Centers are probably the only guys that get a good read out of DRPM because practically, there's very little that anyone else can do to help them and since it's a fit stat and defenses are generally designed around said player. For guards, it's a bit more general, if you're awful you'll be low, but thats about it. Klay Thompson is a good exanple, his DRPM has been bleeding since Bogut got injured because his style of defense is just disciplined filter to rim protector (who isnt there anymore), whereas a disruptive defender will cope better.
http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/fran_blinebury/01/01/characters-that-have-contributed-to-winners/index.html?ls=nbahpsplit1
What's ironic about you mentioning Morey is that he's always been a fan of Josh Smith. And I'm sure Morey knows as well as you or I that he's probably not a fan of Smith's shot selection. In that case, what could Morey have liked Josh Smith for?
Really? T.Jones is athletic and finishes at the rim when there's no opponent there and can sometimes shoot here and there but he's completely unpolished. Smith just joined the team and I notice right away how much power and authority he possess in the post. Power tipping it back to teammates or snatch that rebound amongst 7fters like there's no tomorrow. He also has a back to the basket post game. Sure his shots may not be falling but give it time. Some ppl wanted Milsap but now we get Josh Smith. 1) Dwight / Dmo are equivalent 1st options in the post at this point 2) Smith 3) T.Jones 4) Dorsey
The similarities between them on offense are athleticism and handle. Both guys are very athletic and have very good handle for a big man. But they also have different skills. Smith has much better court vision. Jones is a better jump shooter.
Nope, I'm just telling you that every single objective metric available tells you Smith is a better defender than Terrence Jones. I think you'd sooner lose a limb than admit that, so we can definitely agree to disagree lol.
It's surprising to me that anyone who's watched all of Jones' games as a Rocket considers him a plus defender. He's slow (and sometimes completely lost) on defensive rotations more often than not. Granted he's young and was dealing with sporadic playing time for a while before this injury so the final word on his defense is to be determined. However Jones does bring some nice handles for a PF and his offensive creativity and ability shows promise. He's had quite a few breakout games and he looked good to start the season. Smith has always been a good defender. Obviously I haven't watched all of his games but I saw quite a bit of him in Atlanta (less in Detroit). I always felt that his big issues were shot selection and those bonehead moments on offense, not his defense and rebounding. Due to age alone I'd say it's more likely that Jones will become better defensively than Smith will offensively, but if we're maximizing the talents of both (hopefully) it will be a moot point.
Sarcasm? (Thanks if not!) Also, the basketball reference stat credits goes to larsv8. I don't want to take his work without giving due credit. His defense seems as good as ever. What makes you say differently? Appreciate the kind word. Maybe in 10 years, I can do them consistently for all games in a season, but right now, not a chance. Only sparsely, unfortunately. In addition, it is kinda grueling to do. It actually can give me a headache accounting for the 5 rotations. Who's doing ice? Who is the two-passes away rotation? Who is the extra skip pass rotation? OMG WHERE DID THIS GUY COME FROM; GUYS DO YOU KNOW??? HELP!!! Dwight got beat, but was that on purpose? How to account for fouls, missed rebounds, and shot contests. Did Beverley work past the ball screen fast enough? What is considered a good shot contest or not (get high enough, fast enough positioning there)? Curl cut, did the screnee's man communicate? What if one players lapse caused another lapse, that was actually a "good" lapse in context? I miss many of the offensive possessions formulating the defensive "grades", so to say, and I have to write a report at the end after a peer review? All for the CF brethren But seriously, it is pretty taxing. Good post! :grin: So you didn't consider Smith a borderline all-star in Atlanta? For what it is worth, Smith's defensive presence he has brought with renewed effort in a winning organization is worth MUCH more than the 2 million dollars. Asik played pretty darn good D on Aldridge in the post season. That is the definition of "good D, better O" scenario. Also, Morey and SVG are absolutely correct. However, when there are years and years of head-to-head matchups, one can make some conclusions off the data. Especially with the head-to-head matchups, he did not have a Dwight affect behind him, which makes it even more impressive. The stat is based off getting guys like them up there; they made the calculations and brought them out there when it corresponded with who were the good defensive players at the time. He would have done a good job. Howard and Asik had to worry about the lack of paint presence when they were out on LMA. Smith would not have to worry about that. He could play up on the shot as if LMA was Dirk. Also, LMA did shoot under 50% in the playoffs... After the 1st 2 games, he was not nearly as dominant. One could make the argument he was "held in check". For all the bad press Jones has gotten on his D, he can really become a great defender. He has the tools. Keyword tools, not results, as of right now.
Josh Smith is Okay, but I still like DMO better. I'm really keen to see what will happen when TJones comes back, I think TJones will be on Morey's trade list since DMO can play both 5 and 4. But trading them both and Bev could get us something like Dragic here.
DD knows so much about Josh Smith, because he watched every game from him over the past two seasons. And yeah T Jones/DMO are way better than Josh Smith
- I think he is going by Detroit "highlights" and rumors of declining athleticism, which doesn't take into account that he was playing playing completely out of position as a SF. - Agreed Asik played great D on LMA IMO. It's simply impossible to guard a star when he is raining in turnarounds that are rising falling in at near vertical trajectory. Typically, rainbow arcs are hugely inconsistent. - I don't know if Smith would have done better with LMA the first two games. He was simply unguardable with how he was shooting those shots. The ball literally went straight up, arced, and dropped straight down into the hoop. It was unbelievable what LMA did those couple of games.
We won't need to trade D-Mo, T-Jones, AND Bev to get Dragic. I speculate if we do get Dragic, we will have to bundle D-Mo or T-Jones along with Pelican pick and maybe one of our scrubs.
What I believe nobody is talking about is how much of a rhythm LMA got when Jones was on him. That really matters. My reasoning is that Smith would cut that out a bit, and limit the "freakish" shots that were going in. I agree: there is not a person on the planet that could stop those shots after he was in the zone. But Smith might have stopped him from getting into the zone, unlike Jones. All speculation, of course.
the good thing is that after tonite's game vs NOP, a lot of questions in this thread will be answered. will josh smith be able to slow down unibrow??
Yeah, I don't think so. Unibrow is at another level right now, you can only hope to contain him, just like Harden.
If Brow is hitting his jumpers, what can anyone do? It'a probably more about can he stop him getting a slew of cheap easy points.
ya if he stays in front of him and gets burned on contested jumpers i can live with that. if he fails to keep him off the offensive glass, find him in transition, push him out of the paint on post-up position that's not so good and maybe a healthy jones with his offense will be a better option. i will say i was impressed last game with smith stopping a 2on1 fastbreak at the basket, blocking an easy bucket from behind, and getting a couple steals right off the ballhandler
