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[Red94]

New post: On Josh Smith's departure from the Houston Rockets ( with a brief digression into the Japanese language)
By: Paul McGuire

Josh Smith is going to the LA Clippers. After one half-season of erratic but awesome play, he's off to the team whose hopes he crushed in the playoffs, and Rockets fans are left wondering what to make of him.

 

To me, it's obvious who to compare him to.  I've been a Rockets fan my whole life, but I would say that I became a crazy one ( ie. one able to name every single player on the roster without breaking a sweat) in the 2008-09 season. That season, we brought along another semi-star with a history of spotty play  who also really shot too many three-pointers.

 

And Ron Artest was just all kinds of awesome.

 

Yeah, Artest had games where he shot too much, especially from three-point range (sounds familiar?). But Rahat likes to talk about how teams need a certain level of toughness. And while I don't necessarily agree with that, I won't deny that Artest brought a real toughness to a Rockets squad that was just hit with all kinds of bad luck over the years. There was that first game against Dallas, where he stood up for Yao Ming and was hit with a technical foul that the TNT announcers noted was ridiculous. There was that moment when he went straight up in Kobe's face after Kobe elbowed him in the throat. And of course, there was that moment when he went into the stands after pouring 27 points in Game 6 against the Blazers.

 

But the moment I remember most was at the end of that Game 6. Artest took the microphone and told Rockets fans to stop yelling "Goodbye" to the Blazers. As he would mention to the press afterwards, ( along with his "I've been in the stands before" joke) getting out of the first round was not Houston's goal. Winning a championship was. It was a great moment by a guy whose reputation had never been all that great.

 

Josh Smith last year was just like Artest this season. He had moments where you would just roll your eyes in frustration. It wasn't just the three-pointers. Smith is a remarkably poor finisher in the lane, tries to go for the awesome pass too often, and of course there were those blasted free throws. I know I hounded Smith throughout much of this past season for these constant mistakes that did cost the Rockets some games.

 

But his series against the Mavericks, where Smith made the great Dirk Nowitzki look old and washed up, was worth a dozen messed up regular season games. And that Game 6 against the Clippers was worth even more. Just like the 2009 Rockets weren't beating the Blazers without Artest, the 2015 Rockets don't beat the Clippers without Smith.

 

And now he's gone - and just like Artest, gone to a Los Angeles team that he played against in the playoffs. Smith will be the backup 4 to Blake Griffin - as a DC resident, Paul Pierce is very good offensively as a smallball four, but defense is another matter. This is probably the reason he left to join the Clippers for a little less money.

 

Houston will recover from this. Motiejunas-Jones-Dwight-Capela is still a fine frontcourt, Montrezl Harrell could be a backup energy four, and you can't say no to the Chuckwagon's possible return. Even a faded Chuckwagon is still far better than Dorsey, who we should not expect to be in a Rockets uniform at the start of next season.

 

But what should one feel about Smith leaving? Time for a digression.

 

There's a very common phrase in the Japanese language which is pronounced shikata ga nai. Now, a translation will tell you that it means "Oh, well" or "It can't be helped." But there's something lost in translation with that. With shikata ga nai, there is a distinct feeling in that phrase that isn't there in the English equivalent. That feeling could be described as "That is how it has always been, and that is how it will always be." There are some linguists who attribute that phrase to contributing to the famous Japanese passivity and acceptance of authority, as it's about accepting things as they are.

 

It's a phrase that I think is a good way to sum up Smith's departure. This happens all the time. Guys who did so much for the Rockets, whether Artest or Smith or a certain pretty boy last year, depart for rival teams or teams that played us hard in the playoffs. The NBA is a business, people love to say. Shikata ga nai.

 

Thanks for everything, Smoove. May your three-point shots go in, may your passes not result in turnovers, and may you get many lobs from Chris Paul. Just not when you're playing us.

[majik19]

So the impact of Smith leaving:

 

1) He was our second best creator (albeit with a ton of turnovers) - how do we replace that? 

2) Howard/Motiejunas/Jones/Capela is the frontcourt rotation... with Jones' nagging injuries, Howard's "minute restriction", and Motiejunas's back, we'll figure out very quickly how confident management is in Harrell. If we trade one of the before-mentioned 4, then that shows that we think Harrell is a contributor right away. 

3) Do we sign the CHUCKWAGON? I feel like having Chuck back would be kind of like when we had Marcus Camby at the end of his career. Play spot minutes, show guys how to be professionals, teach Motiejunas, Jones, Capela, and Harrell how to use a wide base and powerful legs to avoid getting pushed around by bigger 4s and 5s, and never, ever talk to them about free throw form. 

4) Also shows how committed we are to keeping KJ. I wonder if this is a place where McHale and Morey weren't on the same page, or, as I suggested last year, we were "hiding" him from the rest of the league to avoid big restricted FA offers. 

 

I do think it's a little weird that he left for LA, especially for less money (though I know he's still making a boatload from Detroit). But the opportunity to play heavy minutes is definitely there compared to us, since we have the logjam when everyone is healthy... I still wonder about on court fit. They have a lot of chuckers there (Crawford, Smith) and veterans who won't put up with that s*** (Pierce, Paul). That's a really weird second lineup.

[SadLakerFan]

In all fairness to Ron Artest, whatever his career numbers say, as I recall, he worked on his shot after he was shipped out of Indiana and developed into a very good and fairly consistent 3 point shooter.  I don't have the stats in front of me, but i suspect that during the second half of his career he would be among the better shooters at his position.  Josh Smith has always been a poor 3 point shooter, and (again I don't have the stats in front of me), I don't think he's shown much improvement.  I agree with you that they both bring a sense of attitude, but the Rockets need someone who is a consistent threat from three. 

 

BTW, I remember the 08-09 Rockets well - I think they would have beaten the Lakers that year if Yao Ming hadn't gotten hurt; Yao had such a beautiful game at that point that even as a fan of the opposing team, he was amazing to watch.  Once he went down, it was amazing to see guys like Artest, Brooks and Scola take it to the much more talented Laker team.  The end was probably inevitable, but it was a noble effort.

[Chichos]

Wow, 1.5 mil for JSmoov is a steal for the Clippers.  I thought it would take closer to 5 million to sign him.

[Jatman20]

Good luck JSmoove. I loved the acquisition for the Rockets last year when things did not work out with Detroit. Thank you for trying to stay away from the 15'+ jump shot (mid-range). May you have great success while with the Clips (except vs the Rockets). I don't blame you for feeling like you may not get enough playing time. Too many SF's/PF's at the moment. The Rockets will be ok. If McHale is correct and every Rocket improves 10 to 15%.....then the Rockets will see you possibly in the playoffs. May the best team win. Don't hold back. Because the Rockets won't. Go ROCKETS!!

Edited by Jatman20, 18 July 2015 - 12:17 AM.

[bernardo]

So the Josh smith quote saying that it will be difficult for him to live with only 6.2M next year is getting some attention (not very positive as expected) even in my country, where these type of stuff passes under the radar except for NBA nerds like myself. What was he thinking? I guess that leaving the Rockets equals leaving common sense somewhere in between too.

[clydesmoustache]

There is a bit on Social Media in Australia as well. Reminds me of the Sprewell quote from decades ago. I'm just glad I don't have to defend him now he is a Clipper!