Horford quietly becoming team leader

[DrReality]

Before the season I would have said it was not possible, but Horford is quietly becoming a team leader. Don't know what he's saying, but he is letting his play speak for itself. He plays with a lot of heart and passion, is really fearless regardless of the opponent and brings it every night.

His picture in the AJC bent over holding on to his shorts showed his disappointment. Maybe it's that he's still a rookie and lets his emotions show still, but its the kind of passion that has been lacking at times. He's got a huge heart.

I also think that his play has helped Smoove take it up a notch too. They seem to play off of each other and get the other one going. Like the article said last week they are becoming a dynamic duo and are likely the future of the franchise.

All that being said, does this create the possibility of trading JJ for pieces to fit around Horf and Smoove? (it will never happen)

[frosgrim]

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Before the season I would have said it was not possible, but Horford is quietly becoming a team leader. Don't know what he's saying, but he is letting his play speak for itself. He plays with a lot of heart and passion, is really fearless regardless of the opponent and brings it every night.

His picture in the AJC bent over holding on to his shorts showed his disappointment. Maybe it's that he's still a rookie and lets his emotions show still, but its the kind of passion that has been lacking at times. He's got a huge heart.

I also think that his play has helped Smoove take it up a notch too. They seem to play off of each other and get the other one going. Like the article said last week they are becoming a dynamic duo and are likely the future of the franchise.

All that being said, does this create the possibility of trading JJ for pieces to fit around Horf and Smoove? (it will never happen)

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I wouldn't put trading JJ out of the realm of possibility at this point with the ASG. Hossa is going to be traded, why not JJ? Saves the ASG a ton of cash, esp if the Hawks get back expirings.

On any other team, you would say that the Hawks should build around Horford and JJ; Smith or Marvin become major trading pieces to get what is needed. For this disfucntional ownership its becoming about saving $s in the immediate.

[Diesel]

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Before the season I would have said it was not possible, but Horford is quietly becoming a team leader. Don't know what he's saying, but he is letting his play speak for itself. He plays with a lot of heart and passion, is really fearless regardless of the opponent and brings it every night.

His picture in the AJC bent over holding on to his shorts showed his disappointment. Maybe it's that he's still a rookie and lets his emotions show still, but its the kind of passion that has been lacking at times. He's got a huge heart.

I also think that his play has helped Smoove take it up a notch too. They seem to play off of each other and get the other one going. Like the article said last week they are becoming a dynamic duo and are likely the future of the franchise.

All that being said, does this create the possibility of trading JJ for pieces to fit around Horf and Smoove? (it will never happen)

Last night... even though it didn't help us, I laughed hard when Horf foul the HELLL out of McDyess on the rebound and then turned to the ref and put up the jump ball thumbs!!!

He makes me laugh because he can be totally wrong... and he looks at the ref so innocently and seriously... I'm waiting for the day when the ref caves in to the ROOK!!

[Duff_Man]

I am not sure why more people on here aren't singing the praises of Horford (I assume because it indirectly praises BK drafting him, but anyways). The guy is everything you want in a player. He is strong, fast, and hustles his ass off on both ends of the court. He plays way bigger than his height. Some of the rebounds he got last night were simply amazing. Two or three taller guys around? No problem. Plus his cheerleading and enthusiasm, matched with his selflessness on the court are just amazing.

Case in point: last night, the Pistons ran a break two on one. Hamilton (I think) had the ball and our lone defender came to the ball, leaving a Piston streaking toward the basket alone. In comes a streaking Horford to get between that man and the ball to stop the break.

Plays like that don't show up in a box score, but show tremendous heart and brains. Sometimes when I watch Josh Smith pout after a no call and not hustle (I counted three of these last night - he sometimes reminds me of Shareef), I just wish Horf's play would rub off more of our guys. Am I bashing JS? Nope. He does hustle a lot and is sometimes all we have out there. But he does sometimes have lapses. Horf is 110% at all times.

At this point, I would say that we definitely have the ROY on our squad.

[mattlanta]

I saw his leadership in him last night. Josh Smith committed a stupid foul that should not have happened, and Horford got on his case about it. He wasn't screaming and hollering about it, but it looked like he was talking to Smith in a calm way. I think he's a quiet leader who has a lot of leadership potential. I think him staying an extra year in college just made it better off for him in terms of developing that leadership mentality.

[Admin]

You hit the nail on the head in your first paragraph Duff. Of course nobody here wants to praise BK for making the right pick when he could have easily taken Yi or Conley and while those guys might have good or even great careers nobody in this draft that was available to us at the 3rd spot could have had the impact across our team as Horford has and I expect that will grow exponentially over the remainder of the season and going forward.

I will say this about BK, at the time Marvin was a great pick and the pick that most experts agreed was the right pick and for all the complaining people have about him it was said it would take 3-5 years for him to truly become the player he will be BUT having said all that we would be better off if BK had taken Paul or Deron whom I prefer. With the Shelden pick I didn't like the way it all transpired but I had high hopes for him and even though I liked Roy having a physical rebounding and shot blocking presence like Shelden was supposed to be was the big need but it's becoming obvious that BK screwed that pick royally. Childress over Deng or Iggy is a debatable selection. Smoove and Horford were outstanding picks. The jury is still out on Acie but I have high hopes for him as well.

[pound4pound]

I have heard it said that a team takes the personality of its super-star. Joe hasn't really impressed me with his horrible decision-making recently and I think he needs to be "re-assigned" to a role player. I would love to see the two man game work between Marvin at the top and either Smith / Horford down low. Let Joe stand behind the arch on the swing side if the double comes. They showed highlights of Joe last year against Detroit just killing folks and I wondered where that decisive shooter went.

