Woodson Calls Out Josh Smith

[HMFFL]

Hawks' Coach Mike Woodson called out Josh Smith by name on Tuesday during practice when giving a speech to the team about taking their game to the next level.

The speech prompted Smith to react by saying he was willing to "take all the blame."

Smith bolted for the locker room after the huddle, shattering his mouthpiece. Woodson, who was apparently smiling the entire time, cautioned his staff not to worry about the forward.

"Listen, it’s getting close to that time, and we can’t go into this thing being cool about anything," Woodson said. "We had a good run last year, and that run is over. You’ve got to build on that run. And the only way you do that is through hard work, on the floor and that carrying over into games.

"I’m not letting these guys off the hook. They can think I’m tough or whatever, but we’ve got to be ready. We’ve got to be ready."

Link

[parson]

It's hard - in Woodson's system - to produce #s (other than points) at SF. That said, I think Smoove is dogging it a little because he knows that.

[reazun]

It's hard - in Woodson's system - to produce #s (other than points) at SF. That said, I think Smoove is dogging it a little because he knows that.

hes a PF

[parson]

It's hard - in Woodson's system - to produce #s (other than points) at SF. That said, I think Smoove is dogging it a little because he knows that.

hes a PF

And where's he playing right now, with Marvelous on the bench?

When Zaza AND Horford are getting major minutes, where is Josh Smith playing?

Right now, he's our SF.

[HMFFL]

Come the start of the regular season I expect Josh Smith to be prepared for what's to come. He might not have passion for the game like Lebron James, but he's certainly going to give it his all, and I fully expect him to continue to improve.

Keep him on his toes Woody!

[lunarblues]

i'm glad that they are getting a sense of how important this season is to the franchise. especially to the fanbase, that place was jumpin last year during that series and that was because they were leaving it all on the floor. you can expect to get the city behind you if you go into the season half-assed. we're to close to respectability to slack off.

[JoshB914]

I like this from Woody. The guy has a great work ethic, passion, and fire that really gets this team to play hard. He genuinely cares about his team and wants to win here, otherwise he wouldn't be nearly this hard on everyone.

Hopefully he will build on his much improved coaching in the playoffs last year. He is demanding that his team take their game to the next level, I hope he is also demanding the same out of himself.

[NWO4Life]

I got "called out" at work today. Just thought Id share the news. If you are paying someone millions they damn sure should be accountable. If Josh is soft he'll fold, If he is a strong as we talk him up to be he will be great! Kudos to Woodson! Everyone is accountable.

[Skyhawk1]

Haven't we seen this before? At least it's pre-season now, so I hope ( even though I doubt) Smith will realize this is about the team, not him.

[JoshB914]

I do have one question about the article, what has been so bad about Smith in preseason? His stats are down but he is playing fewer minutes, he is also shooting a nice percentage from the floor. We all know he's going to rebound and block shots once the real games start. I've actually been happy about Josh in preseason (although I haven't seen a game), because we are seeing him continue to become more efficient offensively.

But the article implies that it's his play in games (as Sekou talks about his stats being down) that irked Woody. Is it possible that Woody was just going after him for maybe dogging it in practice?

On the other hand, this is just an example of Woody placing such importance on winning in the preseason. Josh is probably holding a little bit back, which is what almost all established players do when the games don't matter.

[lunarblues]

joshes stats were down a lot more than they should have been, i'm also guessing that he wasn't getting prepped up the way he should have been during the preseason. we all know how important these early games are.

we only won the last playoff spot by one game last year. each one we let go because we slack off is one less cushion game we have at the end of the season when we are really fighting for playoff positioning. we have to come out hard.

[parson]

There's a hard fact concerning the NBA and everyone here knows it well: the more $$$ you make, the more you're expected to produce #s. When you're on your rookie contract, good effort or occasional good #s are lauded.

Smoove is now living in the land of "What're you doing to EARN that obscene amount of money you're making?" No more good games followed by lackadaisical ones.

[NDaATL]

He might not have passion for the game like Lebron James,

How do you come to this conclusion? Smith works probably harder than anyone on the Hawks roster during the offseason, there are always more reports and comments from teammates about his hard work than anyone on the team.

I do have one question about the article, what has been so bad about Smith in preseason? His stats are down but he is playing fewer minutes, he is also shooting a nice percentage from the floor. We all know he's going to rebound and block shots once the real games start

I'm sure it's lack of rebounding and blocking shots. But, as you said I agree that it's preseason and he'll be fine once the season starts.

I'm not going to get too high or low on any player until the real season starts.

And, HMFFL you left off the part where Smith visited Woodson in his office and they talked it over and said they were cool. Smith said he's glad Woodson did it and they're completely fine.

[killbuckner]

But the thing is the Hawks need Smith to be a better rebounder than he was last season. He hasn't been a good rebounder for a PF and if the team is going to run the way people here want them to then they need to clean up the boards. Woodson hammering that point home in the preseason is exactly what he should be doing. Because there is a real worry that Smith will put less emphasis on the dirty work and more on the fun stuff (getting out on the break) now that he has a long term contract.

