If I want to get a feel for how good a player may be, I'll take a gander at the message board of his old team to see what people think of his play. So that's what I did with Ish Smith. I found a thread on RealGM... check it out: http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1299613
Always been on the Ish bandwagon since his first stint here in Houston. He has gotten better since then, and he should excel in a team full of shooters. He looked great with the starters too last night. I think people give him a lot of ish for not being a great shooter, but he's a great guy to have for the vets min. If he doesn't make the team I hope some other team picks him up. Our bench could be very fun and interesting this season if all our guys pan out.
Isaiah Thomas > Smith though so I'm sure Suns fans don't really care either way haha. Good for us Rockets fans though!
I actually liked Ish better his first go round here. thought we should have kept him. He hasn't impressed me this preseason though
I stated Ish would be competing with Canaan for the backup point and Basketballholic said "wrong" .. anyways, he's a good fit as a backup point to come in and run the team..get the pace right for the other guys. He's got great court vision and is super quick footed.
Been a fan of Ish since his first go around. One of the better PGs in the NBA in terms of passing and vision. He's a treat to watch in the fast break.
Ish has the complete package sans shooting. Hard for a PG to stick without a decent mid-range jumper.
This vid still makes me smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-gUedCa-wU This kid was so clutch at WFU. And he's a great great kid to boot. What many Rockets/Magic/Bucks/Suns fans probably never got the advantage of seeing was that despite his poor shooting percentage (FT & FG) in college, down the stretch, he seemed (to me) to be nearly automatic. But that's a college kid playing against other college kids and having a good lather from playing ~35 MPG. So maybe he'll never be able to make the impact in the NBA he could in college but I have always thought that if he found himself in a situation where he got 20-30 games in quick succession playing 20+ MPG, he could find that same ability to finish he showed in college and set his sail from there. Here's to hoping for him - I am one of his biggest fans.
Years have passed, I would have thought he improved his shooting to the level that is not detrimental to the team
Ish needs to improve his shooting and having a guy like Calvin Murphy around the organization, I am surprise players don't go out and get advice from Murphy.
I remember being disappointed when we let him go the first time around, but didn't expect much this go around. He has been a pleasant surprise. He has an elite handle and feel for the game. Very good passer. Pushes the ball up in a hurry and creates for others. He has to have some above average skills in order to stick around the NBA with such a broken jumpshot. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Nkk_EGorxLg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Fans like him as that underdog with skills and hope he puts it together. But not as a major rotation player. He's one of countless players who would strongly benefit from a legit 3 point shot.
Ish would be like having that player at the end of the bench who you can rely on if the needed to competently run the point. Nothing wrong with that but we need scoring and Ish ain't bringing that. Canaan is more important than Ish right now.
I've liked Smith since I saw him in Summer League in his first stint here. I think he had some games of double digit assists, which is impressive for summer league play. He is the definition of a true passing point guard. If the NBA wasn't so three pointer driven, every team would love to have an Ish Smith on their team. He keeps the tempo rolling and makes the right play and pass the majority of the time. The thing with Smith is that he need the right system for him to do well. We have to play fast and have shooters on the floor if we want to use him properly. Like in that Dallas game, he struggled in the half court set because of all those fouls but against Memphis, he shined as the team was running. Unless he has a horrible stretch of games, or Canaan actually wakes up and plays like a man possessed, the back up point guard spot is his to lose. Our second unit will have to learn how to play fast, even faster than the starters.
Rafer usually shot 36 or 37% from 3, if Ish could do that he would be borderline starter on an NBA team. lol
He's essentially a poor/homeless man's Rondo or Rubio. Terrible shooter, but hey we're paying him vet min. I actually loved his game when he was here in the past.
