Josh Smith Suspended

[AHF]

You don't get suspended for playing within your game. You don't even get suspended for taking a shot when the coach tells you not to - because some great players know when to take their shot. There's some serious excuse making going on here... It's not politics and it's not a conspiracy to keep Atlanta's best player ever down.

Josh Smith is f***ing up. Stop making excuses for him and accept it.

...and I'm sorry, but he's NOT messing up the flow of the offense? Huh? Are you guys serious? A guy that cannot shoot jumpers, constantly shooting jumpers...does not mess up the flow of the offense? A guy that can't dribble, that should not be dribbling, won't give the ball to the PG on the break...and that's not messing up the offense? Man, get out of here with that shit.

Love Smoove, but some things have to change around here. How the hell do people expect us to win...when our "best player" can't even put the damn ball in the basket? Good grief...

He didn't get suspended for bad passing, excessive dribbling, too many jumpers, etc. It was for blowing up during practice.

All the performance issues are things Drew should be managing with bench time, etc. but he doesn't have a suspension as a tool for dealing with those types of bad basketball decisions.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I think this is a good thing. Josh will turn it around. Bank it. Pressure moments usually brings around.

Since when has Josh been great under pressure though?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I bet this have a lot of people excited. I'm not going to sit here and act like I know what happened or assume what happen, but I'm glad he did get suspended. Fans and players are very frustrated at these last 8-10 games. And it's not only Josh, it's Al, Teague, Lou, and the rest of the team who are performing very bad.

And to who ever said the ball movement will be better tonight, you could be right but that's not because Smith is not in the game. Smoove does not mess the flow up of the offense. I think we all know that is Lou from watching these games this year. It's easy to point fingers, but take a close look. I wonder who will start tonight? I hope Jenkins gets the nod, and puts up 20+ points.

We need Al, Ivan, and Zaza to pick up the load tonight.

LOL . . . oh wow.

Defend Josh Smith until the end I guess.

So a guy that commits 3 turnovers a game, and takes about 5 to 7 shots a game that he shouldn't be taking ( and missing ), which means that he's not in position to get offensive rebounds, doesn't mess the flow of the offense?

Haha . . . Atlanta sports talk radio could care less about what has happened today. 95% of the talk is about the Falcons.

[Ruckus]

LOL . . . oh wow.Defend Josh Smith until the end I guess.So a guy that commits 3 turnovers a game, and takes about 5 to 7 shots a game that he shouldn't be taking ( and missing ), which means that he's not in position to get offensive rebounds, doesn't mess the flow

Exactly. I've learned just to let it go. In a way I admire AHawks's patriotism. Even though it's a bit delusional. Edited January 16, 2013 by HawkFan

[DJlaysitup]

So let me get this right.... LD has balls??? Wow who woulda thunk?

Haha! Maybe so - but my guess is this punishment was negotiated between Josh/Agent and LD/DF (and maybe some ownership input).

I mean seriously - anybody who saw LD's postgame interview could tell he was talking specifically about benching Smoove.

They probably figured the 1 game suspension punishment was best for all concerned. Now they are selling it as a isolated issue at a practice.

Far better to say that Josh is suspended for a game because he is "competitve" and "frustrated" with the way things have been going lately (the losses)...than to come right out and say he is being benched due to a consistent crappy attitude and the team is better off without him on the floor b!tching about every call and general selfish play.

It's best for Smoove's reputation/future value and it's best for management/ownership since it may help preserve some trade value.

[Plainview1981]

That Boston game started this... And I'm not shocked that the radio guys cared more about the Falcons game, but I think the Falcons have a fairly slim chance at beating SF. It might be their biggest win since they knocked off Minny in the 1998 playoffs.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Since when has Josh been great under pressure though?

True that. The only pressure that Josh has is self-inflicted. Weight of a franchise is heavy... No one said you had to do it by yourself!

[Plainview1981]

I have to think that Josh, Al and Teague aren't on the same page. The losing really started with Boston, but alot of the guys here have no real history with Boston. But it seems to have started to go downhill with that game and so I have to suspect that the trouble is tied to those guys.

[MaceCase]

Haha! Maybe so - but my guess is this punishment was negotiated between Josh/Agent and LD/DF (and maybe some ownership input).

I mean seriously - anybody who saw LD's postgame interview could tell he was talking specifically about benching Smoove.

They probably figured the 1 game suspension punishment was best for all concerned. Now they are selling it as a isolated issue at a practice.

