Hawks’ Mike Woodson calls out Josh Smith

Hawks coach Mike Woodson and Josh Smith finally had their training camp dust-up Tuesday, ringing in yet another year together.

Woodson called his team together in a practice-ending huddle and began his speech by telling his team that 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.”

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.

“Listen, it’s getting close to that time and we can’t go into this thing being cool about anything,” Woodson said long after the buzz had died down. “We had a good run last year and that run is over. You’ve got to build on that run. And the only way you do that is through hard work, on the floor and that carrying over into games.

“I’m not letting these guys off the hook. They can think I’m tough or whatever, but we’ve got to be ready. We’ve got to be ready.”

The final preseason game is Thursday in Detroit before the regular season opens on Oct. 29.

Smith has been a shadow of his usual self during this preseason. While statistics are normally lower due to fewer minutes being played, some of his numbers are drastically low.

He’s grabbed just one rebound in the Hawks’ last two preseason games and didn’t block a single shot in either game. Fouls limited him to just over 15 minutes in Saturday’s win in Charlotte. But he played 33 minutes in a loss to Orlando Monday and grabbed just one rebound to go along with his 13 points and five assists.

Smith’s preseason averages of 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 blocks aren’t anywhere close to what will be expected when the season starts.

Not after he averaged 17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.8 blocks and 1.5 steals last season.

“For me it’s about measuring myself,” said Smith, who insisted that his reaction to Woodson earlier was strictly a tongue-in-cheek showing to get a rise out of everyone — and he later went into Woodson’s office to make sure there was no mistaking his motives. “Coach is right. I do need to crank it up. And we do need to crank it up as a team. And I understand that when Oct. 29 comes I’m going to lay it all on the line. I’m going to play 82 games as hard as I can and do whatever it takes for my team to win, be it rebounding, blocking shots or scoring or whatever it is.”

What Woodson knows is what he says Smith will learn as this season goes on; that when a player goes from his rookie deal to his first big contract — the Hawks matched a $58 offer sheet from Memphis Aug. 15 to keep Smith — expectations rise.

Even in the preseason.

Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said he went through a similar process three years ago after signing a five-year, $70 million deal to take over as the Hawks’ top player.

“People expect you to come out and perform at the highest level every night,” Johnson said. “And you [expletive] near have to do that. So it’s going to learning experience and a process for him, because he’s never been asked to carry that kind of load. It’ll be tough for him at the start, it was for me, I went through a roller coaster when I first got here.

“But after a while, when you really learn your niche and play to your strengths it’ll come easier. If you don’t recognize that early, though, you’ll continue to struggle.”