Quick Expansion of my endorsement of Horford at #3

[exodus]

I have no doubt he is better than Noah. The question is whether or not he is significantly better than Smith. I don't see it.

[DawsonsCreek]

I just listened to the latest podcast at draftexpress and they say they have heard form "nba guys" and player agents who are candidates for #3, its between horford and wright. They also added that they felt wright was the slight favorite at this point. Take that for what its worth right now...things could change I imagine.

As the draft gets closer, Im with you j and going with horford at #3 (if we stay there). I think hes tall enough, strong enough to play center. I mean cmon Zaza was playing there. Atlanta wants to become a more uptempo team (According to bernie on the radio this morning 790 the zone) and their arent alot of bigs that can run like Horford.

I want to know who they are gonna bring in at #11. Is that acie law, crittenton, stuckey....a trade for jack? or is it someone who might slip like noah? lol

[AHF]

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I have no doubt he is better than Noah. The question is whether or not he is significantly better than Smith. I don't see it.

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I agree Smith is our PF of the future. That means that Horford's value turns on his ability to play center for me.

[jaywalker72]

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I agree Smith is our PF of the future. That means that Horford's value turns on his ability to play center for me.

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Well, look at it this way. Smith may be "PF" but he is not in the post. So, if by "C" you mean a man that can play in the post, then Horford is your guy. Remember, when we look at Smith and Horford, we are looking at different sets of skills.

Having Horford on the floor doesn't mean that Smoove can't be out there too, in fact, Having Horford in the post would open up the lanes for Smoove to attack the rim, spot up, or catch and drive. We are a better team having both out there, it would look like on paper.

Getting a post presence makes Josh even more valuable, IMO, and another reason to lock into Horford.

[exodus]

Horford isn't any bigger than Smith so he isn't going to be a center. Therefore Smith goes to the 3 where he isn't quick enough to get by guys consistently. He will be taking more jumpers which isn't a good thing. he will also be getting beat off the dribble on defense.

Taking the league leader in blocked shots and putting him on the perimeter defensively doesn't make much sense.

[AHF]

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I agree Smith is our PF of the future. That means that Horford's value turns on his ability to play center for me.

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Well, look at it this way. Smith may be "PF" but he is not in the post.

So, if by "C" you mean a man that can play in the post, then Horford is your guy.

Remember, when we look at Smith and Horford, we are looking at different sets of skills.

Having Horford on the floor doesn't mean that Smoove can't be out there too,

in fact, Having Horford in the post would open up the lanes for Smoove to attack the rim, spot up, or catch and drive.

We are a better team having both out there, it would look like on paper.

Getting a post presence makes Josh even more valuable, IMO, and another reason to lock into Horford.

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I agree that Smith & Horford would work at PF & C offensively and that his low post skills would be a welcome

addition to the Hawks. However, it is the ability to defend centers where my question really lies. If Horford

can match up with NBA centers then I think he has a ton of value. If he can't defend most NBA centers, his value

falls for me because I don't think we have room for someone to play PF and move Smoove to SF and Marvin to the bench

unless they are a superstar in the making. Smith is locked in at PF defensively, IMO. That only leaves an opening at C.

[coachx]

ZaZa and Lo are defending centers for us now.

They both have a whole inch on Hoford in height (big deal, huh). However I bet Hoford's standing reach is equal to theirs. Both Lo and ZaZa have mini-me / Kevin Willis arms.

I bet Hoford has a 6'' higher vertical jump then both of them.

It is very realistic to think Hoford will be a better post defender then either ZaZa or Lo.

No to mention Hoford's speed and atheltecism will allow him to continuely beat his man down court to establish both offensive and defensive positioning.

You all act live we got two 7'2'' guy at center right now. We got two 6'11'' guys with short arms and no hops playing center. A 6'10'' guy with more atheleticm and longer arms is an upgrade at center no matter how you slice the pizza.

[DawsonsCreek]

I agree 100 percent. Pretty exciting to think about a Horford, Smith and Marvin Williams frontcourt. In a perfect world, I would love conley too but I wouldnt mind Law or Jack (through a trade) to run this thing.

Do yall think their would be any possibility of portland doing a childress for jack straight up?

[AHF]

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ZaZa and Lo are defending centers for us now.

They both have a whole inch on Hoford in height (big deal, huh). However I bet Hoford's standing reach is equal to theirs. Both Lo and ZaZa have mini-me / Kevin Willis arms.

I bet Hoford has a 6'' higher vertical jump then both of them.

It is very realistic to think Hoford will be a better post defender then either ZaZa or Lo.

No to mention Hoford's speed and atheltecism will allow him to continuely beat his man down court to establish both offensive and defensive positioning.

You all act live we got two 7'2'' guy at center right now. We got two 6'11'' guys with short arms and no hops playing center. A 6'10'' guy with more atheleticm and longer arms is an upgrade at center no matter how you slice the pizza.

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If Horford is a long-term solution to defend the center position he has a lot of value to us.

If he doesn't his value plummets in my mind. That is all I am saying.

[exodus]

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If Horford is a long-term solution to defend the center position he has a lot of value to us.

If he doesn't his value plummets in my mind. That is all I am saying.

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Did you see the Florida-Kentucky game? Apparently Morris scored easily on Horford.

[AHF]

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If Horford is a long-term solution to defend the center position he has a lot of value to us.

If he doesn't his value plummets in my mind. That is all I am saying.

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Did you see the Florida-Kentucky game? Apparently Morris scored easily on Horford.

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Yes. They played twice this year. Morris played well in

both games, scoring 14 each time. Where Horford really made up

some ground was on the boards. He outrebounded Morris 11-4 in the first game and had the edge 9-5 in the second game.

Noah destroyed UK in both games (expecially the first)

so Horford didn't get as many touches as usual (for example, Horford

was 3-3 in the first game where Noah blew up for 29 points).

[Guest Walter]

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I do know what Horford can do

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That did us alot of good.

I like Horford. There are more flaws in his game than people realize but he is a starting caliber NBA Pf hands down, unlike SW. Unfortunately, we don't need a BU to JS (SW), Horford shouldn't start over JS, Horford isn't an NBA center, and if we are going to play JS at least sometimes at Sf and sometimes at Pf it had better be for a superstar potential player (Yi) which Horford is not.

Frankly, I had only seen a few clips of Lebron against HS players before the draft. I knew what he could do. It is a indictment of what you can't see about Yi, not an indictment of Yi when people say "I don't know what Yi can do". You should know enough having watched Horford to know he does NOT have superstar potential and is not an NBA center and you should know enough about Yi that he does have superstar potential and, while no center, Yi is the best player available at 3.

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He provides skill sets that the Hawks currently do not have. He is an intelligent, coach-on-the-floor type that produces at All-American levels while providing those skill sets.

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Are you kidding me? SW was drafted to do exactly what Horford woud be drafted to do. Horford does not have many post moves. He backs people down well. Worked great in college against 6'7" 210 freshmen but it won't work well in the pros. Horford is better than SW but the 3 and 5 picks shouldn't both go to strong Pfs who can rebound but aren't the most talented player available. We've had enough of that already!

W