My question was simply whether you think TJ is a better defender than Josh Smith right now. If we're gonna go with "Who knows?" -- okay. LOL.
Smith is a much better defender. Honestly I would take Jones though. His offense is miles better, and he knows his role, plays off Dwight well. His defensive mistakes won't be as damaging this season because we have an elite team defense. We will need better offensive production if we expect a shot at a championship. We are currently ranked 19th on offense.
I really do wonder what's gonna happen feb 19th. Is NOP pick and kostas and Shved enough for dragic? Will the suns be willing to get worst before they get better by then.
I can't wait to see the responses once Smith starts averaging 10-15 pts per game with the same defensive stats like last night after he has a month or two under his belt being a Rocket.
You'll probably get even more complaints then because for him to score 10-15 points, he'd have to shoot 10-15 times a game and no one wants that.
I'd like to ask you the same question. Is smith a better defender than jones? Is smith's defense that great that it makes up for his lack of offense, shooting and spacing? Make no mistake, smith is a truly inept offensive player and he kills the teams flow on offense. His defense is overrated as well. The team has played noticeably worse on defense since he signed here. At this point, he's better off coming off the bench as the back up C ahead of Dorsey.
This is more than one question. Yes, Smith's defense is night and day better than Jones. Does it make up for Smith's poor offense? IMO no. Make no mistake though if you took Josh Smith and broke him of his poor habits on offense and then made him incompetent on defense, you'd have Jones.
apparently this guy did not watch the Portland series last year were Jones was abused so bad he had nerve damage this year
Hmm, well if we're going to look at history of both in the league (Jones vs Smith), since some aren't giving a fair trial to Smith now being in a much better situation... We only need to look to last year's playoffs to see how "awesome" TJones was... I'm not saying Smith would have shut down Aldridge when he was shooting insane game 1 and 2, but I don't think we would have had to change our lineup/rotation by starting Asik. I think Jones is good on offense, but his defense was so bad it was like Aldridge looked like MJ. Smith fixes an issue at the 4 we had in last year's playoffs, and there's a good chance we would have done better being Asik could have relieved Howard instead of having to play at the same time with him (which we know didn't work during the regular season). I think since Jones is young he might have just been overwhelmed in the playoffs last year, but being he's been out so much this season is he getting the experience needed to overcome that performance? And I think no, he hasn't, and depending how he comes back he might even need more time to get back on track, this isn't like an established vet coming back from injury... I wish we could run TJones only on offense, and Smith on defense... And I hope he returns soon, because I (and I know this isn't popular here) like him better than DMo. Everytime I see DMo run or pass the ball I just feel like something bad is going to happen, it's like he's running flat footed and about to fall over, haha, Jones is a lot more coordinated/athletic.
What it comes down to is the type of players you prefer. Jones is the much more athletic player, DMo is the much more skilled player. Some prefer rare size and skill, some prefer flashy athleticism. There's not a right or wrong preference, but that's the reason for the divide between those who like guys like Jones and Josh Smith and those who prefer players like DMo.
Smith's defense is infinitely better than T-Jones who has the defensive capabilities of a traffic cone. Offensively, I believe the 2 are comparable where Jones has better handles and less bad habits of jacking up shots and Smith has better court vision and passing but envisions himself a star. Smith is not offensively inept, he just needs to not be counted on as a primary option. If he can embrace that, he has a role in our offense. If Jones could shoot worth a damn, then it might be a different story.
He brings flexibility and defense to the lineup. On offense he sometimes thinks he's Larry Bird but ends up looking more like Larry Smith.