J.R. Smith wears suits now and doesn't go out so much anymore and stuff.

Yo, what if J.R. Smith really IS a 72% three-point shooter and had that potential this whole time, but he was just being weighed down by his saggy jeans and late-night hijinks? Here are some thing said by and about our friend Earl-- who has been so very excellent to start the season-- over the last day or so:

Mike Woodson, via Marc Berman:

"You see how he dresses when he comes to the games now,’’ Woodson said Wednesday. "He looks very professional. He’s in a suit. It’s beautiful to see, man. That’s not to say he doesn’t wear jeans and do some of things he was doing. That’s a start. I like everything about him. There’s something there I like. I’m going to make sure he’s successful.’’

J.R., via Berman:

"My thing is, being professional 24 hours a day - 24 hours a day, seven days a week,'' Smith said at the shootaround this morning. "I can’t let myself slip as well as my teammates slip. In order for me to hold them accountable, I have to hold myself accountable. I go out here and there. I definitely have to choose my spots. Definitely not before games. I’ve been smart about it.’’

And one more:

JR reacted today to Woodson's remarks he is more professional. JR said he brought "negative energy'' to practice last season

J.R., via Steve Popper:

"I’m not going to lie, New York City nightlife last year pretty much got to me. I was going out pretty much every other night, just not focused on the task at hand. This year is definitely different."

I'll admit that I miss waking up and opening TweetDeck to see eight hours of J.R. tweets posted while I was asleep. I guess this means no more midnight bicycle rallies, too. On the other hand, if taking a more "professional" approach and actually sleeping sometimes can help J.R. maintain anything close to his level of play through the first five games...well, I think we could get used to that.