Horf At The 5 Smoove At The 4

[tmac13]

Post after post is made to try to switch Smoove to the 3 and Horf to the 4. Am I the only one here who thinks Horf is a 5 and Smoove is a 4? Horf is 6'10" and 250 and played the center spot very well for us all last year as a rookie. Smoove is 6'9" nearing 240 and had a career year at the 4. I think it would be very silly to yank these young guys around for anything other than substitutional situations. To me both guys lose their advantages with any switch. Smoove and Horf both have quickness and athletic edges on most of their opponents. Move them down and they lose that. Both guys might be a touch on the small side for their positions but its not like they are 6'5". They are both as big as many guys that have played their respective positions very well. Bill Russell, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Alonzo Morning are all 6'10" or less centers and were all dominant in their careers. Carl Malone, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, and even present day guys like Elton Brand are all dominant power forwards that are 6'9" or less. I think we need to leave Horf and Smoove where they are and let them continue to develope.

[KB21]

Post after post is made to try to switch Smoove to the 3 and Horf to the 4. Am I the only one here who thinks Horf is a 5 and Smoove is a 4? Horf is 6'10" and 250 and played the center spot very well for us all last year as a rookie. Smoove is 6'9" nearing 240 and had a career year at the 4. I think it would be very silly to yank these young guys around for anything other than substitutional situations. To me both guys lose their advantages with any switch. Smoove and Horf both have quickness and athletic edges on most of their opponents. Move them down and they lose that. Both guys might be a touch on the small side for their positions but its not like they are 6'5". They are both as big as many guys that have played their respective positions very well. Bill Russell, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Alonzo Morning are all 6'10" or less centers and were all dominant in their careers. Carl Malone, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, and even present day guys like Elton Brand are all dominant power forwards that are 6'9" or less. I think we need to leave Horf and Smoove where they are and let them continue to develope.

I agree with you, but there are some folks on here that believe a center has to be 7'2" and 280 lbs and that a power forward has to be 6'10" and 250 lbs.

[Theeyo]

AMEN!

[crimedog]

Yeah, people seem to not get this. They talk about a) the lack of dominant centers and b) how we don't have a "real" center.

There are plenty of great centers in the league and Al Horford is the same size as a ton of HOF Cs. You listed quite a few of them off and in the "Golden Age" when Shaq, the Admiral, Hakeem and Ewing were the great centers, two of those guys are Al's size.

The only thing Al doesn't do like a center is block shots but he has a decent shotblocker next to him, eh?

[frosgrim]

And they insist that Zaza is a PF :brick wall:

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The whole purpose of the Horford at the 4, Smith at the 3 talk, is to maximize Horford's production at the 4, while keeping Smith on the floor. ( which would kill how effective he is offensively, by the way ).

Most of us know this, which is why we dismiss any talk of Smith at the 3.

Horford can play center. He's proved that. He may have trouble with the real big guys who are average, but he can still hold his own against them.

My thing is that some of his toughness has to rub off on Smith. If it does, Smith will turn into a monster, and this debate won't ever come up.

A lot of teams would kill to have a 10 and 10 guy playing center for them.

With Bynum out, imagine Horford playing with the Lakers, moving Gasol to the 4. Scary.

[crimedog]

The whole purpose of the Horford at the 4, Smith at the 3 talk, is to maximize Horford's production at the 4, while keeping Smith on the floor. ( which would kill how effective he is offensively, by the way ).

I've yet to hear a convincing argument as to why Al would be noticably better at the 4 except that he wouldn't be expected to block shots.

I'm not entirely sure he's better off defending 4s, he's going to put on a few more pounds of muscle, he's very mobile for his size but I don't know if I like him defending away from the basket, Bosh tore him up when they were matched up.

[EazyRoc]

Because it's Chris Bosh.

Al Horford is actually very good away from the basket. He defends guards and other smaller players well off screens. He has very good lateral quickness for his size, and that enables him to stay in front of most players atleast long enough for the right defender to rotate around to their man.

[KDT88]

I just think Horford is better suited at the 4 spot, kinda like Karl Malone.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

The whole purpose of the Horford at the 4, Smith at the 3 talk, is to maximize Horford's production at the 4, while keeping Smith on the floor. ( which would kill how effective he is offensively, by the way ).

Most of us know this, which is why we dismiss any talk of Smith at the 3.

Horford can play center. He's proved that. He may have trouble with the real big guys who are average, but he can still hold his own against them.

My thing is that some of his toughness has to rub off on Smith. If it does, Smith will turn into a monster, and this debate won't ever come up.

A lot of teams would kill to have a 10 and 10 guy playing center for them.

With Bynum out, imagine Horford playing with the Lakers, moving Gasol to the 4. Scary.

Imagine Tim Duncan with Atlanta at the 4 with Horford at the 5... that's scarier.

[Trueblood]

I agree with you, but there are some folks on here that believe a center has to be 7'2" and 280 lbs and that a power forward has to be 6'10" and 250 lbs.

Yeah, that was the case 5 to 10 years ago but times have changed. The ideal C/PF combo is more like Horford and Smoove as opposed to Koncak and Willis.

[West]

Hakeem is 7'0'' dude

[tmac13]

Hakeem is 7'0'' dude

Hakeem was always listed as 7 feet tall but revealed late in his career he was barely 6'9". He just had the perfect makeup and determination to play in the post.

[Peoriabird]

Hakeem is 7'0'' dude

Most of you guys don't know jack!

[KDT88]

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/09tleWY02h5h9/610x.jpg

I guess this pic proves that Ewing was 6'9 as well.. :cant believe:

[pound4pound]

I think that the Al at 4 crowd - of which I am one - sees the potential and real world achievements that Al put up at 5 last year. I like having Al on the floor at either 4 or 5 - but see him struggle against big centers. While he does get many a board - he also gets pretty well dominated by teams that have a legit 5. Just look at the East

Brendon Haywood

Eddie Curry

Sam Dalembert

Kendrick Perkins

Jermaine O'Neal

Z. Illgauskus

Andrew Bogut

Dwight Howard

These guys have had BIG real BIG nights against Al because they can muscle him around or just shoot over him. Now Al is a great rebounder and hustle player so the 10 / 10 you see him put up is legit - but what those numbers don't show is how many points and boards the other guy gets or minutes Al is on the pine because he got two quick ones to start off the game.

Al Horford is a very talented post player who I am confident will improve. His technique will improve as well as his offensive game to pressure his guy a bit more. But the fact of the matter is that he is playing out of position and as a Hawks fan - I would rather give us the best possible chance to win and that is to have Al and Smoove on the floor with a legit 5 behind them.

The only way you can move those guys down a spot and still have enough shooting is to bring in someone like Brad Miller or Rasheed Wallace to stretch the floor. The ideal player for our starting 5 would be Mehmut Okur. Maybe Utah would give him up after the drafted Koufus. Bibby for Okur?? Deron is playing out of his mind next to Paul in the Olympics so maybe they would bite.

[tmac13]

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/09tleWY02h5h9/610x.jpg

I guess this pic proves that Ewing was 6'9 as well.. :cant believe:

You can line a whole group up in street shoes and not be able to tell true heights. Hakeem was under 6'10".

[DrReality]

what he plays is not an absolute but it depends upon matchups and the hope is we can use our guys for mismatches.

[Guest]

When did Hakeem reveal he was "barely 6'9""? I don't believe that at all.

[EazyRoc]

One thing I do know is Ewing isn't 7 ft. Hakeem isn't taller than Ewing or at least he isn't that much taller than Ewing. So, from there you just add 2 and 2. That equals 6'9"