Josh Smith: HOH's Week 12 Silver Booster Award Winner

Another week is in the books and the Houston Rockets were somewhat victorious throughout.

They ended the week with 2-2 split after facing the Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Jazz game was largely uneventful but the remaining three games involved interesting twists and turns as the plot thickened.

We saw an altercation, a half-stepped effort and a total domination all within the span of this stretch.

The highlight was definitely Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett going toe-to-toe after Garnett received a rough elbow while both were tussling in the paint.

This caused both to receive double technical fouls and an ejection for Garnett because he threw a basketball directly at Howard.

It was nice sequence that occurred for a few moments as both teams and coaching staffs worked to separate the two.

Then we saw the half-stepped effort by the Rockets against the Orlando Magic — despite the game definitely being in reach for the Rockets. After scoring only 19 points in the first quarter, they got their act together but it wasn’t enough for the budding talent of Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic or Elfrid Payton which were instrumental in beating the Rockets.

Jan 14, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Houston Rockets forward

Josh Smith

(5) shoots over Orlando Magic forward

Channing Frye

(8) during the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Houston Rockets 120-113. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Then we saw the beat down last night on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Rockets maintained control from the start, had leads as high as nearly 30 points and hit 15 three-pointers, their 11th game of the season where they’ve hit 15+ from beyond-the-arc.

That was certainly a game to be proud of.

For the past stretch of games, there has been a constant, steady hand that has done consistently well in his revamped role.

Because of this, excellence deserves to be recognized — today on that type of basis continuously, we will honor an individual player that made the most impact in helping the team, despite whether it resulted in a win or a loss.

We’ve dubbed it House of Houston Silver Booster Award…

And this week’s Silver Booster Award goes to…

Josh Smith!

Yes, I feel he certainly deserves these honors.

You know why?

He seems to have embraced his new role as a the third member of the Headband of Brothers — including Jason Terry and Corey Brewer.

These guys have been wearing headbands since Adam and it’s intriguing how coincidental they all share that same character trait — wearing headbands.

Dec 29, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith (5) and Washington Wizards guard

Andre Miller

(24) battle for a loose ball during the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Smith has been phenomenal this week with his high flying dunks, consistent shot blocking, picking guys’ pockets and playing stifling defense.

Smoove has averaged 7.5 PPG, 5 RPG, 2,75 APG, and 1.5 BPG this week in his role.

His shooting was was less than to be desired going 17-for-46 (37 percent) and 4-for-8 (50 percent) from the free throw line and even worse 2-for-10 from the three-point line but those are numbers that we can overlook because he is getting the job done on defense.

Although he’s working hard to get his teammates involved, his TOV% is at 19.2, slighly down a percentage point from last week.

Bar none, he knows his role and his having fun doing it.

As long both Kevin McHale and Smoove are in agreement of what his role will be from this point forward there should be no problems with chemistry.

Josh Smith: HOH’s Week 12 Silver Booster Award Winner

By Brian K. Patterson | Jan 16, 2015