Horford speaks

[NineOhTheRino]

AL Horford

http://media.790thezone.com/Podcasts/1345/Al_Horford_6-1-11.mp3

What hump? I don't think he's talking about round 2.

Edited June 1, 2011 by NineOhTheRino

[HawksFan87]

lol, he think he did what he was supposed to do : NEGATIVE !!!!

He played the PF most of the playoffs and failed miserably .

Edited June 1, 2011 by HawksFan87

[y2kenta]

lol, he think he did what he was supposed to do : NEGATIVE !!!!

He played the PF most of the playoffs and failed miserably .

Don't look at everything negative or " every glass half empty"...He also admitted that he had some struggles, specifically on the offensive end and he also mentioned room for improvement and that he is focused on doing that in this offseason...

The whole damn would be just a little better if people weren't so negative so much. Its always easy to spot the negatives.

AND he even had some "slight" CRITICISM for Joe Johnson.

Horford is a winner! And will only get better and smarter!

Edited June 1, 2011 by y2kenta

[TRUEINTELLECTPLAYA]

My speakers are not working. Does he say what position he wants to play? Does he say what position Josh should be playing? What is the slight criticism he has for Joe? Does he speak on rather or not this team has peaked? Does he say what pieces he thinks we need? Does he say specifically what he is working on this summer? Thanks to anyone that wants to give a summary of what is said

[buckeye242424]

AL Horford

http://media.790thezone.com/Podcasts/1345/Al_Horford_6-1-11.mp3

What hump? I don't think he's talking about round 2.

I took the "hump" reference as to beating Orlando...

[GameTime]

Horford saying we need another center = Bye Smoove

[lethalweapon3]

My only fuss was his illusion with the quality of his playoff play. "I think I did a good job... I think I was solid defensively."

For a guy near the top of the league in regular-season FG%, shooting 42% is not doing a good job. Letting the likes of Taj Gibson come off the bench and have their way with him on the other end of the floor was not solid defense, and not comforting for someone who wants to be handed the PF spot full time.

To be fair, he tried to clean up his statements, saying he struggled at times offensively, and that there's always "room for improvement." I just wish he'd stop trying upfront to cover his $*** with sugar.

Also on the bright side, he did pass the ball about as well as any big in the playoffs, so at least that's congruent with his stated desire to continue "buying in" to LD's ball-movement schemes.

~lw3

[NineOhTheRino]

Horford saying we need another center = Bye Smoove

Never understood how people don't see this as Horford being a bad teammate. We're not talking about an isolated incident here. There's several quotes and numerous radio interviews were Horford quietly puts his claim on the starting PF position. I just wonder if Josh takes these types of comments as Al wanting him gone.

[TRUEINTELLECTPLAYA]

I am of the school that Josh Smith can be a top 5 SF in the NBA and not a top 5 PF.

Lebron

Durant

Carmelo

Then there is a drop off. Josh can be a better all around SF than Granger or Deng, he played really well when matched up on Deng.

On the other hand, with KG and Duncan on there last legs I can see Al growing into a top 5 PF also.

Bosh

Amare

Pau

Blake Griffin

Kevin Love

Al has his work cut out for him but considering Griffin and Love are going to be losers for most of there careers I can see Al getting the same benefit of a doubt as he does at the C position for playing on a winner.

I don't think Al is throwing Josh under the bus. Josh has a better chance of making a all-star team or even All-NBA at SF than PF.

Having 3 guys that are clearly top 5 at there position gives you a true big 3 and makes you a real threat to win it all. It's not Al versus Josh, it is what is best for the team and that is for Josh to play SF and Al to play PF and go get a Center. By the way, Al is not a Center so him being a top 5 Center in the NBA is a fraud.

[Admin]

Or maybe Al sees Smoove as the SF like in the Orlando series but with a better player than Collins at the center spot?

[Jody23]

Or maybe Al sees Smoove as the SF like in the Orlando series but with a better player than Collins at the center spot?

