 2006–07 season with 16.4 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.9 blocks, dramatically improving on his previous season's stats.

Underrated and deprived of the recognition he deserves, Josh Smith is one of the best defenders and rebounders league wide. Juxtaposing Smith's overall talent to Bosh's ability to perform at a high standard consistently, it's evident who the better option for us to acquire is.

For seven seasons, Josh Smith has shown us that he can be the best player on the floor. From watching a couple Atlanta Games in my spare time it's evident that Coach Larry Drew’s offensive sets leave Smith out in the corner, away from the basket depriving him of the ability to put his head down and dunk over Brian Cardinal (first noob that came to my head). The Hawks have played an isolation offensive system for the past 3-5 seasons that in turn assists in isolating Johnson on the wing, Horford in the post and Smith in the corner, which doesn't make any sense at all. However, adding Smith to a run and gun offense like ours, it will provide clear cut success in a matter of games, not seasons. Smith is waiting for the green light to express his true talent and overall potential. Houston is his destination.

Hawks general manager Rick Sund wanted to give the core of this team one more chance to show what it can do. There was improvement this postseason ranging from upsetting Orlando and taking Chicago to six games without their starting point guard, but this probably is as far as this unit can go. The opportunity is there, Daryl Morey just needs to simply act upon it.

Houston's potential saviour and franchise player, Josh smith provides all the essential peices that completes the puzzle for the Rockets that has been required for the past half decade. Fans, all aboard the J-Smoove Bandwagon!

 

Carl, your status makes you feel like your invincible doesn't it?
Your just a flat out tosser! I don't live on clutchfans, unlike you low life individuals. And that is the reason my picture didn't work. In fact, every post I read from you is belittling some body's point of view. Man we are here to interact, not ****ing argue. How tough does an internet argument make you feel? Bloody fool.

 

Have you guys heard of typo's? Or errors? Or mistakes? So God damn critical. One miscue and BAM, Mr. Contributing Member has something to say.

 

To be honest, I am not to sure whether that's sheer sarcasm? If it's not, thank you very much

 

1999 :/ ? That's something my 8 year old sister would say. Grow up mate. We're human, we make silly mistakes. I seriously can't come to terms with the fact that you guys critique such minor errors.