Sir Ulysses Spiegel
Im Calm Tellin Yall How I Did it like Derrick Rose
so you will stop being a clippers fan when blake leaves thenBlake Griffin is a racist? News to me
Random NBA Observations 2013 - 2014
- Thread starter Big Jo
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On Josh Smith
Everything glorious and puzzling about Josh Smith was on full display during a single sequence in Madison Square Gardenagainst the New York Knicks.
Defending a hot Carmelo Anthony during a furious comeback where the Pistons kept charging after a double-digit deficit, Smith didn’t guess where Anthony was driving — he baited the scorer into an offensive foul, giving the Pistons a chance to win with 27 seconds remaining.
But after the gift comes the curse.
Smith found himself on the right wing, 17 feet away from the basket, and launched a jumper that went woefully short, not as much as grazing the rim, enabling the Knicks to escape —one of many chances the Pistons have left on the table this season.
Whether it’s the visible scowl, the lucrative free-agent contract or the mounting losses in an underwhelming Pistons season, Smith is certainly a lightning rod for criticism.
He arrived in Motown the recipient of a $54 million contract last summer, expecting to help a young and nondescript Pistons team rise from the ashes of the lottery, and back to the relevance of the postseason.
It hasn’t gone as planned and considering Smith is the most experienced Piston amongst the starting five, along with his credentials of being known as a talented, versatile
“I am an easy target to be able to blame. I’m very outspoken,” Smith said. “I’m an emotional player. I can easily be a target night in and out.”
With the exception of the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, Smith is taking the most shots per game of his career, shooting the lowest percentage of his career (41.8) and taking the most 3-point attempts (3.4 per game).
Smith insists the criticism doesn’t reach his ears, although he also had to endure it during his time in Atlanta, his hometown, where he spent the first nine years of his NBA career.
“If you played the game, if you know X’s and O’s, it’s not all my fault,” Smith said. “I’m not gonna say I’m perfect, by far, but I’m not the guy you can point the finger at. I’m a firm believer in you point one finger at one person, point three back at yourself.”
The contract makes him a target in another way. Being paired with two young players who hadn’t played much together in Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, Smith was sliding back to small forward, a position he hadn’t played since his third year.
He was not only expected to perform, but lead.
“I think anybody, and it’s just in general, the highest-paid player on the team and supposed to be the franchise, they pay you like that, they expect you to produce like that,” said point guard Brandon Jennings, who also arrived in Detroit last summer.
“That’s just like (Pacers forward) Paul George, he got 90 (million dollars). If he came in and didn’t live up to it, how much would people be talking about him? If you’re that high-paid player, you gotta be ready every night. Every night. You can’t have no days off. Nobody cares, nobody wants to hear that.”
One player who signed a huge deal a few years ago said his contract expiring was the best thing to ever happen to him, because it being a mental albatross outweighed the tangible benefits.
“I don’t know. I get it. I was able to live in a city to see Kobe Bryant win five titles,” Jennings said. “Living up to the hype is everything, what you’re supposed to do. Some people are not, to be honest with you. Some people are not (built that way).”
Smith’s season has been filled with ups and downs, like most of the Pistons players. Stretches of greatness where he planted himself on the post, punishing smaller defenders, and bouts where he fell way too much in love with his perimeter jumper. To be fair, having Monroe and Drummond taking up space on the interior doesn’t leave a lot of room for anyone else.
“Definitely gonna get some blame but it’s not one person, what goes on with any team,” Monroe said. “It comes with the territory. Some people may look at the position he’s in and try to do that, but you can’t blame one person on every team.”
For his part, Smith has been frustrated at the youth on this team. Young players, from his vantage point, that don’t appreciate that the rewarding intensity of the playoffs comes from consistency in the regular season.
“There’s a lot of young guys that don’t understand the importance of understanding your opponent, it’s still fun for them,” Smith said. “What we have to understand is, it’s cool to have fun but look at the severity of the situation. Playing in the postseason is addictive. Being there six times, all you look forward to is that feeling, a feeling like no other.”
Drummond, in his second season at 20 years old, has struggled on defense and protecting the basket. Monroe has impending restricted free agency and at times has appeared distracted. The team’s shooting hasn’t improved this season, and Jennings has been in a funk since Maurice Cheeks was fired. .
“When you’re on a losing team, everybody has to accept the blame,” said veteran guard Chauncey Billups, one of the players Smith holds in deep reverence. “(Smith) came here with a lot of excitement, expectations, and when you don’t meet them, everybody has to take their own. I’m not gonna be the one to say who needs to take the most, but every single person, including myself, has to take responsibility for losing.”
When Billups was asked if players take internal stock of their own seasons, his voice turned cold.
“No, no. That’s one of our biggest problems. People don’t look at themselves in the mirror and look at what you can do to help the team, personally,” he said. “We have too many guys that at this point, point fingers, the blame game. You can’t do that. You can’t win like that, no matter whose fault it is, whose issue it is.”
Billups wasn’t specifically referring to Smith, but Billups wasn’t excluding anyone from it either.
“Unfortunately for the last few years, this has been a losing environment,” Billups said. “When you have guys, that’s all they know, they don’t know anything else. They don’t know the price you have to pay to get out of it. And then you have guys that, it’s part of their DNA. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the fact.”
Cheeks was made responsible by Pistons owner Tom Gores, in a move Smith said took him by surprise, and it didn’t bear the results like ownership expected. More upheaval is expected this summer, and who knows which pieces to the puzzle will return.
“My question to everybody is, after the season, did we get better through the year we played?” Smith asked. “It’s all about progress and keep taking the step up and not taking steps back. We’ve done a good job but it’s not good enough for me. I know how talented this basketball team is.”
“We can’t blame injuries, we just didn’t reach our full potential.”
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140403/SPORTS0102/304030114#ixzz2xwY0DZGy
but Jennings and Smith aren't the leaders of the team 
The War Report
NewNewYork
Are you brand new? The NBA has always been like that.
nah breh ive been watching since 91.. yes everyone knows the nba's always been the most predictable sport. but
maybe im just getting
and realizing it more? 
Recca Gatsby
LWO
Guarantee you will be wrong
Recca Gatsby
LWO
LOL I always wondered who is this Toronto announcer who sounds like he should be calling WCW matches circa 1990s
so you think it'll be someone else other than spurs OKC and pacers heat as the final 4?
Recca Gatsby
LWO
OKC won't be there. And I am expeting an upset in the East between one of those two.
Sir Ulysses Spiegel
Im Calm Tellin Yall How I Did it like Derrick Rose
Lol there there old man dont you worry now you need to focus on your lawn more than anythingnah breh ive been watching since 91.. yes everyone knows the nba's always been the most predictable sport. but
maybe im just getting
ThatsRite2
Pro
Gortat 