Josh Smith said he missed his house and his mother’s cooking, but surely there are many things about Atlanta he doesn’t miss. The groans when he would hoist one of those beloved-by-him-if-nobody-else 3-pointers. The weight of being the focal point on a team that was pretty good but never great. The slights that came with being an NBA player in a city that hasn’t warmed to this NBA team in a quarter-century.
On his first night at Philips Arena as a former Hawk, the man who was introduced in this building for nine seasons as “Atlanta’s own” spoke highly of his new life in Detroit. There’s more pressure in his new environs, Smith said, but his expression made it clear that it’s welcome pressure.
“Detroit basketball is so demanding,” said Smith, who signed with the Pistons in July for $54 million. “There are a lot of high expectations.”
Having been Atlanta-raised and Atlanta-based, Smith knows better than anyone that to be a Hawk is mostly to be ignored. The masses don’t notice the team until the playoffs, if then, and the only expectation is that the Hawks will be gone before the Eastern Conference finals.
As much as Smith’s heart might have wanted to stay here, his head had to know that, at 27, his future was elsewhere. The Hawks didn’t hate him as either a player or as a person — “I’ve always respected Josh; I like Josh,” general manager Danny Ferry said Wednesday — but team and player had reached a point of departure.
Ferry again: “Josh and I spoke throughout the year. Based on those conversations and the ones with his agents, we thought it may be a better thing to turn the page.”
The most gifted Hawk since Dominique Wilkins was allowed to leave without the Hawks making an offer once he became a free agent. If that disappointed Smith, the pragmatist in him had to know that parting would be something of a sweet sorrow. “I saw it as an opportunity,” he said, speaking before Wednesday’s game. “I don’t have any hard feelings. I know this is a business.”
The good part of landing in Detroit is that he knows he’s wanted. The catch is that he has to prove himself to a more passionate audience. (As Smith noted on arrival in his new city, the Pistons have won three NBA titles to the Hawks’ none.) He’s mostly playing small forward, which he can do in small doses, and in the season’s seventh game he was given only a small dosage of playing time. Coach Maurice Cheeks sat him for 29 of 48 minutes in a wipeout loss at Golden State.
In the first three games since, Smith was quite good, averaging 19.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He was still taking way too many 3-pointers — he’s trying 5.7 3-pointers per game, more than double his career high — but to be Josh Smith is to take too many 3-pointers.
The Hawks want to build an ethic where a good shot is sacrificed for a better one. Smith isn’t a ball hog — he’s a deft and willing passer — but too many possessions ended with him standing 25 feet away and feeling the urge. For what the Hawks want to become, Smith wasn’t a fit.
On this night, he was a foe. He pronounced himself “anxious,” saying his first game as a Philips Arena visitor was something he wanted “to get under my belt.” He was greeted by a mixture of cheers and boos — “About what I expected,” he would say later — and he should have felt at home: The arena was maybe 55.5 percent full.
He missed his first shot, a hook from the baseline. His next two shots were 3-pointers that clanged, prompting the biggest-ever cheers in this building for missed Smith 3-pointers. At the first timeout, a compilation of J-Smoove highlights played on the matrix board, ending with the message: “Thank you, Josh.” It was a nice touch.
A nice touch was something the man himself lacked. Smith needed 15 shots to score 11 points. He had six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals. He tried four 3-pointers, missing them all. His only moment of note followed a hoot of derision: After air-balling a 3-pointer to cackles, Smith made a steal and drove the length to dunk.
His new team lost 93-85, and Smith left little imprint. Indeed, he was outplayed by both Paul Millsap (19 points) and DeMarre Carroll (11 points, 12 rebounds) — forwards imported at low cost to fill the frontcourt void.
“Surreal” was the word he used to describe the feeling of dressing in the visitors’ locker room, but Smith’s performance was pedestrian. He was back in the A-T-L, still hoisting long jump shots. The only difference was that no paying customer was heard to groan.
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