[DwyaneWade4MVP]

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It wasn't just J.R. Smith's defensive play that Coach Byron Scott thought was miserable during Monday night's loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Scott also thought Smith's attitude was bad.
The coach said Smith wasn't showing enough defensive hustle, so at halftime he asked the guard if he really wanted to play.

"I didn't get an answer for a few minutes, so I used some other choice words," said Scott, who still appeared to be angry about the situation after Tuesday's practice. "The one thing I'm not going to tolerate is attitude, especially from a 19-year-old. I've got kids older than him.

That sucks for J.R.! I hope it is the only time Byron benches him this season from now on!

 

[BBB]

While I'm not a big fan of Scott's coaching abilities, I certainly agree with his actions if JR was indeed doing what he claimed. Sometimes, you just gotta be tough with the players, especially the younger ones.

 

[Pacers Fan]

I think it's a smart move by Scott. Smith needs to hustle and not answering whether or not he wanted to play for a few minutes is not smart. I mean, it's the Hornets, but this is probably the best team for him to showcase his skills.

 

[bigbabyjesus]

You have to have discipline with a player like JR.

He doesn't always give the effort on defense, and his shot selection is absolutely terrible, especially when you consider the athletic ability he possesses'.

 

[Tooeasy]

You have to have discipline with a player like JR.

He doesn't always give the effort on defense, and his shot selection is absolutely terrible, especially when you consider the athletic ability he possesses'.

exactly, its totally irrelovent that this season is a wash for the hornets, if a player chooses not to buy into someones system and slacks off, ESPECIALLY if its a high school rookie, then hes gonna get disciplined, its simple as that. solid move by byron and i applaude him for it, sitting the rookie down for half of a game isn't gonna slow up his growth process whatsoever, its going to help it.

 

[DwyaneWade4MVP]

he really should cut to the basket more often with his abilities...

 

[Tersk]

I'm a bit late, but I think this was the right decision

You let JR get away with it, you'll set of a bad chain of events. He'll think if he can get away with it once, he can do it again. Discipline him now, he'll have a bad taste in his mouth and is much less likely to have a repeat of actions. It was a great move by Byron, I don't care if it's Tim Duncan or Alex Garcia, you never take crap from your players

On a semi-related note, I loved hearing about how Avery Johnson ripped into our PG's for the lack of defensive effort against you guys. Even though we were up something like 20, I loved how AJ has a no-nonsense attitude about him. Byron can't let players walk all over him, look at what Jason Kidd did...

 

[Geaux Tigers]

When I went to the Memphis-Hornets game I noticed JR's lack of defense even more than I had on TV. He would always start streaking down on offense before the play was done to try and get an easy bucket.

There was this one play where a Memphis player shot the ball and it bounced hard off the rim and then bounced a few feet from JR and he didn't even move to grab it but then started running downcourt incase a Hornet got it.

I love JR and hes in my top 5 players already but he needs to learn the complete game of offense, defense, and rebounding. I think it will all come in time.