It’s been a weird season for J.R. Smith. The 2013 Sixth Man of the Year was dealt to the Cavs as part of the David Griffin move to acquire Iman Shumpert, who Cleveland wanted as a perimeter defensive stopper. But J.R. Swish has fit in well with the Cavs, and his addition — along with Timofey Mozgov and Shump — catapulted the Cavs to their second-half run for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
On Thursday night this past week, Smith’s self-penned exegesis about his year (we’re guessing he had some help) for The Cauldron, made it clear his confidence in the Cavs comes with few caveats as long as they play their best in the coming weeks:
As for what comes next in Cleveland, I will make it real simple for you: If we continue to play the way we have been playing, I don’t think anyone can beat us.
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Now that the playoffs are here, people are going to discover that our greatest strength is that we play for one another. We willingly share our knowledge with one another so that collectively, the team becomes even stronger. It happens in practice, it happens on the floor during games, and it even happens from the bench.
Smith also talks about the one question everyone wants to know: how does playing with LeBron compare to playing with his Smith’s good friend, Carmelo Anthony? He’s unsurprisingly noncommittal, since he plays with one and is still good friends with the other:
…I do still get the daunting question, “Who do I like playing better with: Melo or Lebron?”
They are different people, different players, with different supporting casts, in different situations.
Carmelo Anthony is not LeBron James. And LeBron James is not Carmelo Anthony. Period.
He goes on to explain ‘Melo is a scorer, and that’s the biggest way he affects the game. James is more about getting the best out of his teammates, sacrificing scoring to boost the confidence to those players around him. Any avid basketball fan is nodding in agreement. James is that rare superstar who has never been a score-first player, something he was castigated for earlier in his career before he proved he could lead his team to an NBA Championship.
Smith’s Svengali act isn’t a guise, even if he’s been known to utter some idiocy on occasion.
His true shooting percentage has jumped from 48.7 percent in New York to 56.6 percent in Cleveland, and his turnover percentage has dipped along with his usage. He’s proving to be an integral player off the bench for a title contender. While we’re not sure his Cavs conviction is accurate, we’re also happy to see him playing for a contender, alongside a star who won’t let him loaf — like he’s been known to do in the past.
He addresses those same issues in the piece, so check it out, before the Cavs tip off against the Celtics at 3:30PM ET today on ABC.