If you had to choose: Horford or Smith

[exodus]

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64% for Horford after 48 votes. That is truly shocking to me.

Me too. Obviously Horford's contract situation plays a role. However i think people are projecting how good they think Horford might be in the future while looking at how good Smith is now. They are about the same age.

Smith is an impact player and Horford just isn't right now. He might be in the future but it is no sure thing.

This will be an interesting thread to bump down the road.

[WorldBFree]

Al Horford has proven he has the physical AND MENTAL skills to be a key component of a winning team. Josh Smith has shown he has rare athletic ability... everything else about his game requires using words like "potential" "ceiling" and "if here ever learns to...".

[crimedog]

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You are asking the same question. Either you can or cannot win with that combo.

You think this is as high as Horfords value is ever going to be? Seriously? The guy got better and better as the year went on and even if we traded him right now we would be extremely limited in the players we could take back unless we started including other players.

Sure Josh Smith makes more exciting plays, but Horford is already a better defensive player. Smith is an average at best man defender and constantly gets beaten off the dribble because he tries to block the shot from behind. Horford doesn't have nearly the shot blocking ability that Smith has but he is light years better fundamentally and I'd even say the same thing on offense. He puts himself in a position to succeed, unlike Smith who too often floats around the 3pt line where he shouldn't be.

They are both very talented players and we might be better off with them as our 4/5 combo, or we might not. It appears that more people here believe Smith should be the one that we trade.

Horford is not a better defender than Smith. He is a better rebounder, which is part of defense, so in a way you are correct, but it is a stone cold fact that our defense was impacted by Smith's presence or absence by huge margins more than anyone else.

I'm not sure where this mythology came from that Horford locks his man down but Smith is some sort of liability but the only reason didn't have a layup line for 48 minutes as Bibby's man was allowed to walk to the basket and open lanes was because Smith was an eraser.

On offense, neither Horford nor Smith put themselves in position to succeed much. Smith took too many long jumpers and turned it over too much but at the end of the day Horford scored 7 fewer points on 4% better shooting and that small difference was tempered by the fact that Smith took over twice as many FTs a game. On the surface Smith had 1.3 more TOs a game which seems like alot but when you consider he also had more points and twice as many assists, he actually turned it over at a lower rate than Al.

Look, I love what Al did but people are getting carried away by saying he is a better offensive and defensive player.

Smith has his flaws. He takes jumpers he can't hit, he dribbles through crowds he shouldn't dribble through, he makes passes he shouldn't make, he can drift in man defense (much improved in this regard), and he can lose his cool. The important thing is to see the things that are positive too. He has one of the best rates of assists for PFs, he draws a good amount of fouls (gives him the same scoring efficiency of Lamarcus Aldridge who is worse at every other aspect of the game), he is a solid defensive rebounder, he is the best transition defender in the league, he defends the PnR well for a PF, he is one of the best help defenders in the league.

I think ex has it right. You are looking at what Smith is and comparing it to what Horford could be but both of them improved over the course of the year because they are the same age with the same amount of bball experience in their lives.

[Swish]

Man, I couldn't vote. To me this is a dead heat. Horf could be with work the next transcendent PF in the league; I really haven't seen enough yet. His drive and work ethic is amazing; skill is obviously there; its a waiting game right now. For Smoove, we all know how I feel here; he is the complete package; the problem is he is on/off more than anyone I have ever watched.

[Atlantaholic]

Horford's Turnovers per offensive possessions played was also higher than Smooves I believe... I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure about it

[DrReality]

Horf will be a better pro in the long run. More mature.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

For the record, I cast my vote for Horford. I tried to imagine which squad would function better.

Bibby, JJ, Marvin, Smith and Zaza . . . . or . . . . Bibby, JJ, Marvin, Horford, and Zaza.

From that standpoint, I have to go with Horford over Smith. But neither of those squads are better than having Horford at center and Smith at PF.

[Traceman]

I know that he is only 6 months younger than Smoove but he was a rookie and he had a much bigger adjustment to make going into the season than Smoove did. I think both are going to get signifcantly better but I think Horford is going to be a LOT better next year. I think Horford is going to be an automatic double double from now on.

