Who would you most compare Big Al to?..

[dawgingermany]

I am going to say Karl Malone. I think he has the strength/footwork and quickness on the post to demand a double and he has shown great willingness/ability to pass out of the post. If we put the ball into him on the post I believe we all will be pleasantly surprised. He also has the strength to play good defense and is a good shot blocker. I can see him having a 22pt 10rebound career. I know some will laugh at this but we shall see. If you are going to critisize...tell me what you think his weeknesses are? I know he didn't do it in college but, he could have if he was asked to (he did shoot 60% from the floor).

[skankin_richard]

I actually kind of agree with you. Al's gonna be great. I mean, he'd have been the 1st pick, if not for Oden and Durant. people dont seem to understand how good he is... He was the consensous 3rd best guy in this draft, but people talk about him like he's a scrub.... I see him being a 20-10 guy too...

[BusBoyIsBack]

I think like in the case of Malone, the sky is the limit for him

Malone is the greatest PF ever because of how hard he worked

Nobody would have called him a future All-Star when he came out of LA Tech

But he worked hard to get that body and that skill

Horford is a guy with really no physical limitations to stop him from being great

It's all on how hard he works to get stronger and more skill in the post and how much he perfects his midrange game

Obviously the odds are heavily against him he becomes a 14 time all-star with 23/10 for his career

But I def think he can be an all-star with a couple of years with just half the work ethic of Malone

As far as putting up 20/10, honestly he may never have to put that up if we keep the core of this team together.

We could be the pro version of the Gators with even distribution in the point range with Marvin, JJ, Smoove, Law, and Horford all putting up big scoring numbers

[Diesel]

Dale Davis.

Nothing says scoring about Horford. IF we're lucky maybe Horace grant.

22 ppg??

That's just funny.

It's called puff puff pass. Stop holding!

[VarsitySlacker]

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Dale Davis.

Nothing says scoring about Horford. IF we're lucky maybe Horace grant.

22 ppg??

That's just funny.

It's called puff puff pass. Stop holding!

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See, the irony of this (not saying that I agree with either of you) is that you compared Shelden Williams to Karl Malone, and I'm pretty sure that you've conceded that Al Horford is a better Shelden Williams.

[killa3312]

Scouts have compared him to Malone, Vin Baker, and Derrick Coleman. But hey, what do they know? Diesel is the real expert here.

[Diesel]

As a scorer. I don't think Horford is better than Shelden. I think Horford may be a better PF than Shelden. But you guys doing these comparisons need to pay more attention to footwork. For any big man, footwork is the key to their offense and defense. Horford's footwork is not so good. That's the thing to really love about Yi. Yi has excellent footwork. Shelden has pretty good footwork, especially in a defensive capacity.

Am I saying that Horford can't improve? NO.

Will he improve it this year? Not likely.

Will it hinder him as a player? Definitely.

Can he play Center in this league? I doubt it.

Shelden was the right pick at the time. Even though Roy turned out to be ROY.. That's all well and good. Shelden was a need pick and he really fills that need when we play him. Horford on the other hand is neither a need pick nor a BPA pick. He was a safe pick. Least likely to be a bust... Those picks are guys like Lazy Lo and Melvin Ely. Guys who you get and you really can't expect a whole lot from them.

[Diesel]

Watch and Learn!

[BusBoyIsBack]

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As a scorer. I don't think Horford is better than Shelden. I think Horford may be a better PF than Shelden. But you guys doing these comparisons need to pay more attention to footwork. For any big man, footwork is the key to their offense and defense. Horford's footwork is not so good. That's the thing to really love about Yi. Yi has excellent footwork. Shelden has pretty good footwork, especially in a defensive capacity.

Am I saying that Horford can't improve? NO.

Will he improve it this year? Not likely.

Will it hinder him as a player? Definitely.

Can he play Center in this league? I doubt it.

Shelden was the right pick at the time. Even though Roy turned out to be ROY.. That's all well and good. Shelden was a need pick and he really fills that need when we play him. Horford on the other hand is neither a need pick nor a BPA pick. He was a safe pick. Least likely to be a bust... Those picks are guys like Lazy Lo and Melvin Ely. Guys who you get and you really can't expect a whole lot from them.

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Yeah because Lorenzen Wright and Melvin Ely would have been top 3 picks in this draft lol

Horford wasn't just projected to go 3rd to the Hawks, he was projected as a top 3 pick PERIOD

He was projected to go that high back when people thought the Suns still had our pick

And you want to talk footwork? Shelden Williams looks incredibly stiff in the post. Go look when Manu Ginobli scored 22 straight points and how pathetic Shelden looked shifting with help defense.

