Is he ready? Is HE Ready? IS HE READY? That's the question that Atlanta Hawks fans are quietly asking themselves about the last remaining piece of the Billy Knight Era, Al Horford or Horf (if you will). Thus far, Danny Ferry has done a job of ridding himself of everything that said Billy Knight. It's almost as if he believed that anything Knight brought in was plague ridden and not fit for this team. When you look at it, what Knight used as his core: Johnson, Smith, Williams, Horf, Larry Drew, and sometimes Zaza was sent away with nothing in return. Ferry traded and ignored them all so that he can have his precious capspace. Like I have said in previous posts, Ferry is going to do what Elitest do. Trust only himself and upkeep his own standard. However, it brings us back to Horf. Horf is the last of the Mohicans. Just call him Uncas.

The question of his readiness is at hand. He has been surrounded by efficient, physical players to match his efficiency and physicality. For all the years that he has been called Bawse, now is the proving time. He has to be the first option scorer on offense and leader in the lockerroom. For what it's worth, he has already shown great leadership by welcoming every incoming player personally. The good news is that there will be a few familiar faces in the person of Teague, Korver, and Lou; however, this time, there is no JSmoove to back him up on defense or to kill him softly on offense. There is no Larry who will draw up ball movement plays instead of focusing on position specific plays. So people want to know what should Horf do to get ready? Here are the Dieselputers answers.

1. Perfect the Pick and Roll.

Horford is a face up, high post player. He is perfect for the screen and roll and pick and pop. He has to master that part of his game. Some say he should work on his low post, we will address that in point two. However, the Pick and Roll and Pick and Pop is the offensive scheme that will happen when we fall out of transition. Horford has to be really fluid with this because this will be how our hard points will be generated.

2. Make a case for bringing in a 7 footer to play Center.

Horford is naturally a PF. He should petition to play PF. The league is getting big again. Horf should be banging with the likes of Bynum, Lopez, Hibbert, and Oden. Since he is the leader of the Hawks, we need to realize that all of that banging is too much on him. We can't have him physically distressed. Instead, we should bring in a big who can run the floor and fight down low and allow Horf to play the PF. My suggestion is trading for Gortat. He's a 7 footer with Speed. We've missed out on everybody else. Horf has to be at the 4. IF we can't get Gortat, wait a while and pitch for Asik. While Asik is not as fast as Gortat, he brings the defense we need.

3. Defense, Defense, Defense.

Smoove's one great attribute is that he understood defensive spacing. Horf needs to be the guy who directs our defense. He needs to be able to bark at players and tell them where they need to be.

4. Your twin Millsap is not a twin at all.

I see a lot of people saying that Millsap and Horf are the same. Not really. Millsap actually shoots better from distance and Horf shoots better in the midrange. I think Millsap may be our Sf parttime and PF parttime. IF so, we will be a very tough team. Horf has to learn and build chemistry with Millsap. Especially if we get a true 5.

5. Teague and DNice are your friends. Take them out and feed them.

Horf has to learn how to lead these two young points. Not just on the court, but certainly off it.

If we do those things, we will surprise many. But it's up to Horf.