Not That Anyone's Paying Attention, But Josh Smith Seems Like A Bit Of A Handful

Josh Smith sure can jump high and he also can act like a 5 year-old.
Maybe I'm old fashioned but when I was growing up only the really good players were allowed to complain about not getting the ball enough. Players like Jordan and Bird were allowed to yell at their point guards for not getting them the ball because for the most part not getting those guys the ball meant your team was going to lose. I guess I missed the memo that indicated that even above-average young players were allowed to scream about not getting the ball.

According to the Detroit News' Chris McCosky, Atlanta Hawks free agent-to-be Josh Smith went all kinds of prima donna on his point guard Tyronn Lue in their loss to the Pistons on November 4th:

During the Hawks game against the Pistons, he (Smith) was yelling at teammate Tyronn Lue because he wasn't passing him the ball enough. He yelled at coach Mike Woodson to get Lue out of the game and had to be restrained by coaches and teammates. When he did get the ball, he often broke plays to get off his own shot. Then, after playing terribly most of the game, he was given a gift of three free throws (on a debatable call against Rasheed Wallace ). After he made the free throws, which only tied the game, he gave the Pistons' bench the stink-eye, as if he did something heroic. The Pistons won the game on the ensuing possession.

Jesus dude. I know you're in a contract year and want close to a max deal, but you're not good enough to yell at anyone let alone your point guard and coach for not getting you the ball. You're a physically gifted chucker (.363 shooting percentage so far this year) who doesn't play good team D but blocks a lot of shots because you get out of position and then compensate with your other wordly leaping ability. It would be nice if someone from the Altanta organization slapped this kid right in the mouth and taught him how to play ball. Too bad there's a better chance that I win next year's dunk contest than that happening.