As a Rocket, he's been shooting 19.2% from three (5 for 26) averaging over 2 3PT FGA per game. He's also averaging 10.8 FGA per game as Rocket. That's almost 11 FGA in 24.8mpg... THAT'S 16 FGA PER36 for a guy who shoots 40.7% from the field, and 40.0% from the free-throw line as a Rocket.
Our bench has been WAYYYY better since he has been coming off of it. It's our starters that need to figure their **** out. Everything would be amazing If Josh Smith could limit himself to attacking the rim and midrange jumpers, which I could live with.
Zach Lowe just tweeted this: "Josh Smith coughing up 4 turnovers/36 minutes so far for Houston. Trying too many crazy passes." It's true. We already generate enough turnovers between Harden and Howard. I'm not saying that he should be less aggressive....just that he needs to be more selective. Stick to alleyops to Howard and baseline passes for 3s. Otherwise just drive it in young man.
They have been playing him PF this season while Monroe coming off the bench. But josh was just not a good fit in Detroit, josh will only get better as season progresss
My observation about Josh Smith is that he always tries to make something happen when he has the ball. He either shoots, drives, or tries a home run pass. He relatively seldom just swings the ball or makes a simple pass to keep the ball moving like a lot of role players would do. I think that's why he has high numbers in shot attempts, assists, and turnovers.
I see addiction in his game. Hitting a 3, and making a flashy pass really, really give him a fix. The problem with Josh Smith is that the things he's good at, he doesn't really get excited or feel accomplished by as much. Its like Doug Collins said a couple weeks ago. Watching Josh over the years, its just a strange case because the game comes so easy to him that he gets bored. Someone mentioned that McHale said something to Josh when they were recruiting him that sort of echos that sentiment as well. He told him that either way, he just wants to see Josh "enjoy the game" again. I think what McHale was getting at wasn't that he wanted to see him jack up 3's and gun cross court passes. He wanted to see Josh get emotional, and compete with an edge like the game means something to him. I think Josh wants that too. I don't think he's a selfish player, or a dumb player. I think he's a guy that needs to feel something about the game to get him worked up to compete. He's addicted to the high he gets after hitting 3's, and doesn't feel anything for the grind of the game. Its a shame because the guy is a very gifted player. I guess we just have to wait and see if he can regain that passion for the grind. If not, I think he will contribute to wins, but he's not going to be a huge difference maker in pushing us over the hump.
I don't mind Josh Smith too much. Yeah, he is flawed but so are a number of other guys on the team. Why get mad at Smith for his flaws when we don't get mad at Jason Terry's lack of ability to do much of anything outside of shooting? Josh Smith is at least trying to do the right thing, and does enough positive stuff to offset his mistakes.
I wish Les Alexander would over his aversion to Calvin Murphy. If I were McHale, I'd have Smith working with Murph two hours per day on free throw shooting and one to two hours with Bull shooting from outside the arc. When Smith gets to making 80% of his free throws, he could slack off a little with Calvin. When he repeatedly makes 50% of his treys practicing with Bullard, then McHale can give him permission to shoot threes again. If Smith can't develop discipline while honing his shooting skills, he will fall victim to Morey's analytics.
It 'll take him sometime to figure out the best he can do, is stand somewhere ( like the rest of the roster) and watch Harden does his things
Calvin Murphy is an employee of the Rockets so I don't think his lack of teaching Dwight has anything to do with Les. Now, some facts. 1) Calvin said on 790 that he was willing to work with anyone that paid. They specifically asked about teaching Dwight and he said someone has to pay his fees for him to do it. 2) Dwight is a "superstar." Teams are very conscious of offending guys of that caliber. You can't just force them to work with a coach because you worry about souring the relationship. If Dwight is ever going to improve his free throw shooting it will have to be because he decides to do it and he seeks out help.
This is his main problem now. I think the team and himself should lower the expectation for him on offense. Clearly he is not a good shooter no matter how you will analyze him, and he is neither a good passer also. You can't make him a spot shooter, otherwise the other team will just invite him to shoot more from the outside. So you either put him on a fast break, or play like a garbage man role for O rebounds and put his focus more on D, that's maybe the only way it will work in this team. He needs to adapt and the Rox should also try to put him in a better situation to perform better. I think the honeymoon is over, McHale should not give him too much freedom on how he decide what to do on the floor,
Dwight's FT is overblown reaction. He is not a good FT shooter, period. Neither was Shaq and lots of the big man. It could be their technique, it could be just phyco factor, it really doesn't matter. The chance of correcting this at this stage of his career is very slim, almost zero. The FT of Dwight will be far less important problem for the Rox if everyone just contribute a little more efforts than the last few games.
I believe Calvin works for Root Sports, not Les, but I don't know the facts of this case. However, when a coach -- any coach -- allows prima donna players to dictate the "rules" of the game, the players never improve on their own. I can't imagine a coach like John Wooden or Bobby Knight adopting that kind of "it's out of my control" philosophy.
Josh is 100% what I expected (which is why I didn't want him) -- excellent defensively, a complete wreck offensively. He gives me shades of Lin offensively... he can play you into one game and play you out of the next. Never know what you're gonna get. He's been that guy for a decade, so I'm not surprised & don't expect that to change. I mean, he's flat out said before that he doesn't care about his shot chart or where he is on the floor when he shoots. He is who he is. You just have to hope for more good offensive nights than bad and try to focus on his defensive impact to avoid completely hating him.
I've never seen such a mixed bag in terms of what a player brings to the table. Almost reminds me of Jeremy Lin with those awful turnovers in bunches. He's been good defensively, I will say that, but offensively he's been quite bad. Honestly I'd take TJones at this point. A few years ago it wouldn't have even been close, Smith was a much better player a few years ago.
