Josh Smith, stop shooting contested 3 pointers

I turn on the game in the 4th quarter the other night, watch Josh Smith hoist up a contested 3 pointer (it was ugly and against the flow), then watch Jarvis Hayes nudge Tyronne Lue out of the way for an easy bucket. Game over, I figured. If things are going to happen just like they did last year, no way Detroit loses at home. I was surprised to see the Hawks fight their way back only to lose on a BS call. The Hawks tied the game at 91 on a BS foul call against Sheed, but credit to Josh Smith for actually making the 3 foul shots. At the other end, Chauncy Billups got the weakest of calls and hit what turned out to be the game winner. It was pathetic, and an obvious make-up call. A make-up call at the end of the game is just wrong, but the Hawks should have won the game a long time ago.

HOWEVER, Kevin Cott shines some light on some straight up horse manure: The Detroit News has an awful quote from Chauncy: "He darned near clothes-lined me." Chauncy Billups is officially a whiny punk who can shut the hell up. The article also shows a picture of Marvin Williams after blocking Chauncy with his left hand- the article implies they are showing the foul, when they are showing what happened after Marvin cleanly knocked the ball out of Chauncy's wussy hands.

Chris McCosky of The Detroit News and Chauncy Billups, consider yourself On Notice.

A few other notes:

• Hoopinion, welcome to the wondeful world of Atlanta Hawks blogging! Seriously though, your blog is already better than mine and it makes me want to quit and just read yours. I never would have started this blog if you had existed 2 years ago. Go check him out, his game recaps are great. Plus I think I caddied with him at East Lake.
  
• This post from Sekou is fantastic. It kills me what a great writer / analyst he is and how rarely he goes in depth on his blog and in articles. Take the time to read this one, as he mentions a bunch of points that are spot on.

Some consensus analysis from the blogosphere (plus my take):

• Josh Smith
• Josh Smith does not seem to be making good decisions with the ball right now. He started to "get it" last season, but right now he is playing like kid Josh. I'm not sure this will ever get beaten out of him, which is disappointing. I don't know if it's an intelligence issue or what, but he needs to watch what Marvin Williams is doing right now.
  
• Point Guards:
  
• Anthony Johnson is clearly worthless. He has no offense and defense, and his best game so far was the one he didn't play in.
  
• Tyronne Lue is sneaky bad. He makes clutch shots and seems to generate offense, but his defense is terrible and in reality he is not a great point guard, as evidenced by his poor plus/minus on possessions ending in assisted buckets (can't remember where I read that, sorry internet).
• Acie Law is better for the team and brings energy and defense that Johnson and Lue just can't. Give Law 30 minutes a game, coach.
• Horford
• Just let him play until he fouls out, coach!
• I can't wait until Zaza comes back and playing Lorenzen Wright isn't even a possibility (even if he's healthy).