So raise your hand if you miss Josh Smith

[benhillboy]

In our 53 win season I have a lot of good memories of he and Horf tearing up and down the floor and uniting for some great post D. The Larry Drew Hi-Lo with them was one of the most consistently successful plays in the league that year as well. With that said, I feel sorry for Pistons fans. It's bad enough living in The D, but you have to watch that kid make more money than the city owes in bankruptcy, all for playing basketball, and quite poorly.

Edited November 23, 2014 by benhillboy

[Guest]

I miss the 2004-2008 Smoove, after that he just didnt expand his game. He stagnated to a halt, actually regressed on defense.

[AHF]

Tough question for me to answer.  I regret that it didn't work out here.  I wish that we could have had our hometown boy made good in Josh.  He had tremendous potential and some good instincts (shotblocking and passing stand out for me) so that if he could have been harnessed to emphasize his strengths and mask his weaknesses I think he could have been a beloved Hawk and multiple All-Star.  

 

I wanted badly to see that happen -- to see a guy who actually loved the Hawks for being the Hawks as opposed to coming for the money.  The guy had the Pacman tatooed on his arm for goodness sake, that is fantastic stuff!

 

All that said, I am glad he is not here choosing to emphasize his weaknesses in Atlanta.  Watching him shoot large volumes of jumpers is like watching someone with a self-destructive tendency ruin their career.  It makes you sad but the time eventually comes to move on.  We reached that point with Josh and so I am glad he is destroying himself somewhere else but I can't help wishing he could have come to his senses in Atlanta.