RealGM

According to Yahoo! Sports citing the Boston Globe, Josh Smith says they are going to shock the world!

link here

and the direct to Boston.com

link here

EDIT - I changed the title slightly to indicate as several have already said that he was misquoted.

Either way I like the confidence. Now he needs to bring it during the games. No pressure on the Hawks. They should leave it all out on the floor and what happens, happens.

This is irresponsible journalism at it's best. Here is the actual quote:

"We'd be fools to think it's not possible," said fourth-year Hawks forward Josh Smith. "We'd be bigger fools not to believe in ourselves, especially after the way people have bashed us the past few years. Why shouldn't we think we're going to shock the world? The Warriors showed everybody that it's not impossible."

Basically they took three words out of the quote and threw it in there to make a story. That kind of stuff disgusts me, and you know they're going to say the same thing on ESPN.

1. Any Hawk fan who is mad at Smith for saying this(even though he didn't)is crazy. I hope the whole team feels the same way and from the quotes they do. I've said for a while that Smith(and Salim to a certain extent)was the only player on the team that didn't give into this losing culture the team had.

2. I will repeat what I said in that ridiculous Josh Smith thread on the Boston board...he didn't say they were going to shock the world. He said that the team should BELIEVE they are going to shock the world. There is a big difference.

If he goes out there and plays with that focused, controlled intensity he can say whatever he wants. I would hate to hear anything else really.

somebody has to say it, the hawks get no respect, Boston fans just flat saying our game will just be a sweep.

Who cares what Boston fans say?

you can say "Who cares" but everybody cares.

Man, I am reading various blogs....especially Yahoo Sports, and the Boston fans are out of control!

They are talking more **** than a lil bit.

Wow....since they have the Red Sox's winning the MLB title, the Pats almost winning a Super Bowl, and now the Celtics having the best record, they have this since of entitlement that they should win everything.

Last I checked, this is their first playoff appearance in a while too. And the "Big 3" have shown the penchant of not being very successful in playoff basketball.

That's why we play the games. Celtic fans should let the games play themselves out before claiming sweeps.

I pray to God that the players are reading some of trash and that motivates to play with reckless abandon...and go all out!

Skar wrote:you can say "Who cares" but everybody cares.

I just laugh at people like that. One of the funniest things in this world are fans who think they're superior to others because of the team they choose to support. I guarantee you the worst **** talkers have never even been to Boston.

Well the "world" won't even be paying attention. Furthermore the Celtics in 5.

sirgant1 wrote:Well the "world" won't even be paying attention. Furthermore the Celtics in 5.

Yeah, the world has no interest in the Celtics.

I think the Celtic fans have been respectful. Its just some of you guys don't want to hear the truth. The C's will win this series in 5 games or less.

Congrats on a solid season. You should be happy with your team. You've got a lot of good young pieces to the puzzle.

Sekou used the same title:

Link

but did not say "Josh Smith says Hawks will shock the world, Celtics" like Yahoo is doing.

cfan79 wrote:I think the Celtic fans have been respectful. Its just some of you guys don't want to hear the truth. The C's will win this series in 5 games or less.

Congrats on a solid season. You should be happy with your team. You've got a lot of good young pieces to the puzzle.

No one on REALGM cant predict the future....not even the players themselves can.

The Celtic fans have been condescending at the very least, and if I am not mistaken the Celtics haven't been perennial playoff contenders in 20 years. Also, the Big 3 have not been "playoff" battle tested....and their resumes aren't too impressive. The "regular" season and the "playoffs" are two totally different games. And while it's been a while since we've tasted it (the playoffs), it's been a while for Boston too.

That's why we play the games.....and the season starts over with everyone being 0-0. Everyone is equal now. You're not 4-0 yet....so don't start pulling out brooms before the opening tip....because as much of a chance Boston can win....so can we....that's why we play the games.

But be careful for what you wish for....it could come back to bite you when you least expect it. Real talk.

I've got no problem with the C's fans, they have been great and I can't blame them at all for predicting a sweep. There has been some nice talk on their board and ours and I have really enjoyed it.

Atlanta doesn't deserve any respect. It needs to be earned and I have no problem with the Boston fans expecting a sweep. It's the leagues best against the only below .500 team. It's up to our Hawks to prove the doubters wrong and gain the respect they desire!

HMFFL wrote:Atlanta doesn't deserve any respect. It needs to be earned and I have no problem with the Boston fans expecting a sweep. It's the leagues best against the only below .500 team. It's up to our Hawks to prove the doubters wrong and gain the respect they desire!

Fully agree. And Atlanta doesn't have to win the series to get some respect. If they play hard and keep most of the games close while winning at least 1 then I think some respect will come the team's way. If they win 2, even better. Take the series the distance and I think they'll shock the basketball world. Win it and it would be the 3rd biggest sports team accomplishment in Atlanta history (I'm giving winning the World Series and reaching the Super Bowl the edge for 1 and 2).

Conversely, if the Celtics sweep or win in 5 with 4 blowouts, then the talk will probably be that Atlanta didn't even belong in the playoffs. No respect will be coming if that happens.

However, even that is a good result for us. We get to see our team on the national stage and our players get to experience what the playoffs are like. Normally after tasting playoffs players work even harder because they realize there is another level of effort they weren't even aware existing. As long as the team takes advantage of this opportunity to learn the season is already a success.

Back to the Boston fans, they can be as confident as they want against us. They're team is the #1 seed, so they've earned the right to expect domination of the #8 seed (that's why #8 > #1 upsets are so sweet). If they wind up in a series against a team like Detroit or San Antonio, then maybe they should be a little more cautious because some of the factors will not be in their favor.

fo_o_fo_404 wrote:The Celtic fans have been condescending at the very least, and if I am not mistaken the Celtics haven't been perennial playoff contenders in 20 years.

I realize that the C's haven't been a top 5 team until this season for a long time. But you are mistaken about the playoff contender stuff. They have been in the playoffs this century from 2002 to 2005.

Plus we did make it to the eastern conference finals in 2002. That was the year Paul Pierce helped lead the biggest 4th quarter comeback in NBA history.

I don't think the respect thing matters but the majority of fans on your board are pretty arrogant to say the least. It's ok if you think you are going to sweep the Hawks(I think a 4 game sweep is likely),but calling Josh Smith an "idiot" for thinking his team has a chance to win is pathetic. There is also a thread calling out Bill Simmons because he picked the Lakers to beat the Celtics in the finals. It's also the consensus on there that there's no way it goes 5(I'm actually hearing this from the (Please Use More Appropriate Word) media). This is the NBA..would you really be surprised to see the Hawks win a game in Atlanta? I understand that the Hawks are the worst team to make the playoffs but they actually played very well at home this year(even in some of the games they lost to like Detroit/Boston/Houston). It seems like you guys are a very insecure fan base to say the least.

HoopsGuru25 wrote:I don't think the respect thing matters but the majority of fans on your board are pretty arrogant to say the least. It's ok if you think you are going to sweep the Hawks(I think a 4 game sweep is likely),but calling Josh Smith an "idiot" for thinking his team has a chance to win is pathetic.

Most of the C's fans read the comments he made when it was taken out of context. The real version doesn't bother me.