Even though those are just basic head to head matchup stats, there's a reason why defensive advanced analytics have never really taken off as much as the offensive side. Numbers guys like Morey and Stan van gundy have said before that there really isnt any defensive stats/advanced analytics that can show how good a player is on defense, there's just too many variables. Besides, I recall asik shutting down Aldridge in the REGULAR SEASON. The playoffs are a whole different animal.
They are both the same athletically, Jones has the same physical tools as Josh Smith, the difference is how they've developed their game. Smith has learned how to play defense, Jones hasn't. Smith has pretty much every poor habit a person could possibly have on offense, Jones hasn't developed those poor habits. If you compare early Josh Smith and Terrence Jones it would probably make a lot more sense to you. If he manages to ever learn how to play defense and doesn't develop the bad habits on offense, Terrence Jones will be a much better player than Josh Smith, till then, it'll be a toss up between 2 flawed players. One that is a liability on offense, one that is a liability on defense.
Asik also did a fairly good job on Aldridge in the post-season. LMA made some crazy shots, but the vast majority of them were extremely well-defended by Asik -- a point that was repeated ad nauseum by every announcer calling those games. Out of curiosity, though -- if you don't trust advanced stats like DRPM, you don't trust the actual results of head-to-head matchups, and you don't trust the rotation-by-rotation analysis of someone who sat down and watched every defensive play of every player in a game and posted the results here -- what do you trust?
And FWIW -- while DRPM may be an imperfect stat, I don't think it's any coincidence that the guys who ended up near the top in the ratings last season are regarded as elite defenders (e.g., Duncan, Gasol, Bogut, Dwight, Iggy, Draymond, Taj, Asik, Ibaka, etc.). If that's coincidental, it's a pretty incredible coincidence.
This is exactly it. It's funny how one day, according to a certain poster(s), we are the favorites to win it all because we added josh smith and suddenly according to same poster josh is on r 4th best big and somehow t. jones has leaped to second best to dwight despite not having played a single game for tge last several weeks. Earth to homers, if Jones was so good we wouldn't have lost to Portland last year and we would already have been favorites to win it all. T. jones is a slightly richer man's stromile swift. He's super athletic...and that's pretty much it. Does he have the physical abilities to be a good player? Sure...but his ceiling is not as high as Josh Smith, who himself is super athletic but has actual instincts on defense. His "decline" is largely due to zero effort, as you could see in his first game with us he still has the ability to run and jump with the best of them...the 2 handed alley oop slam from harden was pretty damn good for someone whose athleticism is waning as some like to claim. Basically what I'm saying is that we don't need JOF to be a thing. Please stop being delusional about our own players.
If you can't see that Terrence Jones who is still very young has already better qualities and potential on Offense, then I do not know what to tell you. On D this is another story.
He has more potential on offense solely because he doesn't have the bad habits Smith does. Jones isn't going to be a guy that ever creates his own shot consistently and effectively, but he should be someone who can score in transition and put the ball in the basket on putbacks. Guys can have good careers scoring like that. If Josh Smith would stick to that instead of thinking he knows how to shoot the ball or that he is able to consistently and effectively create his own shot then he'd be a MUCH better player. Bad habits and hubris are the main things that make Josh Smith an awful player on offense. He seemingly has no clue what he's good at and what he's not good at.
Uh, Josh Smith CAN create his own shot. The problem is he can't shoot anything beyond like 15' except corner 3s, where bev and terry are already. His problems like jacking up bad shots on offense stem from being first option on bad teams that relied on him taking 20 contested shots a game. He can unlearn those habits in a good system.
Every player CAN create their own shot, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. Canaan CAN guard centers in the post, doesn't mean it's a good idea. The "consistently and effectively" part is what matters and he CAN'T do that.
So, basically, they're different. I think people are getting confused because neither has a post up game and both like to face up. That doesnt mean they're the same. Josh was a shotblocker and defensive presence day 1 in the league. TJo is still not a good defender. TJo is much more efficient than Smith had ever been.
Those are regular season stats, not playoffs. Two completely different things. Kinda like how harden was awesome in the regular season but was a complete no show in the playoffs. How has he done in the playoffs? Both asik and howard are ELITE defensive players at their position. They have more size and length to guard the lamarcus Aldridges of the world. You're telling me smith would've shut down Aldridge in the playoffs? Both asik and howard were helpless against LMA. What makes you think smith is going to do any better?
That's not true, he always had flashy athletic blocks like Jones but it took a while for him to become a good defender. Smith now and Jones now are different, Smith in his first few years in the NBA and Jones now are very similar
Terrence was very efficient year 2. Josh never. Josh was a shot blocker early as well. Jones not yet, if ever
no, there are people who CAN NOT learn to create their own shot. dwight howard whenever he tries to dribble or post up is almost a guaranteed TO. Smith can drive from the perimeter.
I was just joking based on the OP's grammar. I defiantly think Josh Smith's D is harder than Terrance's D, which is quite soft.
Obviously infinitely? Not sure that's the best way to put it. First of all that's just mathematically impossible. Secondly, give J. Smith a chance before you write him off as "obviously infinitely" inferior offensively. In his first game as a Rocket he had a sicker dunk than T.Jones has ever had in his career... My impression of T.Jones is he has always been the guy to step up against the sub-500 teams, the garbage games that are not of great importance. Come playoffs or a tough divisional match-up he tends to under-perform. That is where I think J. Smith will be much more valuable than T. Jones in the long run.
What was scary about that Atlanta team was the PF-C pick and roll they ran for Smith with Horford. I saw them run it once or twice in the Memphis game, and I wouldt mind seeing it again, especially when Harden is out. Josh can be efficient, he has been in the past. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IuHnW9xgVQg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
