Horford is becoming a monster

[capstone21]

JJ and Smith's recent play is getting a lot of the credit for our improvement but Horford is probably one of the biggest reasons.

Man he has been awesome. There is so much confidence on offense now and his rebounding is awesome.

His defense is also been great. I love his attitude and leadership too. He is the difference maker

[WraithSentinel]

Anyone got his 2nd half numbers? Ever since the All-Star break he has just been on a tear.

[DrReality]

This is really what I had hoped he would do given how he played last year. But to this point he had not stepped up his game, but it is about time.

[swolehawk2]

Anyone got his 2nd half numbers? Ever since the All-Star break he has just been on a tear.

Every guy develops at a different pace...I remember his rookie season, early on he could not make a post move without traveling, now he's making quick decisive strong moves.

He looks like a star in the making.

[GameTime]

Anyone got his 2nd half numbers? Ever since the All-Star break he has just been on a tear.

14-11 one steal one block since ASB (not adding tonight's numbers)

Yeah looks like he will surpassed the 15-10 I had as his peak for his career.

Edited March 18, 2009 by GameTime

[FrankWhite]

His confidence is soaring. He's tough as hell and just plays with an energy and a swagger that's infectious. He may never be a superstar but the bottom line is he's a winner. He gets it. He's just the type of guy you want on your team, on the floor, in the locker room. Hopefully, management does the smart thing (wishful thinking) and locks him up long term as soon as possible.

[crimedog]

Maybe its something about this Hawks team. They all seem to come on late in the season.

When he and Josh play like this, we're tough.

[jerrywest]

I love how he has been playing lately, but he is always a monster againts mediocre competition. I'd like to see him do these against Bos/Cle/LA/Orl/SAS. We'll know soon.

[TheDude]

If he keeps throwing down this 20-10 games, he will be a superstar

[JackB1]

Horf just looks so much more confident out there. You can just feel it when he goes into a post move. Last year, he was a little unsure and timid. No more!

On a related note....did anyone else cringe when Horf fell HARD to the floor on that one foul in the 2nd half?

Then he just bounced back up like nothing happened! If you watch the slow mo replay, he landed HARD on his hip. Good thing he's built so tough :)

Edited March 18, 2009 by JackB1

[PlayaPat420]

Horf just looks so much more confident out there. You can just feel it when he goes into a post move. Last year, he was a little unsure and timid. No more!

On a related note....did anyone else cringe when Horf fell HARD to the floor on that one foul in the 2nd half?

Then he just bounced back up like nothing happened! If you watch the slow mo replay, he landed HARD on his hip. Good thing he's built so tough :)

Yeah, management should envision: "Built Horford Tough!" like the Ford commercials And market our future star

Edited March 19, 2009 by PlayaPat420

[Vesper]

Yeah, management should envision: "Built Horford Tough!" like the Ford commercials And market our future star

Corny, but not bad!

[benhillboy]

How did he not get a hip bruise on that fall against the Kings? I thought for sure he'd miss a couple. The guy is tough. It doesn't hurt when the ladies love you, too. It seems impossible to predict numbers for him for any time frame, whether it be a game or a season. I just know he's gonna play winning basketball every second the clock ticks.

[DrReality]

Horford goes, so go the Hawks

By Jeff Schultz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday, March 20, 2009

There’s a problem with combines and scouting reports. There’s a problem when teams are swayed by 40 times and vertical leaps and resumes that read, “Four-time All-Global,” and they’re moved to scream on draft day: “We’ve found our savior! Get me marketing!”

Nothing can tell you what’s in a kid’s cranium.

The 199th selection turns into Tom Brady. The No. 1 pick mutates into Kwame Brown. The best general managers have to be lucky.

The Hawks are fortunate. They guessed right two years ago with the third pick in the NBA draft. It turned out to be Al Horford.

“Only a very small percentage of young guys can come into this league and lead,” Joe Johnson said. “The ones who do usually are the focal point of their team. Al’s different.”

Horford is different because he’s leading and he’s not the Hawks’ offensive centerpiece, like Chris Paul in New Orleans or LeBron James in Cleveland. He’s different because he’s 23 years old, and not nearly acting his age.

He’s different because he’s a second-year pro and leading this team —- often by example, sometimes by his words, even in the face of a veteran teammate.

