Greg Smith the future starter for the Rockets?

[pr0wler]

Why not? Because he was undrafted and a castoff playing for the D-League last season? I saw him last year and I was like "ugh, they're playing THAT guy again...what a waste of time he's not going to develop into anything". I'll eat my words on that one. He's been great this season and in limited minutes he's really been effective. His PER 36 minutes stats are 17/10 with 2 blocks. He shots almost 0.800 from the FT line. His defense, while not nearly as good as Asik's, has been solid and respectable thus far. He has great hands for a big man and finishes down low very well, an absolute beast this guy is ripped all muscle.

His biggest weakness, as many of us may know, is that he fouls way way way too much. That's really the only thing hampering him right now from becoming a starter in the NBA. But he will improve on this with more experience in the league as it's really his first season getting any playing time. I'm necessarily saying he should start over Asik, but why can't he start at PF? Our other PF's, namely Morris and Patterson, don't really do anything besides score. Greg Smith is a solid all around big man that can play multiple positions. Would rather see a rotation more like this...

PG - Lin (34) Douglas (14)
SG - Harden (38) Delfino (10)
SF - Parsons (36) Morris (6) Delfino (6)
PF - Smith (16) Patterson (16) Morris (16)
C - Asik (32) Smith (10) Aldrich (6)

He's been playing more as of late, and I really feel like we need to get this guy at least 20+ MPG he is way too effective to not be on the court any less than that.

[x-]

Playing Asik and Smith together would shrink the court too much.

Also, we need to play Patterson and Morris to keep their value up before we move them - pretty sure at least one of those guys will get traded at the deadline.

Smith's time will come. Just be patient.

[Daggy]

He's very good, but can't imagine him taking away Asik's spot barring injury scenarios and certainly playing them together is a bit... abnormal. But he's very good as a backup if he keeps this pace up, so I think he'll see a lot of minutes

[Aaron Brooks]

he reminds me of a bigger carl landry

[zapatasblood]

Smith is not a starter and will not be one. He's going to a very good bench player and spot starter

[BaYBaller]

Asik and Smith on the floor together would be disastrious on offense. They would clog up the lane and there would be no spacing.

[Slava]

I actually like Patterson way more than Smith at PF. He has a good room for improvement on offense imo, especially in isolation post ups. Which is kind of valuable in the playoffs.

[rocketsballin]

if him or asik can develop a consistent jumper then he should be the starting pf.

i havent given up on patterson. he had a 3 game stretch where he avg 20ppg and 7rpg with crazy efficiency. i dunno if he was dealing with a bone bruise for the season, or if its confidence or what. i wanna see how he does when he coems back from that bone bruise.

[Dmes]

He first has to acquire 12 15 jumper then we can talk, this year is make it or break it year for him because i see no reason why morey can't just acquire a star pf to complement asik which will make smith extra fire power unneccessary.
This year asik is still adjusting to starter's minutes especially in a back to back game, but next year he will have more stamina especially if he does his brother noah's underwater training.

[BaYBaller]

if him or asik can develop a consistent jumper then he should be the starting pf.

i havent given up on patterson. he had a 3 game stretch where he avg 20ppg and 7rpg with crazy efficiency. i dunno if he was dealing with a bone bruise for the season, or if its confidence or what. i wanna see how he does when he coems back from that bone bruise.

This is a case where you have to look at the actual way he achieved those numbers, possession-by-possession. I wasn't impressed at all watching the games. To me it was more about how the defense was guarding him, or in this case, how they weren't guarding him, often times nobody rotated to him at all or his man hedging heavily off of him to deter penetration, etc.

I think Morris is a much better prospect offensively, especially for this offense where we need the ever popular "stretch-4," and I think Morris will be a much better shooter at the end of the day. However they are both very bad defensive players from what I've seen, and I don't think either will end up being a long-term solution at PF.

That's why Terrence Jones is so intriguing to me. There's questions about his motor, his D, his shooting motion and size and all of that, that's why he fell to #18, but he has potential to be that long-term solution. In a season where we likely won't even make the playoffs I don't think it is worth giving PatPat so much playing time.

[kam_soluusar]

I think I pretty much stand alone on this one.

Barring significant injuries, I believe we can make the playoffs. Not saying we'll go past the 1st round, but make the playoffs, sure, why not?

[x-]

I think I pretty much stand alone on this one.

Barring significant injuries, I believe we can make the playoffs. Not saying we'll go past the 1st round, but make the playoffs, sure, why not?

Because we're in the Western Conference. That's why.

[rocketsballin]

i thought the playoffs were out of reach, but this team has been hovering around .500. they're only get better

[hungsizzle]

I've been saying this for years now!

well one year!

have Gregy boy over here at the starting Pf let him start with asik cloud the lane and play defense that is what we lack interior defense.

He can clean up omer asiks reverse missed lay ups and play help side defence.

Let Jone back up for him and let cole back up for Omer.

Greg is one of our most consistent players and I believe he can score a lot more then asik on a per 36 scale.

Let him start or play both centers at a crucial time in the game!

-Sizzle

[90sAllDecade]

I think I pretty much stand alone on this one.

Barring significant injuries, I believe we can make the playoffs. Not saying we'll go past the 1st round, but make the playoffs, sure, why not?

If we can beat some quality western conference teams we have a good shot. Our schedule supposedly gets easier later on in the season too.

[HTown_TMac]

I think I pretty much stand alone on this one.

Barring significant injuries, I believe we can make the playoffs. Not saying we'll go past the 1st round, but make the playoffs, sure, why not?

Nah, we've all been thinking the same for the last 3 years

[sportswriter]

Smith is way better in terms of physicality. Coaches actually praise him for his strong physical presence on both ends of the floor, I think he will just have to build on his performance and must continue to work hard in order to prove to his coaches that he is more than capable of playing a major role on this team, and he really got a potential and drive to be a great and persuasive player.

[90sAllDecade]

Calvin Murphy said he looks like a young Otis Thorpe, and so far I'd have to agree.

If he ever develops a consistent jumper, its over and he has to start. We just need him or Asik to stretch the floor, but regardless I don't think he'll be going anywhere unless we get an all star in return.

[TMACFORMVP]

He's been 11-12 PPG with 6 boards in 18 minutes the last 5 games.

[Vator]

I'm growing into a fan of this guy. He finishes at a high rate, catches everything within reach, and throws it down in traffic. He even has a few post moves. Per 36 is 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks. TS% of .686 and a 23.3 PER. Both ofthose numbers being the highest on the team just ahead of Harden's .600 and 22.9. Greg is killing it. "Country Ox Strong!"