This year's Bev is not 2013-4 Bev, the last time we saw him as a true defensive stopper. I'm a Bev fan but he's not the same post knee injury.
This is actually a great post. Well done, OP. I was going to write up a little something similar but I had to go to class and just got back home, haha. To add on, the reason Josh Smith works with the Rockets is because he adds a certain chaos to this team that was severely lacking this season. In simpler terms, Josh Smith does what he wants and what he thinks will help win games. There is no hesitation in his game, there is just do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but this team has grown to live with it. What made the Rockets a very dangerous team last year was that we had a relentless chaos about us that teams could rarely stop. Opposed to the beautiful sets and plays teams like the Spurs and Warriors run to overwhelm teams, we overwhelm teams with brute and uncontrolled force. Always pushing the tempo, attacking the break, shooting barrages of 3s and so on and so forth. I mean, just look at some of the players on our team: Beverley - Mr. 94 Feet, brings a nasty tenacity on defense that annoys opposing PGs Harden - Nearly unstoppable when he wants to attack the basket, when teams are on their heels guarding him, he pops a three in their face Ariza - Plays the passing lane as much as anyone, has a little mean streak in him Smith - Mr. Nooo-YES! Can single-handedly win a game for us and lose it as well. Howard - He is still probably the most disruptive force in the NBA Brewer - Attacks the break and passing lanes relentlessly Thornton - Can get uncontrollably hot for stretches Lawson - When he is on his game, few could stop him on defense Jones - Has the ability to run the break and pass which is not very common for big men Dmo is the only one that brings mostly finesse in his game but when you add that to this team, it adds more chaos to the fold. Adding Smith, allows for that chaos to come out. When the ball was only in Harden's hands, opposing teams can somewhat control that chaos since they knew where it was coming from. I thought Lawson would have helped here but with his hesitance to start the season, it has been a struggle. Like I said before, Smith has no hesitance in his game and I think Harden respects that.
Harden and Josh seem to have the same street ball vibe when playing. Josh is streaky because he plays like its the blacktop and he just wants to ball. I think harden kinda feeds off that energy he gives when doing
Why wont everyone just admit we needed a Parsons replacement ......? Will anybody man up! Smith is that replacement. He isn't the reason Harden plays better or worse tho.
I just hope this is the end of the Tjones era. Dumb ass Morey thinks the kid will be an allstar one day.
I wouldn't go as far as saying he's below average... maybe not elite "dunk contest" smoove... but he can still finish strong, the dunk to beat the shot clock last game shows me he isn't below avg
Josh Smith can be that veteran leader that a lot of us have been calling for - as neither Howard, nor Harden has it in them. And as scary as that is....sometimes crazy is a good thing. DD
Not really. Harden is too much of an alpha, he just doesn't outwardly show it. Only an alpha would refuse to play off the ball and get irritated when his own good friend and excellent PG takes control of the ball some of the time. If he weren't an alpha, Lawson would be putting up 7-8 assists right now.
It's BS. Ariza should be very good or better than Harden at initiating due to his sheer experience. Brewer ran the Minnesota team and Terry and Bev? Come on. Most these guys know what they are doing. The problem is the coaching staff doesn't provide the championship level support of the Spurs or Warriors. Heck if they were competent at all Harden's job would be easier.
Good post, OP. I wouldn't say that Josh "completes" James, but he helps him one hell of a lot. It's obvious that Harden both trusts Smith and enjoys playing with him. Like several of the other players, Harden seems genuinely relieved that Josh has returned and it's reflected in his play, in my opinion. I still can't believe that the Clippers dealt him to us for basically nothing. They save a bit on the luxury tax, as I understand the deal, but so what? Their owner is a billionaire that can afford it, so why move him to a rival that tossed them out of the playoffs last season, with Smith playing a key role? Weird, but I'll take it. I don't know if this is a case of Morey being all that smart, or more Rivers and company simply being that stupid. I lean towards the latter.
I know this same people will get out their pitch forks once the Josh Smith honey moon is over and he starts to act out.
I'm still scratching my head about the Clippers literally giving Smith to a rival and helping that rivals (Rockets) weakest position. Smith can work for you and against you (double edge sword) and I'm sure the rockets are going to have their negative moments with him as well (cough stupid turnovers), but in the big picture he makes them better. Also I loved how Josh Smith completed Harden in game 6 of the Clippers last season while Harden sat the during the historical comeback LOL. :grin:
GM Doc Rivers did it as a 'save face' type move to allow him to recruit future free agents. He got Josh Smith to come to LA for less money to leave a team that just made it to the WCF with the hope and promise for a larger role on a team that is also on the cusp of winning it all. I mean Josh was supposed to be the first big man off the bench. To Josh's credit at this stage of his career he has no problems coming off the bench at all. But for whatever reason Rivers the coach didn't play him. Maybe Josh didn't fit the Clippers scheme, maybe GM Rivers wanted to get Josh away to make the Rockets weaker in comparison (I mean if this was the case -- it worked). Smith was visibly frustrated and we all read the articles about the blow ups in the locker room. Whatever is reported out in the media vs whats actually happening we'll never really know. Once thing though I am sure Josh Smith and the other players will let the other players in the NBA know what actually happened. Its a small knit fraternity group. How would it work for a future free agent being courted by Doc? "Come to my team, we'll carve a role out for you - forego the money etc etc." They'll remember what happened with Smith - what happened with DeAndre. Doc's rep was going to take a huge hit if Smith stayed on the clippers without the clippers delivering on his promise of an actual role and playing time. Trading Josh wouldn't just work out since I believe Josh has some sort of veto control having signed a one year vet min deal. The Clippers would have had to trade him to the place of his choosing which probably had Houston back as #1 on the list. Josh got what he wanted - the clippers aren't any worse off for it, but at least now Doc can say "you know I made a mistake when I signed Josh but I did right by him by sending him to a place he wanted to go. I would do the same with you if it doesn't work out. I am a man of my word" (or something like this) to free potential free agents he is trying to recruit. The move had nothing to do with the actual money but more protecting the Clippers brand (or maybe Rivers' brand if he is going to be tied with the Clippers for the foreseeable future). I am just glad the Rockets were able to get Josh back without having to give up any talent.