But I forgot he had a great lane agility lol

Oh and if scoring PPG in college determines pro potential, what do you think of Malone who's numbers digressed every single year at La Tech?

[Guest GHook4]

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As a scorer. I don't think Horford is better than Shelden. I think Horford may be a better PF than Shelden. But you guys doing these comparisons need to pay more attention to footwork. For any big man, footwork is the key to their offense and defense. Horford's footwork is not so good. That's the thing to really love about Yi. Yi has excellent footwork. Shelden has pretty good footwork, especially in a defensive capacity.

Am I saying that Horford can't improve? NO.

Will he improve it this year? Not likely.

Will it hinder him as a player? Definitely.

Can he play Center in this league? I doubt it.

Shelden was the right pick at the time. Even though Roy turned out to be ROY.. That's all well and good. Shelden was a need pick and he really fills that need when we play him. Horford on the other hand is neither a need pick nor a BPA pick. He was a safe pick. Least likely to be a bust... Those picks are guys like Lazy Lo and Melvin Ely. Guys who you get and you really can't expect a whole lot from them.

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Yeah because Lorenzen Wright and Melvin Ely would have been top 3 picks in this draft lol

Horford wasn't just projected to go 3rd to the Hawks, he was projected as a top 3 pick PERIOD

He was projected to go that high back when people thought the Suns still had our pick

And you want to talk footwork? Shelden Williams looks incredibly stiff in the post. Go look when Manu Ginobli scored 22 straight points and how pathetic Shelden looked shifting with help defense.

But I forgot he had a great lane agility lol

Oh and if scoring PPG in college determines pro potential, what do you think of Malone who's numbers digressed every single year at La Tech?

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Now Diesel will pretend this thread doesn't exist.

[Diesel]

I read a lot of projections that said Conley #3.

Just because 1 or 2 guys you said Horford #3, you expect that he's really the 3rd best player??? Give me a break Bus?

Let's get back to how your mocks are created.... They are not created based on ability... Because if they were, they would not change so drastically after the end of the NCAA season. At the end of the NCAA season, Horford nor Conley was ranked #3 on any mock... Go back and take a look. You will see a lot of Brandan Wright = #3. That didn't change until Atlanta got the #3 pick....

So you know what that meant? That meant that somebody said.... "Hmm.. Atlanta need a PG and a Center. BK needs a player who can produce for him immediately. Let's move Conley up or Let's move Horford Up because Conley is the "Best PG IN THE DRAFT or HORFORD IS THE MOST NBA READY PLAYER IN THE DRAFT"... Does that mean that they are the third best prospect?? HELL NO! That means that that's who the MOCK Writer thought Atlanta would pick. I promise you, if somehow, GS or Philly would have had the third pick, YI's name would have appeared at #3 on most mocks.

Start using some common sense Busy...

BUT OH, I forgot.. YOU bounced along with every mock change... So I don't get how somebody who said Brandan one week, then YI the next week, then Horford at the end, can sit up with a straight face and say... "HORFORD is the 3rd best player in the draft"... If he really were the third best player, why did you switch so many times... almost week by week?? Did you not want the Hawks to have the best? You're a joke Busy... Complete Joke... I'll catch you doing your John Kerry in February.. saying "Well, I really liked Yi before I liked Horford... blah blah blah..."

[Seano]

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It's called puff puff pass. Stop holding!

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Don't bogart that joint, dood. That's like, so totally *not* cool.

[Guest Walter]

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I am going to say Karl Malone.

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Great. We've got TWO "Modern Day Karl Malones" on this roster. I guess Acie is our Stockton. People, where is this nonsense coming from? 13/9 I suppose. Now that resembles Malone at 41 YOA.

W

[pound4pound]

I like his game inside - I don't know how anyone can watch him and not see an inside presence. Both left and right hand 6 foot hook shots. He is tenacious on the offensive end and will be a great weapon for us down low.

What he isn't however is a center. Just like Boozer has Okur and Brand has Kaman, we will need a Big man for our scoring Power Forward.

The one problem is that we already have a power forward in Josh Smith.

[atlien]

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But you guys doing these comparisons need to pay more attention to footwork. For any big man, footwork is the key to their offense and defense. Horford's footwork is not so good ... Shelden has pretty good footwork, especially in a defensive capacity.

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This is just plain false. Did you not watch Shelly last season? His 'footwork' was slow and awkward. He was more a liability than an asset much of the season.

[Teeareess]

I agree. After watching Sheld play for a year, I see no reason to praise his footwork.

I do think the Malone comparisons are a little crazy. I think Grant is a lot more realistic.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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I read a lot of projections that said Conley #3.

