Based on what I saw, I'm guessing some of those "jumpers" were on drives to the basket that weren't quite layups. Sure, he had the airball three and a couple of ill-advised longish mid-range jumpers, but overall, I think he did have good shot selection. If he could just eliminate those, we're talking all-star Josh Smith again.
Evidently that Hardwood Sh&*hole prefers the Griz to the Rockets. I'll be sure to ignore it in future.
Hard to say in his first game.... Some players don't dare to shoot in their first game while some are overconfident. Smith belongs to the group that are not afraid to shoot. Could be a problem when his shot is not falling. I hope he figures it out with Harden and they don't call each other 'soft' .....
I counted 4 what I consider jumpers tonight. 2 Threes, top of the key jumper and a dirk like one legged jumper off a post up... But that's the media feeding into a negative narrative
There were a few shots and post up shots that I went "Ehh.... that REALLY could have gone better." but all and all, in a game where he had no practice and chance to get to know his new teammates, I'm pretty excited with what I saw as well.
Actually the volume of shots came from Dwight's absence. But think: Smith puts up 21 shots and Harden is still 32/8/10.
man im not gonna lie. i cringed every time he took a jumpshot. especially in the first quarter. he was 2/7 from the field while harden (who played the whole quarter) was 3/5. but smith kinda brought us back into this game. I just hope he realizes that scoring isnt what we need from him. i dont mind him taking jumpers but just hope he takes smart jumpers. i hope he stays away from behind the arc at all times lol
Remember that Dwight left his head in Houston and played without it tonight. It took about 2 mins to figure that out. So he only had 4 FGAs. Josh Smith took up the slack. Don't be surprised if he never has 21 FGAs again.
Morey changes almost every player for the better. Once morey sits down with him and shows what hes done with players that have soared within the analytics system, you will see a dramatic change and shift from the false stigma placed upon him. See Hardens defense. Dont misunderstand me, credit goes to the coaching staff also.
More than likely those shots Josh took will be a little less with Howard playing like he should. As he learns plays it should help as well. But he'll likely still be inefficient, I only hope his defense, passing, transition offense and shot blocking make up for it. Still, for two million I'm happy for what the Rockets are getting.
Right because 22 year old Power Forwards that average 14pts, 7.5rebs, 1.75blks while hitting 52% of their shots have no trade value.
A bunch of those "jumpers" were flip shots and etc just outside the paint. He had a ton of tough luck bounces on makeable shots. He had probably two or three shots I had to SMH! Other than that, he played really well.
I mostly like how he played tonight, especially on rebounding. While it's good that he is going to the hoop aggressively. That's how he should play. He's still taking more shots than I like. He took 21 shots to score 21 points, not the most efficient way. His defense, which was what I thought would be the biggest help he would provide, was not that impressive. But defense needs time to gel with the teammates. So I'm withholding judgment for now.
