Josh Smith = Biggest Bricklayer

[theBigLip]

On an Insider article today, we get confirmation of what we already know:

So, is Smith the NBA's biggest bricklayer?

To answer the question, I've dusted off a handy tool developed years ago by Per Diem predecessor John Hollinger. It's called the Brick Index. It tells us how many points a player costs his team with his shooting compared to the league average on a per-40-minute basis. The metric is based on true shooting percentage, which is a shooting percentage that incorporates 3-point shooting and free throws.

Smith's true shooting percentage this season currently stands at 46.1 percent. For perspective, Kevin Durant has shot that poorly in only one game this season and it came back in November.

The Brick Index takes true shooting percentage a step further and considers shot frequency, not just efficiency. This makes intuitive sense. The more missed shots you take, the more costly it is to your team. Orlando Magic big man Jason Maxiell has a similar true shooting percentage as Smith, but he is self-aware enough to take half as many shots. Smith is another story.

So, how does Smith fare in Brick Index?

Not well at all. Smith has cost his team 1.46 points per 40 minutes on his shooting alone. That's the most damaging rate among 151 qualified players (minimum 1,000 minutes). And it's not really close.

[Piston Pete]

Is it true, that if we didn't draft KCP, Smith would be our starting SG?

[theBigLip]

Is it true, that if we didn't draft KCP, Smith would be our starting SG?

Actually, if we trade Monroe and move him to PF full time (and get a good shooter at SF), these numbers should change.

[DBC10]

I don't have enough hands to hold all those bricks.

Sent from my XT1034 using Tapatalk

[ajaX82]

Joe has never shown that he actually looks at or understands statistics of any kind. He just saw a dude who could sell tickets and make some thunder-dunks and asked him to sign on the dotted line. No concern to fit whatsoever.

Wish I could say I was surprised

[princeofpalace]

No surprise and confirmation that Smith's "offense" negates any other good thign he may do on the floor. The fact that Cheeks continues playing him 40 mins on a nightly basis while Monroe/Drummond are seeing under 30 is disgusting. No wonder we can't win any games.

[theBigLip]

DUmars may have done a poor job of selecting Smith, but Cheeks needs to coach with what he has. And he should be telling Smith to either stop taking those shots or he's going to be sitting on the bench. Period.

[Invictus88]

The sad thing about this is that it has become so obvious that Smith is terrible that now people outside of Pistons fans are noticing it.

Any hopes I had that maybe the other teams aren't paying attention and someone will be as stupid as JoeD are all but zero at this point.

[MrBigShot]

So, does anyone still want to argue that Smith is still superior to Monroe or that he would dramatically change his game simply by moving to PF?

[DBC10]

But but but Monroe's defense is literally cancer and that's why we're losing so much! Nevermind the fact that our perimeter D is worse than our inside D! TRADE MONROE /s

[Invictus88]

That's the only hope for a Smith trade left.

That people ignore the shot chart posted on the Smith highlight thread that clearly demonstrates that his shooting habits don't change considerably whether he is at the 3 or 4.

We need to pawn him off immediately if we see a desperate contending team have a catastrophic injury to their PF.

What other GMs are on the hot seat this year? What other desperate coaches need to win now?

[dVs33]

DUmars may have done a poor job of selecting Smith, but Cheeks needs to coach with what he has. And he should be telling Smith to either stop taking those shots or he's going to be sitting on the bench. Period.

This all day.

A lot of blame falls on Dumars, but the coach and players have to make the best of whats on the table.
the fact that cheeks allows smith to do what he wants is inexcusable. And to bench monroe when he's having a good game just to put smiths bricking a$$ in is just salt in the wounds.
Cheeks has been the biggest disappointment of all the detroit disappointments.

[DBC10]

DUmars may have done a poor job of selecting Smith, but Cheeks needs to coach with what he has. And he should be telling Smith to either stop taking those shots or he's going to be sitting on the bench. Period.

This all day.

A lot of blame falls on Dumars, but the coach and players have to make the best of whats on the table.
the fact that cheeks allows smith to do what he wants is inexcusable. And to bench monroe when he's having a good game just to put smiths bricking a$$ in is just salt in the wounds.
Cheeks has been the biggest disappointment of all the detroit disappointments.