Just because 1 or 2 guys you said Horford #3, you expect that he's really the 3rd best player??? Give me a break Bus?

Let's get back to how your mocks are created.... They are not created based on ability... Because if they were, they would not change so drastically after the end of the NCAA season. At the end of the NCAA season, Horford nor Conley was ranked #3 on any mock... Go back and take a look. You will see a lot of Brandan Wright = #3. That didn't change until Atlanta got the #3 pick....

So you know what that meant? That meant that somebody said.... "Hmm.. Atlanta need a PG and a Center. BK needs a player who can produce for him immediately. Let's move Conley up or Let's move Horford Up because Conley is the "Best PG IN THE DRAFT or HORFORD IS THE MOST NBA READY PLAYER IN THE DRAFT"... Does that mean that they are the third best prospect?? HELL NO! That means that that's who the MOCK Writer thought Atlanta would pick. I promise you, if somehow, GS or Philly would have had the third pick, YI's name would have appeared at #3 on most mocks.

Start using some common sense Busy...

BUT OH, I forgot.. YOU bounced along with every mock change... So I don't get how somebody who said Brandan one week, then YI the next week, then Horford at the end, can sit up with a straight face and say... "HORFORD is the 3rd best player in the draft"... If he really were the third best player, why did you switch so many times... almost week by week?? Did you not want the Hawks to have the best? You're a joke Busy... Complete Joke... I'll catch you doing your John Kerry in February.. saying "Well, I really liked Yi before I liked Horford... blah blah blah..."

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As I explained 1000 times only to be conveniently ignored, I was enamored with Yi and Wright because of potential offensive productivity.

But after watching the Finals and doing a littler research, I found out that virtually every championship team outside of the Jordan era had a solid post player that could play some defense.

And even Jordan had a solid post player for 3 of his rings in Horace Grant.

At the end of the day, Yi is way too raw defensively to contribute for several years and Wright is not a 5 which is what we need over a 4.

Horford on the other hand can play the 5.

It's ridiculous how many times I've stated this

And you once again are dead wrong on your assessment

NOBODY THOUGHT WE WOULD GET A TOP 3 PICK

So all the mock drafts had PHOENIX with our pick and there were several mock drafts who had Al Horford going to Phoenix.

And forget all these mocks with no telling what age the ppl are making them, it's actual paid NBA SCOUTS and EXPERTS who were stating Al Horford was a top 3-5 pick.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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I like his game inside - I don't know how anyone can watch him and not see an inside presence. Both left and right hand 6 foot hook shots. He is tenacious on the offensive end and will be a great weapon for us down low.

What he isn't however is a center. Just like Boozer has Okur and Brand has Kaman, we will need a Big man for our scoring Power Forward.

The one problem is that we already have a power forward in Josh Smith.

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I think there is a line of thinking that you can't have two less than 7 feet players in the post.

The problem with that logic is that we are in a new era of basketball. The traditional C is a rare commodity these days.

So if there was a time where you could get away with having a less than 7 foot post player it's today in an era where the average C is only 6'11 260.

Elton Brand and Carlos Boozer could succeed IMO if they had the best young shot blocker in the league playing with them in Josh Smith just as much as they could succeed with Kaman.

I feel the same way with Horford.

To suggest that Horford and Pachulia is a better front court than Horford and SMoove you're suggesting that there is something that Pachulia does better than Smoove/Horford.

But in reality it's just a taller guy for the sake of being taller. That extra inch in height that he has over Horford is not something that is a real advantage because of his lack of talent/skill

[atlien]

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Just like Boozer has Okur and Brand has Kaman, we will need a Big man for our scoring Power Forward.

The one problem is that we already have a power forward in Josh Smith.

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While I like pretty much everything about Horford, this is what concerns me.

Boozer has Okur.

Brand has Kaman.

Gasol has Swift.

Etc.

I hope Horford and Smoove can work out like Amare and Marion, as that is really the only successful comparison.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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While I like pretty much everything about Horford, this is what concerns me.

Boozer has Okur.

Brand has Kaman.

Gasol has Swift.

Etc.

I hope Horford and Smoove can work out like Amare and Marion, as that is really the only successful comparison.

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It doesn't mean it can't work just because other teams don't have it.

Okur and Kaman may be 2 inches taller than Horford, they may even have him beat by 3-4 inches in reach, but that doesn't make them better defenders.

I think with the rebounding and ability to contest shots of Smoove and Horford, our team could debunk this myth that you have to have a 6'11 or 7'0 player in the post to have a good post defense.

It's just on Woody to give it a shot