One of the negative things that these new guys did is knock Pappa to the bench, he was our best creator outside of Harden. None of the new guys are as good as him at moving the ball. DD
FWIW, I'm not sure where the narrative that he took all of these terrible long 2s and 3s tonight is coming from. 7 shots taken tonight: 1. Runner right at the basket (made). 2. Putback floater at the basket (made). 3. Same runner w/in a few feet of the basket as made in #1 (rims out). 4. Same runner w/in a few feet of the basket as made in #1 (too strong, miss). 5. Hook shot in the paint well-defended by Danny Green (miss). 6. 3-pt shot from the top of the key (Dwight called for offensive goal-tending. 8 seconds left on the shot clock here and plenty of other/better options). 7. Silly long 2 attempt (miss). http://stats.nba.com/game/#!/0021400454/ Only two of those (the last two) were outside of his wheelhouse, IMO. His first five shots all came in the paint, within just a few feet of the basket. Reading some of these posts, you'd think he spotted up for ill-advised jumpers all night. Anyway, I personally thought he had a few really good looks right at the basket early on that he chose to pass out of for whatever reason -- maybe paranoia about having taken too many shots last game? One thing I did notice is that he seemed to get very frustrated w/ the combo of his shots rimming out & the calls, and his shot selection became more questionable as the frustration built. I expect/hope he will get more comfortable and into more of a groove as he gets in more practices and games -- and I also think his facilitating will improve as he gets more familiar with guys' spots on the floor. And I feel crazy for even making these kinds of apologist posts, because I was staunchly against him coming here for a lot of the reasons outlined in this thread (poor shot selection, tendency to play outside of the scope of his strengths). But I think he has a skill set that can be very useful to this team, and I'm personally willing to give him more than 72 hours before declaring his signing a mistake.
Honestly I thought he played great in the first half, of course besides that two minute stretch in the 2nd quarter where he went full r****d. He was setting guys up for open looks which they weren't converting, and made a couple shots at the rim. He seemed to get discouraged by his terrible stretch in the 2nd quarter, as he was basically invisible the rest of the game.
Yeah let's try the dmo jones combo in the playoffs against LaMarcus aldridge again and see if we have a differvent result. Jesus man.. one game? Give it a break. You'll be happy you have him down the stretch and in june
Article at ESPN about Smith and his awkward fit in Houston: http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/p...h-may-be-an-awkward-fit?ex_cid=espnapi_public Josh Smith will join the Houston Rockets after being cut by the Detroit Pistons. Statistically speaking, Smith seems like a bad fit for the Rockets. The Rockets are the definition of an “analytical team” -- they shoot by far the fewest mid-range shots and the most 3-pointers. Smith loves the mid-range jumper and is a historically poor 3-point shooter. Those traits don’t bode well for the Rockets offensive philosophy. Mid-Range The Rockets have attempted a league-low 235 mid-range shots this season (2-pointers outside the paint), 175 fewer than the next team (76ers) and less than half of all but two teams. Fewest Mid-Range FGA This Season Rockets 235 76ers 410 Pistons 465 Cavaliers 504 *League average: 636 For an analytical team like the Rockets, even worse than a plain old mid-range shot is a “long 2” (2-pointers from 16 feet and beyond) -- often called the worst shot in basketball. Since Smith entered the league in 2004-05, 77 players have attempted at least 1,500 “long 2s”. Of those 77 players, Smith has the worst field goal percentage on those shots (35 percent). Yet, that hasn’t deterred Smith from shooting long 2s. He’s attempted more than 200 of them in each of the previous 5 seasons. Since 2004-05, the league average on long 2s is better than 40 percent. Smith has only shot 40 percent on those shots once in his career. Last season, Smith fell in love with the long jump shot so much that his average field goal attempt distance was the longest of his career (12.5 feet). 3-pointers The Rockets are averaging a league-high 34.2 3-point attempts per game, nearly seven more than any other team. They’re on pace to shatter the previous record of 28.9 per game, set by the Rockets two seasons ago. Smith attempted a career-high 3.4 3-point attempts per game last season. His attempts increased each of the previous 2 seasons. Worst Career 3-pt FG pct – NBA History Charles Barkley 26.6 Josh Smith 27.8 Ron Harper 28.9 Isiah Thomas 29.0 >>Min. 1,000 3-pt FGA Yet, Smith has never shot better than 33 percent on 3-pointers in his career. He’s a career 28 percent 3-point shooter, including 24 percent this season. Smith has never come close to the league average on 3-point percentage in his career. Smith has the worst 3-point percentage in the league over the last three seasons among the 88 players with at least 500 attempts (28 percent). Smith has the 2nd-worst 3-point percentage in NBA history among players with at least 1,000 career attempts. Finishing at the rim If Smith isn’t an effective jump shooter, the easy solution would be for the Rockets to make him play closer to the basket. Smith, a player who was once regarded as an athletic specimen around the basket, had a career-low 74 dunks last season (fewer than one per game). Is it possible that Smith may have some lost some athleticism? He is shooting just 55 percent in the restricted area, down from 67 percent last season and 73 percent the year before. Smith struggles all around Among the 141 players who have attempted at least 100 shots in the paint, Smith ranks 136th in the NBA, shooting 44 percent on such shots. Among the 49 players who have attempted at least 100 mid-range shots this season, Smith ranks 47th, making just 34 percent of such shots. Among the 209 players who have attempted at least 30 3-pointers this season, Smith ranks 195th, shooting 24 percent from beyond the arc. Here’s the easiest way to put it: The Pistons have been outscored by 192 points with Smith on the court this season. When he’s off the court, they’ve outscored their opponents by four points. ---------------------------------------------------- Mirrors my thoughts. DD
Haha, exactly. I didn’t like his 6th and 7th shot, but others blaming this loss solely on him is bad. I mean we definitely would have lost the Memphis game w/o him, so even for some of these knee jerk fans that's still 1-1. And definitely agree it's been 72 hours, it's not like he was in training camp...
^^^ Again, these criticisms would make sense if he was taking a lot of 3s and jumpers outside of the paint. He did not. Sheesh.
Can we not be those knee jerk fans for ONCE!!! Bev and Josh had a bad game but we need them for their Defense!! Plus lets not act like Josh come through last game or that Bevs shooting hasn't won us games before. Bad night, ONE bad night. LETS NOT BE THOSE FANS for once
Definitely needs time and practice. Unlikely to be worth less than Tarik Black so I'm happy as long as McHale figures out how to coach a guy like Smith.
I think ESPN is the worst source for basketball info on the Rockets. They barely give us the time of day, and if Smith had gone to play with LAC/Dallas/Cleveland/Miami it most likely would be thought about as the best signing ever. Instead we get this garbage. I know I'm biased towards the Rockets, but every other article on ESPN is about LeBron or some stupid drama they make up.
