Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hoops Czar
Funny how many clown posters knock this signing but, praise the David West signing. Smith is still only 29, and a pretty good defender who can come off the and contribute in a variety of different ways (scoring, rebounding, blocking shots, etc). He has all the incentive in the world to play well this season because of the rising cap. If he plays well, he could be in line for a big payday. This is an absolute steal for the Clippers.
Just because it's a steal or a good pick up, doesn't mean it improves them dramatically. There's more variables to it than just a name and talent. Heaven forbid critiques and concerns about inefficient additions the Clippers added.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MaNu4Tres
Just because it's a steal or a good pick up, doesn't mean it improves them dramatically. There's more variables to it than just a name and talent. Heaven forbid critiques and concerns about inefficient additions the Clippers added.
He doesn't have to improve them dramatically. Have we already forgotten that the Clippers were one win away from the WCF's last year. West is 36 and coming off a pretty underwhelming season. I don't think his impact is going to be as great as so many fans here are suggesting either.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hoops Czar
It doesn't have to improve them dramatically. Have we already forgotten that the Clippers were one win away from the WCF's last year. West is 36 and coming off a pretty underwhelming season. I don't think his impact is going to be as great as so many fans here are suggesting either.
First of all, this isn't a David West thread.
And West is 35 years old. West isn't going to be asked to do too much and I don't think anyone expects him to come out and give the Spurs 30 minutes a night of 12 and 8 like he did in Indiana. He'll be the 4th big off the bench. Tim/LMA will see over 33-35 mpg each when it matters in May/June.
And West has always been an efficient, team oriented player, who can pass, shoot and make smart decisions. He's been known to have one of the best mid-range jumpers in the game for the past 9 seasons for big men. Not to mention he shot 50% from 15-23 feet out last year according to bball reference. It doesn't take a rocket science to see how his efficiency and floor spacing can have a positive effect on the Spurs' overall efficiency in the limited minutes he will recieve.
Josh Smith, while talented, has been anything but an efficient and effective team oriented player. There's a reason why Hawks let him go, there's a reason why Pistons cut him. I'm not saying the move is terrible, it's probably the best the Clips could do to improve their front court from a strict talent perspective. It's a fact that he's been an inefficient, dumb player at times and that's something that's fair to critique.
You can read this again to get a better understanding of my reasons:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MaNu4Tres
Pierce isn't a better fit than Barnes. IMO
Barnes was their best perimeter defender and played a Bowen role for that team. He was a big reason Leonard had a bad series. Pierce can't even move defensively anymore, and his role will be to spot up and play off CP3 and Griffin. If his role entails more responsibility than Barnes' was offensively, then Clippers are just doing the opposition a favor taking the ball out of the hands of Chris Paul and Griffin.
And that Clippers team that beat the Spurs maximized CP3 and Griffin's touches for 40+ minutes a game. That's why they were so hard to stop. They never sat and played with incredible efficiency. That is impossible to be the case if Clippers intend on giving Stephenson/Pierce and Josh Smith prominent roles offensively. Spurs can guard those guys just fine.
But I do agree, Stephenson and Smith are improvements over Hawes and Hedo. But here's the thing that people forget, Hawes and Hedo were never in the equation vs. the Spurs to begin with. They barely played and took zero touches/ shots away from CP3, Griffin, Redick. The Clippers starters played almost the entire game and they could do that because of Pop's hack a Jordan during stints in games -- it allowed them to catch their wind and conserve their energy.
I think the moves will help Clippers throughout the regular season and it will help improve their record. But in the playoffs, when every possession counts and when teams have to be as efficient as possible every possession, I don't see Clippers improving that much if Stephenson and Smith have significant roles and take 10-12 shots each per game.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MaNu4Tres
First of all, this isn't a David West thread.
And West is 35 years old. West isn't going to be asked to do too much and I don't think anyone expects him to come out and give the Spurs 30 minutes a night of 12 and 8 like he did in Indiana. He'll be the 4th big off the bench. Tim/LMA will see over 33-35 mpg each when it matters in May/June.
And West has always been an efficient, team oriented player, who can pass, shoot and make smart decisions. He's been known to have one of the best mid-range jumpers in the game for the past 9 seasons for big men. Not to mention he shot 50% from 15-23 feet out last year according to bball reference. It doesn't take a rocket science to see how his efficiency and floor spacing can have a positive effect on the Spurs' overall efficiency in the limited minutes he will recieve.
Josh Smith, while talented, has been anything but an efficient and effective team oriented player. There's a reason why Hawks let him go, there's a reason why Pistons cut him. I'm not saying the move is terrible, it's probably the best the Clips could do to improve their front court from a strict talent perspective. It's a fact that he's been an inefficient, dumb player at times and that's something that's fair to critique.
You can read this again to get a better understanding of my reasons:
First of all, you didn't actually read my initial post then. I brought up David West so it shouldn't have been a complete shock to you when I brought him up in my second post. The Pacers were actually a better team when West was on the bench. Conversely, The Rockets were a much better team with Josh Smith on the floor. I'm not advocating for either one of these players. I'm just stating the facts. West might be very good at hitting mid range jumpers but how many of them is he going to give up? With West, you need to break down his efficiency into 2 halves. His offensive efficiency is much better than his defensive efficiency.
Smith was hardly an albatross in Atlanta. He was making superstar money but, wasn't giving Atlanta superstar returns. In other words, he wasn't worth his contract and they didn't feel he was worth maxing out. He played very well in Houston though. No, he's not the most efficient player but, he provides depth and for the minimum, the Clippers get a solid bench contributor who can play on both ends of the court.. I'll have to see how it all plays out but overall, I think the Clippers have more depth going into the season than the Spurs. Of course, I have no idea what kind of production the Spurs are going to get from the likes of Boban, Simmons and KA and to a lesser degree Parker and Manu.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
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Originally Posted by
kobyz
Smith could also play with Blake while Deandre resting, Smith make them more dynamic overall... but the biggest thing with the Clippers matchup is that Doc has Pop number, he know how to take control of the flow of the game against him...
If the Clips want to go small against our towers, it's their funeral.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources...035806861.html
How's that off-season going?
Most overrated off-season of the summer.. tbh.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Clippers are a basketcase, overly emotional, extremely fragile team. Adding two basketball morons (at best) was never gonna work.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MaNu4Tres
:lol even someone in here hyped up the Cole Aldrich signing for them and he's done about as much as Spencer Hawes.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
timtonymanu
:lol even someone in here hyped up the Cole Aldrich signing for them and he's done about as much as Spencer Hawes.
Ehh I'll be honest and say I thought Aldrich would be a decent pickup :lol
To be fair though, it looks like he hasn't even gotten a chance. He was fairly solid the previous two years in NY, but now he's only played a total of 17 minutes this year. Looks like Doc is staggering DeAndre/Blake at center and only using Josh Smith as the backup PF.
Re: Josh Smith to Sign w/ Clippers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MaNu4Tres
They have nine new players, the majority of the prominent ones were never going to be hand in glove fits and many of them are eccentric personalities, too. This was always going to take time and always going to be boom or bust.
That being said, they're not going to win the championship, but they never were, whether they made minor or major changes. The thing I liked then and still do now, is that they managed to raise their ceiling without lowering their floor and did so with virtually no trade assets or financial flexibility.