Bernman wrote:skones wrote:He's considerably less efficient because Jason Smith is actually a jump shooter. He'll take those shots and has done so his entire career. Jason Smith, throughout his career has taken a LOT of shots from 16 feet to the three point line, and has hit 45.5% of them which is a VERY VERY good number, particularly for a big. He's going to get the green light to shoot from deep by Bud, and for a guy who's never really got shots up on volume from that distance, he's one of the more equipped bigs in the NBA to start doing so. He's far more bouncy and mobile than Zeller and as a result is a better shot blocker. He hustles, but lacks the defensive IQ Zeller has. Very blegh on the glass.
Think more along the lines of Miles Plumlee who pops instead of rolls.
TS%'s for Zeller last year: 59% for Brooklyn (when he shot 3's), 62% when he didn't. 5 out of the last 6 years Smith hasn't come anywhere near close to that. IIRC Zeller was shooting the 3 again in the preseason under Bud, then they cut him. Probably just cut him because they acquired Brook, were financially invested in Henson, and didn't want to give up on Thon after the fool's gold of a couple good games in the playoffs. Now replaced him with as bad or worse center with Henson jettisoned and realizing Thon is still a fraud.
That's not what I was getting at. I was alluding to him being a 7 footer who will start shooting threes on volume here. If he steps back and makes those long deuces threes, you're going to see a substantial bump in his TS%. Also worth noting that while Zeller would take the corner three from time to time, he wasn't a guy who was likely capable of taking 3 or 4 in a night while maintaining a plus percentage. I believe Smith WILL be able to.
In simpler terms, while his efficiency behind the line isn't much more "proven" than Zeller's he's FAR more suited for that stretch five role, and that matters quite a bit.
It's clear now that the Rockets struggles didn't have anything to do with Carmelo. He was just a scapegoat.
