I am done in here, spoken my piece, don't want him - listed the reasons - will cheer for him if he comes. DD
Unfortunately you are wasting your time. The negative nancies are stat watchers so actually watching the players play before sticking with their informed opinions is an anathema to them. That we can get a player of Josh Smiths talents with the BAE is borderline criminal. Even if he becomes the ultimate garbage man like TJ, and can defend the elite PF, we are so much improved. Smith's passing and rebounding is going to fit in nicely with this team. Just have to sign him tomorrow.
Yeah ... again ... <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ptT9Le6N9xI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
There's a lot of things said here and there, lets lay down the facts: 1) Is Josh Smith still talented? Without question he is. A defensive stud who can guard multiple positions in the frontcourt, with a decent scoring ability inside. A freakish athlete who can not only start our open court fast break with defensive plays and rebounding, but finish as well. 2) Is he star material? Not sure yet, but most likely not. You are who you surround yourself with -> a classic success quote which stands true in the NBA especially. He's been in a bad situation for the last few years where he's been expected to be a star and was even payed like one. However, he was put out of position and in a bad system and culture. With both of those facts reversed in Houston, he could be a star, but he doesn't have to be since there is already 2 superstars here. He can be a solid high end role player. 3) If he does come, will he mess up our chemistry? It's simple really. On one hand he could be a disgruntled star who just really has a character flaw. On the other hand he's coming to a team with his best friend that is a contender with a staff, player personnel and front office that he can respect and he will be truly happy and motivated. That honestly will not be a problem because my next point: 4) What if he doesn't like his role? This won't be an issue as I'm sure Morey will be very clear on setting expectations and letting him know his expected role. If he doesn't like it he most likely won't be signed, and if he does then he will be happy (which answers my point above). 5) Will our offense suffer? If he's starting then it will most likely be a small hit to our starting lineup but not much since Harden and Howard will still have the ball most of the time, the defense will be better resulting in more open court opportunities, and our 2nd unit will go nuts as D-mo will be getting a lot of touches. If he's on the bench, he'll be replacing dorsey or black, neither having a outside game anyway and he is a better offensive and defensive threat than both combined. Either way, it allows the rockets to play either a very aggressive fast paced style without smith or a defensive grind with smith (which will most likely be the case late in the playoffs due to the general pace of the games) 6) Overall what is the risk? Very minimal. We sign him for an extremely cheap contract vs. his value, for the short term. If he pans out, we are a serious contender (more so than we already are). If he doesn't, we waive him and lose nothing but some short term chemistry issues (if any, we'll still be winning). Final thoughts: There's no point not getting him
Don't I know it, and they are playing team ball - notice how in those videos he is posting up....uh, yeah, he can't that with Dwight and Dmo occupying that space. BTW- someone repped me saying they don't include chemistry in NBA 2k, so the argument was pointless...hehe...nice. DD
So your arguing now about his offense. If you're so worried about that then you must have been happy with an all offense team like last year. What's wins championships. Sounds like you don't really know. Pretty surprising how people critique the offensive side when evaluating certain players when they should know that doesn't take you anywhere in the playoofs. Now that houston has a top offense and defense, you still want to complain
I just don't get all these chemistry concerns. You people don't think Dwight, Harden, Terry, and Mchale can't keep him in check? And it seems like it's a popular belief that a player that's inefficient is a completely useless negative player. No Josh smith is not an efficient scorer, but he brings athleticiam, rebounding, and defense to the team. I would understand DaDakota's concern if it were a standard FA signing with long term concerns, but this is a 1 yr/2 million dollar contract. How much of Josh Smiths problems were because he was played as a SF in that crowded frontcourt in Detroit? Here he will be a primarily PF and maybe a small ball center. You can just stick him close to the hoop and corner 3's. He's shooting 3-6 from corner, not huge sample size but here he will be only allowed to shoot from there. At worst he can play a role player role at PF which is exactly what this team needs.
Josh Smith can be the final piece to the championship puzzle IF he reduces his role to more of a Terrence Jones type role he was playing at the beginning of the season. Him starting over DMo brings better rebounding and ball handling at the 4 spot. Like DMo, he needs to stay away from those three pointers and stick around the basket. He can take a guy off the dribble from the perimeter, a skill we've missed without Jones in the lineup. Smith being in the lineup instead of DMo ensures Dwight his touches as well as brings a good post up option off the bench. Jones is a huge question mark and acquiring Smith would be a bit of "insurance" so to speak in the event Jones cannot make it back this season. DMo honestly is more of a center than a power forward anyway, our offense seems to flow better with a guy who can handle the ball and attack the rim from that spot, our starting unit would be more rounded in that sense.
I said I am ok with signing him already on the cheap, but man it is worrying due to his inefficiencies and attitude. And I hope it is just one year and not two.... DD
If by balance you mean offense and defense, playerwise he is better than dorsey/black combined (who provide a good amount of minutes). And btw, defense wins championships. Having a solid offense is pretty standard across the board for teams in the top X, defense not so much
My bad didn't read all of your posts. I highly doubt it's 2 years. Smith has no incentive to sign more than a one year contract at that price
