Knicks sixth man J.R. Smith believes his massive shooting slump in the playoffs after he returned from a one-game suspension was due to angering the basketball gods. It appears he also aggravated his coach.
Smith drew a five-game suspension for the start of this season for failing his third marijuana test.
Coach Mike Woodson put the pressure Wednesday on Smith to “grow up and do the right things.’’
“He’s a big piece to the puzzle,’’ Woodson said. “I’m not going to throw him out to pasture. My job is to coach him and make sure what [happened] doesn’t happen again. I expect his teammates to show him some love. At end of the day, he’s got to do the right thing by J.R., with his team, me as a coach , the organization, and fans that support him. That’s what it’s all about. He’s got to grow up and do the right things.’’
Smith’s shooting percentage plummeted in the Knicks’ second-round downfall against the Pacers. Once he returned from missing Game 4 of the first round against the Celtics after a one-game suspension for elbowing Jason Terry, Smith shot 29 percent (34-of-117).
“I call it [ticking] the NBA gods off,’’ Smith said. “You make and make a lot of shots, and then you mess with the basketball game and the game gets you back, and it definitely got me back.”
Smith also was playing hurt with a chipped patella tendon, but postponed surgery until mid-July. He does not know his recovery timetable, and has not been cleared to run. He is doing mostly weight-room work and exercises in the pool as parts of his rehab. During practice on Wednesday, Smith was seen working out with boxing gloves — one of the rituals started last training camp by Rasheed Wallace.
However, even if Smith is deemed ready for the season opener, he will have to sit out the first five games while serving the drug suspension. Smith said his goal is to be ready for the opener.
“I have so many questions to ask them, but I’m afraid of the answer,’’ Smith said of his timetable. “I might be too far along. So I don’t really ask him too much.”
Smith’s playoff bust somewhat tainted his Sixth Man Award, but the Knicks were anxious to re-sign him with the early-Bird rights exception.
Smith said he still is nowhere near his prime.
“I have so much room for improvement,’’ Smith said. “I just want to be the best player I can be. I’m not at the elite level yet. No, not even close [to my prime].”
Smith says fans will see changes in him this season.
“Different attitude, a different approach,” he said. “I’m going to be more focused in on the game than myself and try to get the crowd hyped up. I’m going to be more locked into what [Coach] is telling us.’’
Smith will be content coming off the bench. He took issue during training camp last year with not being a starter.
“I’m not going to make an argument over it,’’ Smith said. “I’m going to let Coach do what he feels best. It worked out for me last year, so we’ll see what he says. I was in the end of the game. That’s the most important thing to me.’’
Smith said he believes the Knicks will be more consistent than they were last season, when they won 54 games. They no longer are the oldest team in league history.
“For one, we’re younger,’’ Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of youth. So we plan on extending our adrenaline throughout the whole year.’’
The playoff exit versus Indiana still stings.
“They were just more aggressive than us,’’ Smith recalled. “They beat us up on the boards. Our spacing at the end of the season was terrible. We got out of character a little bit. We have to remain in character throughout the whole season.”