The never-ending power forward search continues! … The "point guard" situation isn't much better. Although we all know James is the PG/primary ball handler. Since Dragic walked & Lowry was traded… Patrick Beverley, Aaron Brooks, Isaiah Cannan, Toney Douglas, Nick Johnson, Jeremy Lin, Ty Lawson, Scott Machado, Pablo Prigioni, Alexey Shved, Jason Terry
I think there's no chance he's coaching Rockets next season. So far he's been nothing special at best.
Josh Smith has the most success defensively AND offensively against the top 4s in the west. JB just has no patience, nerve or balls to stick with him and let him work through the rust and chemistry like McHale did. McHale understands talented big men, JBB only thinks he does.
At this point smith is just making way too many mistakes and trying to make high difficulty plays . The only PF who understands his limits right now is montrezl . Play him . Play smith 10-15 min to see if he can get into a bit of a rhythm , you can even start him . Play montrezl 20 if he can go without fouling . The Other 15 ish minutes play Ariza / KJ/ harden at the 4 .
this is exactly why the Rockets currently don't have a pf they can trust when it comes down to JS being the one people believe he is the best option and can play extended minutes
Any chance of resigning Chuck Hayes? He brings heart and a good veteran to have for the playoffs. Not sure do we have any open roster spots or luxury tax room.
If D-mo can play, he should play. If not than it should be Smith and Harrell. Frankly even if D-Mo is able to play, I would like to see Harrell play. He's the only one of the 3 who may possibly help beyond this year. Lets see if he can work though all these rookie mistakes. Jones shouldn't see the floor anymore. He sucks, we can't trade him, and he's a FA. No reason for him to play.
The problem with Jones has always been mental, poor basketball decisions. Poor decisions on and off court, period.
Start Smith at PF, bring in Harrell off the bench. If I were JB, i'd stick with this rotation... Bev-Terry Harden Ariza-McDaniels Smith-Harrell Dwight-Capela
This. If Dmo is cleared by Rockets doctors again he should play. Bev Harden Ariza Harrell D12 Jet Thornton KJ Dmo Smith
My #1 problem with our 4's is the scheme. You have Dwight leaving the rim to help several feet out, often resulting in a missed shot attempt by the opponent, then the opponent cleans up the offensive rebound for an uncontested basket. A - Good job Dwight, helping and contesting the shot. B - Why is Dwight the guy helping that far out (often at the 3pt line). C - Who the hell is filling for Dwight to protect the glass? This happens every game. Playing Harrell more wont help that, he's raw on defense. It starts with coaching. Jeff Van Gundy got more stable PF play with - no joke - CLARENCE WEATHERSPOON starting at the 4. I'm all for playing Harrell - but it will not help.
right now, do we even have a starting quality 4? i think not. like what j.r. has posted here, the 1 and the 4,,, just look at all the players who came in and were sent off our infamous revolving door... smdh.
The main reason that JB is sticking with Josh Smith is also due to the fact that the horrible inefficiency on the PG position. Let's face it, Bev is an OK to below average starting PG, but comparing him to Lawson and Terry this season? Bev is god like and that explained how bad the Rox are in need of a second ball handler. JB somehow believed that Josh is the answer, because Josh never crash the board, he just stand there outside the 3 point line (kind of like Dmo to some extend especially when his back is bad and can't contribute anything down low) and he can dribble a bit and sometime will dish out some decent passes. And by doing so, it will also open up the lane more than TJ and allow Harden to have a more wide open lane to drive. Well, that's the forking good idea, but that's not the reality. The reality is this : Josh Smith is an uncoachable player, and he obviously shows both mentally and physically are in a serious decline, kind of like Lance. His steps are much slower, his decision making is like shlt and he often quit on defense and went to some bullshlt forking gamble, on defense, he is nothing more than just a couple inches higher Brewer. It is bad. And on offense, bad decision making, bad positions - everytime when he will set a pick for Harden and rolling to the basket, almost more than half of the time that procession will end up being a TOV, well you can say that mostly on Harden but its always bad things waiting to happen when Josh will touch the ball. Not only that, he is almost a status on offense, why as bad as TJ and Dmo played this year, they are actually moving more and help setting some picks for Ariza and Bev to get open at the corner and wait for the Harden pass for a wide opened 3. Josh will definitely not giving you that. Harrell will not give you any 3s, that for sure. But that's OK, this team doesn't need another chucker to shot 3s under 30%. Harrell at least can crash the board on both end, give you some solid picks for both Harden and the other teammates, and more importantly, the ball will be less on his hands to have stupid decisions. But until Terry and Lawson will play at least a little bit better than their current form, it will be hard for JB to see the above simple facts and still sticking with Josh Smith. In short, we are forked.
It's funny that after Josh made a couple of shots and got a key rebound, he gets benched. This team desperately needs a 3 point shooting and rebounding clinic.
small ball: live by the sword, die by the sword. you might get some extras 3s but you lose the boards. need a well rounded roster, this one's time to cut the cord. the continued failures have me floored...
