When Atlanta matched Josh Smith's offer sheet from Memphis, one of the first narratives the Hawks (and Smith) pushed was that Mike Woodson and the electric young star were fine with each other. They had fought a few times during Woody's tenure, but supposedly everything had been worked out and the fam was at peace.We're, um, three weeks into the 2008-09 preseason. A game that counts hasn't been played yet. And Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says we have our first tiff between the two, right on schedule.
Woodson called his team together in a practice-ending huddle and began his speech by telling the players they needed to take their game to another level with the regular season approaching. He mentioned Smith by name, which prompted the fifth-year forward to react by saying he was willing to "take all the blame."Many of the "assistants and other players" have been around Smith and Woodson for years. If they think Smith might be royally angered after the vignette, they would probably have reason ... like, you know, players don't like to be called out. The coach needs to have control of the team, and I admire Woodson's courage if in fact Smith was a source of the lax behavior on the practice floor.
After a brief exchange, the huddle broke and Smith headed for the locker room steaming at being called out and shattered his mouthpiece case against a wall. Woodson, smiling the entire time, warned his assistants and other players that Smith would be fine and that they shouldn't worry.
But Woody's needs to realize he is on the hot seat, not Smith. Josh is the star, the guy the owners paid handsomely. Woodson is the dude on a short leash. Any number of NBA coaches get away with screaming at players and ruffling feathers. But if you pull something to the point where longtime parties to situation fear resentment from the player in question ... you're playing with fire, mate.