Horford will go into the season KNOWING that he will be a starter and that he is EXPECTED to be a leader on the team. Zaza is CLEARLY his backup now, there is no need for him to tread lightly and just "fit in." He can start to assert himself even more and I think the effects of that will be seen both on and off the court.

I think Al is going to be considered every bit Josh's equal NEXT YEAR with regard to who our second best player is and some folks may consider him to be better than Smoove. I think Horford will be AT LEAST a 13/11 guy next year (depending on what Marvin does from a scoring perspective) and I think 15/12 is a very real possibility.

Here is a bold prediction for you. If he plays Center next year, I expect his name to be on the All Star ballot and he just might be Howard's backup in the All Star game.

[exodus]

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Here is a bold prediction for you. If he plays Center next year, I expect his name to be on the All Star ballot and he just might be Howard's backup in the All Star game.

Please. horford only averaged 10 ppg and he doesn't block shots. Smith has by far a better chance at making the All-Star game than Horford.

Bogut would get in easily before Horford. Bogut clowned us every game last year, averaging 20/10 and shooting a ridiculous percentage.

Horford isnt a sure thing. He has to prove himself as a scorer. Most of this year he was basically a liablility on offense. He turned it over WAY too much considering how little he actually did with the ball. His man could frequently play 5 feet off him with Horford making no effort to make him pay. He wasn't exactly a shut down defender either.

[HawkNJersey]

I can't understand how some can overate what they haven't seen and underrate what they have....

[WraithSentinel]

This is so easy to pick. I will take Al Horford. Horford is the type of player you build championship teams around. Smoove is the type of player you sell tickets with.

[Traceman]

Horford will have SIGNIFICANTLY less competition to make the All Star Game at Center than Smoove will have a forward. There are 4 forward spots, 4 guard spots, 2 center spots and 2 at large spots.

At forward, Garnett, LeBron, Pierce and Bosh are virtual locks for the All Star game. If Vince Carter is listed at forward, you can throw him in too. That doesn't even include R. Jefferson, Lewis, Turkoglu or Iguodala.

At Center, D Howard is a lock as the starter but after that you have Okafor, Bogut, Dalembert, Ilgauskas, and MAYBE J. O'Neal (depending on whether he is listed at Center or forward) for Horford to compete with. I think Horford is going to match the 14/11 that Okafor put up last year at a minimum. If he does that and we are winning, I think that might be enough to get him in.

[exodus]

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At forward, Garnett, LeBron, Pierce and Bosh are virtual locks for the All Star game. If Vince Carter is listed at forward, you can throw him in too. That doesn't even include R. Jefferson, Lewis, Turkoglu or Iguodala.

Only 2 of those guys are 4s.

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If Vince Carter is listed at forward, you can throw him in too. That doesn't even include R. Jefferson, Lewis, Turkoglu or Iguodala.

VC and iggy are guards. If Turgolu didn't make it this year it is doubtful he can make it next year.

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I think Horford is going to match the 14/11 that Okafor put up last year at a minimum

Then he is going to have to actually look to shoot rather than standing around looking for someone to pass to while his man plays off him.

Getting owned again by Bogut won't help his cause either.

[Admin]

Funny how you mention "getting owned" by Bogut but you don't mention when he "owned" KG and the Celtics in game 1 of the playoffs with a 20/10. Considering that came against the world champions and at the end of his rookie season it stands to reason that he is closer to that player than the one that got "owned" by Bogut.

[exodus]

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Funny how you mention "getting owned" by Bogut but you don't mention when he "owned" KG and the Celtics in game 1 of the playoffs with a 20/10. Considering that came against the world champions and at the end of his rookie season it stands to reason that he is closer to that player than the one that got "owned" by Bogut.

bogut did it over 4 games and KG was guarding Smith, not Horford.

[HawkNJersey]

I thought KG was guarding Smoove?

[Admin]

Most of the time but not always. I think that in that first game Perkins got into early foul trouble and there were times when KG was guarding Horford.

[Admin]

I wonder how Bogut did that since we only played the Bucks 3 times.

[exodus]

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I wonder how Bogut did that since we only played the Bucks 3 times.

Are you trying to be stupid on purpose just to get on my nerves?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/splits?playerId=2747

[Admin]

Nope, I was looking at the Hawks schedule on Hawks.com and the page didn't load all the way so I missed the last game in March.