[NDaATL]

But the thing is the Hawks need Smith to be a better rebounder than he was last season. He hasn't been a good rebounder for a PF and if the team is going to run the way people here want them to then they need to clean up the boards. Woodson hammering that point home in the preseason is exactly what he should be doing. Because there is a real worry that Smith will put less emphasis on the dirty work and more on the fun stuff (getting out on the break) now that he has a long term contract.

I agree completely about the rebounding. But, like I said I'm not going to get to up or down on someone during the preseason, I'll let the regular season tell it for me. He's also been playing a lot more SF with Marvin being out making it tougher to get rebounds. But, Smith does have a history of starting seasons off slow, though, so I imagine if he has a few bad games than everyone jump on him saying that he's gotten lackluster because of the new contract.

Regardless, I don't understand why people keep questioning that about Smith, doesn't EVERY player who receives a new contract have the same worry? Smith has done nothing in his entire career to warrant that.

[killbuckner]

NDaATL- I question it more because I think that so much of Smith's value is on that constant energy. If he isn't disrupting the opposing offense then he loses a lot of his value. If he starts jacking up more bad shots then he really becomes a problem. Compare that to someone like Al Jefferson where if he loses some defensive intensity then its a problem- but as long as he is still putting up points its not that big a deal. The euivalent woudl be Al Jefferson signing a big contract and deciding to take fewer inside shots and try and block a ton more shots on defense even though he isn't that good at it. Like I said if Smith puts less emphasis on the dirty work and goes for more glamor then he has the potential to become a liability. Look at how Kirilenko's game fell off a cliff once he signed a big contract and his motivation wasn't there as much anymore. Though of course with Kirilenko they also moved him from PF to SF which certainly contributed.

[NDaATL]

I see what you're saying. But like AK, Smith has played a lot of SF this preseason which takes him further away from the basket and will lessen his rebounding and shotblocking. Either way, his rebounding is too low regardless of what position he's playing, but it is preseason so I'm not worried yet. And, he's been shooting well this preseason at about 50%.

But I don't see Smith becoming lackluster and not being a constant problem on defense around the basket. Smith has always had a huge passion for the game and he just doesn't seem like the type of player that will get sucked in with the money. And he's never done anything in his life or career that would suggest that either. But, we'll find out soon enough.

[killbuckner]

I really don't think its not a red flag that Smith isn't crashing the boards in preseason but if he were then people would be pretty excited about it because it meant that he was likely to keep that up in the regular season. Thats all I took out of this- Woodson hoping to see signs that Smith knows he needs to put more focus on the dirty work even though he has a big guaranteed contract. I am not saying the preseason stats are at all a warning sign that smith has lost motivation in that area in fact. Thats just my overall worry for him this season.

[conleyorbust]

NDaATL- I question it more because I think that so much of Smith's value is on that constant energy. If he isn't disrupting the opposing offense then he loses a lot of his value. If he starts jacking up more bad shots then he really becomes a problem. Compare that to someone like Al Jefferson where if he loses some defensive intensity then its a problem- but as long as he is still putting up points its not that big a deal. The euivalent woudl be Al Jefferson signing a big contract and deciding to take fewer inside shots and try and block a ton more shots on defense even though he isn't that good at it. Like I said if Smith puts less emphasis on the dirty work and goes for more glamor then he has the potential to become a liability. Look at how Kirilenko's game fell off a cliff once he signed a big contract and his motivation wasn't there as much anymore. Though of course with Kirilenko they also moved him from PF to SF which certainly contributed.

I kinda disagree about Jefferson. You can only put so much into numbers but Jefferson's team did a LOT worse overall when he was on the floor than when he was off it because he's one of the worst defenders in the league. If Jefferson took a a couple fewer shots inside and tried a little on defense, his team might not have a historically bad on defense while he's on the floor.

The AK comparison is also disingenuous considering he didn't play a season where he signed a contract after he was injured but before he dealt with injury problems, the first season after he got paid he was still awsome because Boozer was out for most of the season.

So basically you are saying that the reason a guy who developed health issues hasn't played as well is because he signed a contract, waited a year, and then got lazy (at the same time he was moved). If you watch AK play, you can tell he still plays with passion and energy. He just isn't the same force on offense that Boozer is.

Regardless, I'd like Smith to put it all out there in the preseason because guys need to get in a groove but I'm not too concerned that he hasn't as some players get injured (Marv) and some players don't play at all (Lebron).

[killbuckner]

COB- the worry with players signing a new contract is that they don't play hard on defense and they take shots on offense that they shouldn't. Josh smith does that and he is a liability on the court- Jefferson does that and you would be hard pressed to even know it. So what would happen if instead the worry was that when you signed a new contract it was the opposite- that players wouldn't try as hard on offense and on Defense they would go for more blocks to pad their stats instead of sticking to high percentage defense. Then Jefferson would be the big worry and you would be hard pressed to know if Josh smith was doing it or not.