You've got some time. You don't have to make that decision today. Evaluate what you have. Determine what you can do in the trade market. Let TJones work his way back into playing shape. Let the trade deadline approach. Then make a decision. (i'm also an advocate of opening up the rotation further than McHale has)
He is much better than Jones, he just isn't comfortable with the system yet. He can do everything Jones can do, and he plays defense. I don't know where Jones rep as a floor stretcher came from, but he was not a good shooter.
I was in the camp that though Smith was an upgrade over T-Jones....before I saw Smith play for the Rockets. Whatever defensive advantages he brings over Jones(and I'm still not entirely sold on that), he more than gives up at the offensive end. Jones is a better jump shooter, a better free throw shooter, an equally good finisher, has better handles, and is arguably more athletic now that Smith appears to have lost a step(or is hampered by that hip injury). That's not to say Smith can't be a solid bench contributor for the team for now. But once T-Jones gets back, unless McHale relegates him to the bench post-injury like he's done with Canaan and (until this weekend)Papa, I can't see Smith getting very many minutes. Not unless he replaces Joey Dorsey as the backup 5.
Detroit also had an extremely tough schedule prior to the trade. Their 5 games since have been slightly easier - Indiana, CLE without Lebron, Knicks. The way they've been winning has certainly been impressive but I'm not ready to declare J. Smith a Ewing Theory player just yet. Also, who really thought releasing him would make Detroit worse? He was out of position and led to an upset Monroe. Let's see how they fare over their next 5.
No, he is not better than Jones, the efficiency is not even close, Jones is only 22 years old, is a better version of Josh Smith... Oh come on, they did not have 23 TOUGHER opponents with him - they cut the guy because he was not helping the team, they CUT him and his $23 million dollar contract which they have to pay because he was SOOOO bad for the team. There is no sugar coating it, Josh Smith got cut by a rebuilding team - and according to reports he was not willing to accept a lessor role off the bench for them, so SVG just let him walk for the BENEFIT of his team. Addition by subtraction. DD
Now he is the Rockets cancer to deal with. Code: 5-23 5-0 ORtg 97.6 113.7 DRtg 105.8 91.7 TS% .494 .573 EFG% 45.8 56.7 PPG 94.4 108.4
Josh Smith's value is his defense. He is the best PF defender on the roster by a long shot. Dirk/Zach/Blake, etc... We are going to desperately need Josh Smith come playoff time, where he has a career 17.3 PER. I think we have seen enough of him to know that his athleticism has not declined much, but his role has changed. They couldn't figure out how to use him in Detroit, and he is struggling to work his way in here. Last game was VERY promising. We could have one of the best benches in the league and a HUGE talent off the bench. Terrence Jones is about 1000x more efficient than Josh, but Josh is 1000x the defender.
He is only a cancer If he is getting max money and 15-20 shots a game. With Harden and Dwight, the alpha dogs are unmistakable. If he is willing to be that veteran bench leader and co-creator with the second unit, we are golden.
Let's get some things straight: 1) We don't have TJones on the team. -Sure it would be great to argue between TJones and Josh Smith who is the better fit, but we don't have that option right now so why even bother? We don't even know when Tjones will be back or will he be out the entire year, let's see him back first before we start comparing. The only legit comparison is whether JSmoove is better than Tarik Black, and so far I think he is better lol. 2) JSMoove was out of place in the Pistons team Imagine if the Pistons had Howard at the SF spot and they asked him to float around the perimeter all day. That's why looking at the stats and using it to pin down Smith is just plain wrong, he was asked to shoot mid range jumpers all day as a Piston, obv when you replace him with someone who is a legit SF the Pistons are gonna improve. 3) The Rocket need another volume scorer in the starting spot Just having Harden and Dwight as option 1 and 2 isn't enough with Ariza and Bev being catch-and-shoot guys, the team needs a dynamic scorer in the PF spot and that guy has to be either DMO, Smith or Tjones. With Tjones out (see point 1), Smith fills a hole in the rotation because if you put DMO in the starting slot the bench has no go-to scorer. Maybe Smith keeps bricking, but IMHO his defense and rebounding still makes him a net positive, I'd rather have him out there than have Kpap or Brewer playing stretch 4. Just my opinion but come playoff time, I don't think Smiths' bricks will be a big deal because everyone will play like crap on offense. However in terms of matchups having JSmith, Howard and DMO out there means everyone on the front court will be at the least an above average defender, this will allow the Rox to grind out opponents during the playoffs. If we had JSmith and this year's DMO last year to go head-to-head with LMA instead of Asik, I think the Rox would have won instead.
Jones is a very good offensive player, and a bad defensive player. Smith is the reverse. What makes me want to root for Jones is that he might become a mediocre defender down the line (he's just 23). The only way Smith will become even a mediocre offensive player is if he accepts that, like Jones, most of his shots have to come within the offense based around Harden and Howard and almost entirely from offensive rebounds and open shots within 10 feet of the basket. He can take 3's if there is not much time left in the shot clock and there's no good pass to make. That lets him focus on his above average passing as well. Let's see how long it takes Jones to get back into shape, remember the offense, learn the new defense, etc. After all, he's not the most cerebral player either.
A good franchise would have never signed him in the first place when he was obviously a bad fit. Or they could have traded him in the offseason when they had the chance. Now they've got salary on the books for the next 5 years. I still think he's gonna help us once he gets comfortable and the Pistons are still a bad team, so everybody just yuck it up while they have the chance.
Not just about shooting re spacing! About being in the right spots if your man leaves you. Jones was 13ppg as a starter because he got to the right spots when left open. The proofis i the stats fromlast season. Everyone shot better % when he was on court as oposed to off.
lets stop the nonsense...we were a GREAT defensive team this year before smith and a below average offensive team. we dont need his supposed defense, we need guys who can play efficient offense. dakota is right...smith is a below average starter in this league now. his place is on the bench for a team trying to contend. he may not even be good enough to be a rotation player for a championship team. we will find this out in the next few weeks. my prediction is that when tjones comes back, we waive smith.
and he was not playing small forward much at all for detroit this year. played almost exclusively at the 4. we all need to stop making excuses for smith and hold him to a reasonably high standard if we want him to help us win the ship this year