I think that Joe would welcome a role re-assignment as would Josh and Horford.

[DrReality]

What if we made a deal for Nick Collison to play along side Horf? Collison doesn't set the world on fire but he's big, tough, has a reasonable contract and would be a good partner for him. I bet Horf would appreciate it.

I raise the issue becasue I saw a blurb from Seattle where Swift is healthy and their coach wasa saying it's hard to find minutes for all their bigs.

[Admin]

I like Collison but I don't think he is a good fit to pair with Horford because he isn't a 5. He would be an excellent backup 4 but I wouldn't put Marvin or Smoove on the bench to bring in Nick to start at the 4 or 5. I would send them Shelden for Collison (or my preferred player Wilcox) all day long though to play big minutes off the bench.

[exodus]

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I like Collison but I don't think he is a good fit to pair with Horford because he isn't a 5. He would be an excellent backup 4

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And that is the problem with Horford. Let's change your quote around a little.

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I like

Horford

but I don't think he is a good fit to pair with

Smith

because he isn't a 5. He would be an excellent backup 4

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Most nights Horford is badly undersized. Last night he wasn't and he certainly took advantage on the boards but was only 3-9 from the field.

he has done a good job rebounding and we certainly need that but i keep waiting for some sign of offense from him. He isn't 7' 280 pounds and he needs to stop playing like he is. He shows his quickness pushing the ball on the break and guarding smaller players but he never shows it on offense.

Meanwhile Smith, the guy many wanted to trade or bench a couple of months ago, lit Detroit up for 30 pts.

[jerrywest]

Also, it looks like Smoove's shooting touch and decision making ability have improved so much that he could log in significant small forward minutes. I don't want to take him away from the baskets in defense, however. I'd like to see a big energy center playing with Horford and Smith sometimes. I think Chillz's days are numbered here.

[Admin]

I disagree, I think that he and Smith are excellent together and it's not like Smith is even remotely similar to Collison in style of play so that doesn't really work here. I would like to see Smith moved back to SF (if he doesn't fall in love with the 3) since he plays more like a SF than a PF and trade Marvin for a PG plus some bench help but that PG would have to be a very good shooter to pull that off.

Horford has been showing some improvement in his jumper but it's going to take time for him to develop it. We should just be glad that Horford takes it strong inside even though he is usually overmatched and that he isn't clumsy and he doesn't routinely get his shot blocked.

[PureGreatness]

fellas fellas. i agree that joe has to be re-assigned to a roll player but i wouldnt let marvin be our 1 or number 2 guy. marvin is the worst finisher around the basket in the league behind kwame brown. i would run our offens around Horford and smith. that doesnt mean smith and horford gets 20 shot attempts a piece but the offense run through them and let then kick out to marvin and joe. let smith and al get use to it.

[Duff_Man]

Another HUGE sign that Horford is dedicated to winning...his vastly improved Free Throw shooting. He struggled early, practiced, and fixed it. The dude is all game.

[exodus]

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I would like to see Smith moved back to SF (if he doesn't fall in love with the 3) since he plays more like a SF than a PF

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Smith can't play the 3. he is too slow to defend 3s (remember Thornton). He is also not quick enough to beat 3s of the dribble like he is doing now against bigs. Smith is better by far at the 4. It isn't close.

Putting him at the 3 would make our perimeter shooting even worse and we are already at the bottom of the league.

[pimp]

It's not like Chill are Marvin have been stopping sf's from scoring.Besides, playing the 3 would allow Josh to use his improved post play against smaller players.Josh could still play half the game at pf too.If we could bring in a pg that can shoot and also a sf at can shoot will Josh plays at pf, we could make it work.

I think you have to make it work.

Josh Smith has been dominating games lately and his fg% has improved every month.

Horford has been domintating the board and is clearly a winner.

These are the 2 guys we should build around as our starting forwards.

[exodus]

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It's not like Chill are Marvin have been stopping sf's from scoring

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Marvin does a pretty good job defensively. Childress...not so much. He is too slow and weak.

Smith just isn't quick enough to keep guys in front of him.

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Josh Smith has been dominating games lately and his fg% has improved every month.

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At the 4.

[skyhawk]

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he has done a good job rebounding and we certainly need that but i keep waiting for some sign of offense from him. He isn't 7' 280 pounds and he needs to stop playing like he is. He shows his quickness pushing the ball on the break and guarding smaller players but he never shows it on offense.

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I agree with most of what you say but think you're wrong about his quickness. Did you see the move he put on McDyess last night? Sure, McDyess doesn't have the lateral agility he once had but that move would have beaten any big man.

[exodus]

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he has done a good job rebounding and we certainly need that but i keep waiting for some sign of offense from him. He isn't 7' 280 pounds and he needs to stop playing like he is. He shows his quickness pushing the ball on the break and guarding smaller players but he never shows it on offense.

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I agree with most of what you say but think you're wrong about his quickness. Did you see the move he put on McDyess last night? Sure, McDyess doesn't have the lateral agility he once had but that move would have beaten any big man.

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You must not understand what i am saying. I think Horford is plenty quick but he never uses that quickness against bigger, slower players. He never tries to drive in a half court set. Never.

[jerrywest]

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he has done a good job rebounding and we certainly need that but i keep waiting for some sign of offense from him. He isn't 7' 280 pounds and he needs to stop playing like he is. He shows his quickness pushing the ball on the break and guarding smaller players but he never shows it on offense.

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I agree with most of what you say but think you're wrong about his quickness. Did you see the move he put on McDyess last night? Sure, McDyess doesn't have the lateral agility he once had but that move would have beaten any big man.

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That was a great move. Strangely, I thought of Exodus when I saw that Small forward like drive.