Josh Smith will be welcomed back with open arms tonight in his return to the Highlight Factory. Not just open arms by the fives of thousands of Atlanta Hawks fans in attendance, but arms flailing wide and far, in “Field Goal” formation, anticipating the varied and crazy shots from “downtown” that will surely come from his hands. When he has his hands on the ball, the “Boo” you may think you’re hearing at first might in fact be, “Shoot!”

After nine seasons coming of age with the Hawks, hometown product Josh Smith suits up tonight with the Detroit Pistons (7:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, Fox Sports Detroit) in front of what can be best described as a humored Philips Arena crowd, facing an Atlanta team that has designs on returning to the playoffs without his assistance.

Ryan Cameron no longer hoots out, “J-Smooooooove!”, and when he encourages the crowd to put their hands together for “Atlanta’s Own,” that title now falls squarely upon Lou Williams. Josh’s #5 jersey is hanging not from the rafters, but on the shoulders of something called DeMarre Carroll energetically trying to D him up. Paul Millsap (if he plays tonight), Al Horford, and some Pero Antić guy will loft an occasional three-point shot, and nary will a groan be heard emanating from the rafters.

Josh Smith will likely pinch himself and do a double-take or two to make sure what he’s witnessing is real. In a beleaguered sports town infamous for athletes showing out in triumphant returns against their old team (Michael Vick, anyone?), he will also try to do what he does best, looking to fill up the stat sheet to the delight of volume-only fantasy hoops league competitors everywhere.

A key component to six consecutive playoff appearances for a Hawks franchise that had previously missed the prior eight postseasons, Smith was tapped this summer by GM Joe Dumars to breathe life into a Pistons organization that has itself grown stale and trying, for Dumars’ sake, to avoid a sixth-straight trip to the Draft Lottery. Many of Josh Smith’s struggles thus far are, as usual, from problems entirely of his own making, but much of his tribulations relate to his desire to make up for diminished production while simultaneously trying to be deferential to teammates on the floor.

Smith is wedged into Detroit’s small forward spot to accommodate Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond up front. His ability to contribute on the glass has taken a huge hit (career-low 9.4 rebound %, down from 13.4% and 15.9% the last two years). His usage percentage is down from a team-leading 26.7% with the 2012-13 Hawks to 22.8%, a level below that of his fellow Oak Hill alum Brandon Jennings and three bench players (Rodney Stuckey, Luigi Datome, Will Bynum). Left to create offense from the periphery, with few catch-and-shoot options at his disposal for assists (14.5 assist%, down from 20.9%), you just know what his first inkling is to do. His three-point-attempt-to-rebound ratio (57-to-59) is literally one-to-one right now, and he’ll get benched more often if that continues.

When you add a notorious help-defender and top-20 rebounder from last season to a top-15 rebounder from last year and a top-five rebounder from this year, the net result should never be the league’s worst defensive efficiency (109.1 points per 100 possessions). This can only occur because of lackluster effort on defense from a Piston backcourt perhaps too eager to let opponents deal with the visually imposing triumvirate on the interior. Brandon Jennings, Stuckey, and Bynum have provided little on defense aside from occasional gambles for steals (other bench players have been even worse) while Chauncey Billups has been predictably slow-of-foot.

Smith, by result, has become basketball’s version of one of Michigan’s emergency managers, scrambling to make the best of a fairly messy situation without making it worse himself. His 107 defensive rating is second-best on the team, but his personal worst since 2005-06. His 1.7 steals per game so far represents a career-high, but conversely his 1.5 blocks per game is a career-low.

Andre Drummond gets virtually no offensive plays drawn up for him. That is, unless you consider, “Throw the Ball in Any General Direction of the Hoop, and Drummond Will Oop or Tip Jam it,” a play. Dre is the league leader in field goal percentage (67.4 FG%) largely for this reason. He ranks second in the league for offensive boards (4.8 per game), with Monroe right behind him in third place (4.1 per game).

Bottom line is Al Horford will need all the help he can get keeping Smith’s and Jennings’ many errant caroms away from Drummond and Monroe. If Millsap cannot contribute tonight, a continuous rotation of Gustavo Ayón, Pero Antić, and Elton Brand will have to play with the singular purpose of box-out defensive rebounding in mind. Kyle Korver and Cartier Martin (today's Birthday Boy, btw) will certainly get served their steady diet of three-point shots, but defensively they’ll be needed to disrupt passes into the post for Monroe.

Jeff Teague had a rough night trying to get in the lane against Miami’s stingy defense on Tuesday, scoring a season-low 9 points on 4-for-13 shooting. Tonight, he’ll face double-teams coming off of screens but should still have the quickness to beat guards off the dribble, drawing Detroit’s bigs into foul trouble and catching cutting bigs and perimeter shooters open to get those assist tallies back up.

Al Horford was uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball last night (7 turnovers), so expect him to revert on offense to the low-risk pick-and-pop maven fans have grown accustomed to. If he connects on a couple shots early, he’ll draw Monroe and/or Drummond out of the paint, creating offensive rebounding and interior scoring opportunities for Hawk forwards.

You down with KCP? Yeah, you know he is hoping for a breakout game in a return of his own to the Peach State. With Chauncey Billups sidelined with knee tendinitis and Bynum nursing a strained groin/hammy, Georgia native and UGA star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has already taken over the starting role, selected by Head Coach Mo Cheeks in hopes he’ll provide a bigger spark in the starting lineup than Pistons mainstay Stuckey. Hawks reserve guards will have their hands full with Stuckey, who dropped a season-high 21 points and 5 assists in last night’s win at the Palace against the Knicks and has shot 51.1 FG% in his last three games.

Go Hawks!

~lw3