How many second-year pros do that?

“I did it at Florida when I felt I had to,” Horford said Thursday. “I did it in high school. Here, I’ve done it a couple of times.”

Anticipating the next question, he quickly veered left: “I’m not going to name names. But if I see that somebody is not necessarily putting in the effort or is slacking off and it’s noticeable, I’m going to say something. Usually I’m very mellow. But sometimes I think something needs to be said, even if I put it out there in front of the whole team, even to the point where the guys might be mad at me for a day or two. I think it’s for the best.”

It’s dangerous to make such proclamations so early in a player’s career. But in terms of having the whole package —- maturity, leadership and athletic ability at such a young age —- Horford is for the Hawks what Matt Ryan is for the Falcons. The franchises will go as they go.

After extended mid-season hiccups, the Hawks are rolling again. They won their seventh straight Thursday, 95-87 over Dallas at Philips Arena.

Horford is only the team’s fifth leading scorer at 11.9 points per game. But he has stepped up his offensive game in the post, averaging 16 points in the past 13 games (four times over 20 in that stretch).

Strange. But on a team with Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Mike Bibby, Horford has evolved into arguably the Hawks’ most indispensable player. They are 35-19 with him in the lineup, but only 6-9 in games he has missed entirely or played limited minutes because of injury.

“It’s pretty much up to him what he wants to do in this league,” Bibby said.

Among the team’s young core, there is lingering debate about who Smith is and what Marvin Williams can be. But there is no debate about Horford. He transitioned to the NBA better than most rookies last season, or any season. He credits that to staying at Florida a year longer than he had to.

“I didn’t feel I was mentally ready for the NBA grind,” he said. “Then being part of a championship team, I know what it felt like to be chased all the time. It was good for me.”

Unfortunately in sports, the answers about an athlete don’t come until after direct deposit. With Horford, the answers came early.

[Admin]

Man I love Al Horford and lately he has really been a monster. He's knocking down the J when he's open, he's backing guys down for a bucket in the paint, and he's playing extremely well opposite of Josh Smith and the two of them are turning Philips into the dunk factory ... not to mention he's a difference maker on the boards and lately he's been showing how good he can be defensively. They only credited him with 4 blocks last night but it seemed like he had that many during that 18-0 run in the 2nd quarter alone.

Thank God that we didn't draft Conley or Yi ... both guys I would have been happy with at draft time.

[crimedog]

Man I love Al Horford and lately he has really been a monster. He's knocking down the J when he's open, he's backing guys down for a bucket in the paint, and he's playing extremely well opposite of Josh Smith and the two of them are turning Philips into the dunk factory ... not to mention he's a difference maker on the boards and lately he's been showing how good he can be defensively. They only credited him with 4 blocks last night but it seemed like he had that many during that 18-0 run in the 2nd quarter alone.

Thank God that we didn't draft Conley or Yi ... both guys I would have been happy with at draft time.

Al's been great, but to be fair to Conley, ever since Iavoronni got canned and the new cat put the ball in Mike's hands, he's been doing 15-6 on aroung 45% with only 2.3 TOs. Not saying he'd be better, but I don't think its a God thanking sort of thing.

[Admin]

Al's been great, but to be fair to Conley, ever since Iavoronni got canned and the new cat put the ball in Mike's hands, he's been doing 15-6 on aroung 45% with only 2.3 TOs. Not saying he'd be better, but I don't think its a God thanking sort of thing.

I didn't mean that either Conley or Yi were busts but no way I'd rather have either of them over Al. I am glad that Conley has shown that he can be a good PG at this level though but I think the same thing could happen with Acie if he were given the opportunity that Conley has had.

As far as being a thanking God kinda thing it is for me considering that Conley couldn't play center for us and I'm pretty happy with what we have going in the backcourt.

[crimedog]

I didn't mean that either Conley or Yi were busts but no way I'd rather have either of them over Al. I am glad that Conley has shown that he can be a good PG at this level though but I think the same thing could happen with Acie if he were given the opportunity that Conley has had.

As far as being a thanking God kinda thing it is for me considering that Conley couldn't play center for us and I'm pretty happy with what we have going in the backcourt.

I think Yi is drifting toward bust. Or at the best utility player. Especially if he is actually 24 (or older) as most people seem to believe.