You could call them 2A and 2B .... Howard is hot and cold offensively depending upon matchups but his impact defensively is a constant for the most part. I do think they are still one player away .... A point guard. This team seems to go thru an offensive funk or two each game where they just cant put the ball in the hole for 3-5 minute stretches. They need a point guard to get them in the offense ... PatBev isn't that guy , he's a spaz on defense and a good compliment to Harden as a spot up shooter but he cant initiate the offense & doesn't get in the lane or the FT line much. They need a creator for that second unit when Harden sits that's the final piece to the puzzle.
He might be more than Morey was hoping for. Athletic big who rebounds, good handles, can attack the rim, makes plays for others, hits FTs, defend bigs as well as perimeter guys--wow! And it's just his first game. So we whiff on Bosh, Gasol, Melo, Bosh again, Smith, Dragic--only to have Smith fall into our laps. As he said repeatedly, "it's a blessing." Christmas miracle of 2014
For me, if his mind is right, he's like another Pat Bev. Is Pat a star? no, but he's exactly what we need in the west full of allstar point guards! Same thing with Josh Smith, we need him to match up with LaMarcus A and Blake G on def an well as put some pressure on offense. Not a star but exactly what we need.
Lol sorry. This is such a Lolz post it had to be responded to. There are about 6 better shooters on the Rockets than Smith. Harden Terry Ariza Canaan Johnson Papa <br> Smoove did a lot of impressive things tonight and I hope he builds upon them within the team concept and not playing me-first. But let's not exaggerate the truth. And I'm not impressed with the 21 shots or taking the ball out of Harden's hands during crunch time at all.
thnx for comment bro...youre taking my post out of context or i havnet worded it perfectly so no wonder it sounds ridiculous... let me explain what i meant... if i am to do the same perhaps i could say you are living in the past or in some ideal world because you ridiculed my stance when you brought yourself an absurd claim .. nick johnson should hev taken those shots instead of jsmoove? let us analyze those 6 great shooters... 3 of them were not in rotation tonight so we are left only with harden ariza and terry 1 Harden is shooting around 40% for the season nuf said... 2 ariza i dont know exact percantages but i cring every time ariza wants to shot..hell every time he has the ball in his hands i cringe...hes soooo bad... he was hot shooter first couple of games since then he was hot garbage...i dont care how much he shooted in the past ... these days hes a garbage shooter... 3. terry -- this is the only instance where you perhaps got it right....he is one who deserves to shot more.... but his defense is weak so he cant get to shoot more in the flow of the game... that said i think canaan, ariza, terry, beverly, harden, papa and dmo should shoot more than jsmoove but only out of well done and executed plays .... if all is left to random chucking over the hands of defenders they are not better shooters than jsmoove... i would gladly took half of the jsmooves shots(and half of the shots of other players) and gave it to dmo postups cause this is a play that is as efficient as any of rockets plays...
Shooting 9 of 21, that's totally fine with me. We know he is not an efficient scorer, shooting well over 40% is fine. I wouldn't call him the 3d star, I would say we have a near perfect starting 5. All that's missing is a 3pt shot for our PF, a and Smith is at least quite good from the corner. We now have harden, Howard, Smith, Brewer and Moti who can all create shots. We have elite defense all the way through our team, good rebounding from every position, a good mixture of experience and youth. You couldn't construct a much better team than that. Perhaps the best starting 5 and one of the best benches in the league. This team is a contender!
For Bima or anyone else: can we go over the cap this summer to sign him for three or four more years? Is he unrestricted at the end of the year?
I like how we added a third player that other teams' fans and beat writers can hate on as much as Howard and Harden. We are cementing our place as the most hated team in the NBA, which will be fun.
I think there will be a lot of disappointed people soon. People making up excuses for Josh Smith shot selection here, hyping up his shooting, talking about his "passing velocity." Ugh.
It depends on what you expect. If you expect an all star type player every game, then yes you will be disappointed.
He can be the #3 if he learns to take fewer shots. The #3 guy shouldn't be launching as many shots as the #1 option. He is the upgrade at PF people have been begging for, but I hope TJ comes back strong so we can showcase him for a true #3 (secondary playmaker).
Part of being the third guy is knowing when to step up when one of the main guys is having a off night. Which Howard was. Of all the shots he took the only ones I thought were questionable where the threes and he only took 2 the third one was a half court heave and in my mind I don't count that against him. Josh smith is the ceiling of Terrance Jones.