Far better to say that Josh is suspended for a game because he is "competitve" and "frustrated" with the way things have been going lately (the losses)...than to come right out and say he is being benched due to a consistent crappy attitude and the team is better off without him on the floor b!tching about every call and general selfish play.

It's best for Smoove's reputation/future value and it's best for management/ownership since it may help preserve some trade value.

DJ with a sober moment. Well done, sir.

[itsslomotionbaby]

Clearly the end results of the Bulls game. The entire team was soft. When jumpers don't fall it sets up scenarios like this. You always die by this jump shot. The side effect of jump shooting teams is poor defense and rebounding. The losing streak is nothing but a precursor to a miserable playoff series. Teams will aggressively deny Lou and Korver every play. There is not enough talent to run a jump shooting based offense.

well we really had a six headed monster, which is why we were so hard to beat at the beginning.b/t korver ,teague, harris, lou,morrow & stevenson.we all no that our starters teague & harris are inconsistant (you never know when they will show up) on any given night at least one of the 6 ofthem would have the hot hand & when the teams see those shots go in it sparks the team, it takespressure off of horford & josh doesnt have to feel like he has to go into superstar mode. now lou carried us for a while when morrow stephenson & harris where down.but you see deshaun & morrow would hit kee baskets during important stretchs of the game. i think we miss them more than we think.

[benhillboy]

I hope Josh doesn't embarrass himself and the franchise in his presser when he comes back like Cousins. It's sad when a 9 year vet has the same character as an infamously troubled kid with only 3 years in.Is Josh still a captain? And if so, I'm sure he could/ should lose the distinction after this right?

Edited January 16, 2013 by benhillboy

[Bonkers]

I told yall a loooong time ago that JOSH SMITH IS A CANCER

I was right

[coachx]

I told yall a loooong time ago that JOSH SMITH IS A CANCER

I was right

Ha......self righteousness coming from the guy who started posting 2 months ago.

[Bonkers]

Ha......self righteousness coming from the guy who started posting 2 months ago.

Excuse me???

I've been postimg for longer than that. I was posting under a different account name

[Wretch]

He didn't get suspended for bad passing, excessive dribbling, too many jumpers, etc. It was for blowing up during practice.

All the performance issues are things Drew should be managing with bench time, etc. but he doesn't have a suspension as a tool for dealing with those types of bad basketball decisions.

I didn't mean to imply that the suspension had anything to do with his performance on the court. I was removing an avenue for excuse making. If you're doing your job, you don't get suspended. If you're working hard on the court, playing within your game, listening to the coach, and playing good team ball...you don't get suspended.

Josh got hit with a suspension because of something that happened off camera. While it may be speculation, we can pretty much read between the lines. I think we all recognize the man's attitude problems, his play that is counter productive to the offense, and the massive chip on his shoulder. I would put money on that spilling over into practice.

[willthepureshooter]

An update to this story, Josh's agent is pissed!

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ken-berger/21563892/agent-for-hawks-smith-speaks-with-ferry-stops-short-of-trade-request

Not pissed.. Just spoke on behalf of his client.. Josh Smith knows the team's spiraling fast and it starts at the head of the snake. Drew lost me with his two recent gaffes: calling his players soft after playing 35+ minutes on a back-to-back; and stating that he can't coach effort ... Seriously Drew? You may say hes immature but the kid plays his heart out every game.. What has anyone else done..?

[coachx]

I think it was a fight between either Lou or Ivan.

if it was Ivan they would have to suspend Smith for a month to heal up from the injuries.

[DrReality]

Only problem with this is that it should've happened a few years ago. DF is the difference and has the balls.

[coachx]

Not pissed.. Just spoke on behalf of his client.. Josh Smith knows the team's spiraling fast and it starts at the head of the snake. Drew lost me with his two recent gaffes: calling his players soft after playing 35+ minutes on a back-to-back; and stating that he can't coach effort :oops: ... Seriously Drew? You may say hes immature but the kid plays his heart out every game.. What has anyone else done..?

I have to say BS. Shawn Williams called out UGA's defense for being soft.......even called out a couple of LBs by name.........the team reacted with their best performance of the season vs the undefeated and #2 ranked Gators........won that game with pure defense. Some cry babies just can't take the truth.

[NineOhTheRino]

$20 this has something to do with Al Horford. My bet is Josh was getting in Al's ass for playing soft. Al responded, Josh responded, then all hell broke loose. Of course since we all know Josh is known as the "problem child" he's suspended while Al's allowed to play.