re: Josh Smith, the Houston Rockets, and the Detroit Pistons

The Rockets haven't been playing great even before Josh Smith signed.

Howard hasn't looked good since he hurt his shoulder. He's been playing, but almost looks like he isn't trying. He's playing hurt it seems.

Many players came back from injury around the same time. Corey Brewer, Alexey Shved, and Josh Smith were all added to the rotation.

So Ariza, Motiejunas, and Papanikolaou have all been getting less minutes.

Tarik Black was cut to make room for Smith.


So the team has seen a pretty big shift in their line-ups, including players who are brand new to the team.

So they've been struggling, but it has more to do with the dramatic changes than Smith as an individual player.

It will be rough for a little bit, but hopefully they'll get it together and jell. They will now drop more regular season games than if they made no changes, but the team should be a better team come playoff time.