Thing is, the last time Cheeks benched Smith, Smoove went primadonna and was angry for it. I think Cheeks is afraid of him which is sad.

[AngryPistonsGuy]

So, does anyone still want to argue that Smith is still superior to Monroe or that he would dramatically change his game simply by moving to PF?

Read the Smith Detroit Highlights thread...he still got defenders.

[AngryPistonsGuy]

DUmars may have done a poor job of selecting Smith, but Cheeks needs to coach with what he has. And he should be telling Smith to either stop taking those shots or he's going to be sitting on the bench. Period.

This all day.

A lot of blame falls on Dumars, but the coach and players have to make the best of whats on the table.
the fact that cheeks allows smith to do what he wants is inexcusable. And to bench monroe when he's having a good game just to put smiths bricking a$$ in is just salt in the wounds.
Cheeks has been the biggest disappointment of all the detroit disappointments.

Thing is, the last time Cheeks benched Smith, Smoove went primadonna and was angry for it. I think Cheeks is afraid of him which is sad.

I think Cheeks is afraid of unemployment if he keeps angering Joe's shiny new star.

[momed11]

We could renovate the palace with all those bricks.

[jakebernat]

if toronto can get a 1st rounder for bargani, then we can get a 1st for smith. that's all i'm saying...

[vic]

On an Insider article today, we get confirmation of what we already know:

So, is Smith the NBA's biggest bricklayer?

To answer the question, I've dusted off a handy tool developed years ago by Per Diem predecessor John Hollinger. It's called the Brick Index. It tells us how many points a player costs his team with his shooting compared to the league average on a per-40-minute basis. The metric is based on true shooting percentage, which is a shooting percentage that incorporates 3-point shooting and free throws.

Smith's true shooting percentage this season currently stands at 46.1 percent. For perspective, Kevin Durant has shot that poorly in only one game this season and it came back in November.

The Brick Index takes true shooting percentage a step further and considers shot frequency, not just efficiency. This makes intuitive sense. The more missed shots you take, the more costly it is to your team. Orlando Magic big man Jason Maxiell has a similar true shooting percentage as Smith, but he is self-aware enough to take half as many shots. Smith is another story.

So, how does Smith fare in Brick Index?

Not well at all. Smith has cost his team 1.46 points per 40 minutes on his shooting alone. That's the most damaging rate among 151 qualified players (minimum 1,000 minutes). And it's not really close.

Wow you mean we got to watch Jason Maxiell steal minutes from Drummond now we get to watch Josh Smith who is even worse, steal shots from Drummond.

Thanks Joe Dumars...

[dVs33]

DUmars may have done a poor job of selecting Smith, but Cheeks needs to coach with what he has. And he should be telling Smith to either stop taking those shots or he's going to be sitting on the bench. Period.

This all day.

A lot of blame falls on Dumars, but the coach and players have to make the best of whats on the table.
the fact that cheeks allows smith to do what he wants is inexcusable. And to bench monroe when he's having a good game just to put smiths bricking a$$ in is just salt in the wounds.
Cheeks has been the biggest disappointment of all the detroit disappointments.

Thing is, the last time Cheeks benched Smith, Smoove went primadonna and was angry for it. I think Cheeks is afraid of him which is sad.

Aaawww precious lil cheeks got scared of the big mean smiff??
Cheeks is the coach, he needs to grow a couple and control the teams. Obviously Cheeks doesn't know what he's doing.

[theBigLip]

This all day.

A lot of blame falls on Dumars, but the coach and players have to make the best of whats on the table.
the fact that cheeks allows smith to do what he wants is inexcusable. And to bench monroe when he's having a good game just to put smiths bricking a$$ in is just salt in the wounds.
Cheeks has been the biggest disappointment of all the detroit disappointments.

Thing is, the last time Cheeks benched Smith, Smoove went primadonna and was angry for it. I think Cheeks is afraid of him which is sad.

Aaawww precious lil cheeks got scared of the big mean smiff??
Cheeks is the coach, he needs to grow a couple and control the teams. Obviously Cheeks doesn't know what he's doing.

Agreed. Cheeks shouldn't be scared - he's going to lose his job pretty quickly if he doesn't do anything about it.