Exactly. Al was in no way saying "get rid of Josh". He was simply telling the truth about the plight of this team. As a player that's won national titles, he knows we can't win playing small ball up front. I know run and gun is the sexy style of play people like to see, but that doesn't win titles. He acknowledged Collins and Pachulia did a great job, but this team needs more. I also think he was spot on about JJ. To me it seems JJ is more concerned with getting a certain number of shots than he is with doing what it takes to win which is, as Al said, buying in and being a leader. When your lead guy doesn't have the right mind set, it adversely affects the mental disposition of the team as a whole. When your lead guy is more inclined to play "me ball", you'll see everyone else follow suit which is exactly what happens with the Hawks. Even if the Hawks don't move JJ, which I'm not saying they should, they do need a new leader.

[Diesel]

Horford saying we need another center = Bye Smoove

Every time I have heard Horf say that, I had the feeling that that is what he was talking about.

My question is... Is Smoove a lockerroom cancer?

Some have come on here and said that Smoove is self absorbed.

Is he a cancer?

If Not, I would take Smoove over Horf simply because of the want to get better and the improvement. Moreover, horf has more value.

[HawksFan87]

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what Al wants, he doesn't have any say so in what moves we make. If this was Joe then yeah I'm sure they would consult him on what we planned on doing. But not Al.

Edited June 1, 2011 by HawksFan87

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Exactly. Al was in no way saying "get rid of Josh". He was simply telling the truth about the plight of this team. As a player that's won national titles, he knows we can't win playing small ball up front. I know run and gun is the sexy style of play people like to see, but that doesn't win titles. He acknowledged Collins and Pachulia did a great job, but this team needs more. I also think he was spot on about JJ. To me it seems JJ is more concerned with getting a certain number of shots than he is with doing what it takes to win which is, as Al said, buying in and being a leader. When your lead guy doesn't have the right mind set, it adversely affects the mental disposition of the team as a whole. When your lead guy is more inclined to play "me ball", you'll see everyone else follow suit which is exactly what happens with the Hawks. Even if the Hawks don't move JJ, which I'm not saying they should, they do need a new leader.

Once again . . tell me where JJ took more shots this season, than he did last season?

People want JJ to be a superstar, but only take 11 shots a game. LOL.

That dude sacrificed his shots so that Al and Smith could shoot more . . and it resulted in 9 less wins during the regular season. Jamal did the same thing,

If Al wants more touches, tell him to become a more versatile player, instead of a Mehmet Okur clone.

[TRUEINTELLECTPLAYA]

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what Al wants, he doesn't have any say so in what moves we make. If this was Joe then yeah I'm sure they would consult him on what we planned on doing. But not Al.

Why is this true? If it is even true

[Jody23]

Once again . . tell me where JJ took more shots this season, than he did last season?

People want JJ to be a superstar, but only take 11 shots a game. LOL.

That dude sacrificed his shots so that Al and Smith could shoot more . . and it resulted in 9 less wins during the regular season. Jamal did the same thing,

If Al wants more touches, tell him to become a more versatile player, instead of a Mehmet Okur clone.

I never said JJ took more shots this season than he did last season. What I am saying is that too many times, he gets caught up in playing "me-ball". Too many times we see JJ dribble all the air out of the ball or hold the ball only to take a bad shot or to pass it to Smoove in the corner with a second left on the clock for one of his jumpers. That's bad basketball and it's poor leadership, period. It's a big reason why the Hawks break down into playing one on one so often. Tell me, why did it take JJ all the way until game 4 of the semifinals before he finally realized that it's better for the team when he makes quicker decisions with the ball, especially against double teams, than it is to hold the ball and take poor shots? Why couldn't he play that way all the time? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that pounding the ball to only take 18 foot fall away jumpers against a double team with a hand in your face is bad basketball. As the best player on the team, I fully expect Joe to get more shots than anybody else which he does. However, his approach to getting his shots too often reflects "me-ball" and that's not good leadership.

[GameTime]

Horford said we will improve when Joe becomes a leader........ Wow.

How long will we be waiting for that?

Edited June 1, 2011 by GameTime

[99PROBL3MS]

My question is, who should we be depending on to create easier shots for JJ? Is that guy even on the roster yet?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Jody . . your ( and others ) characterization of what is "me ball" doesn't make sense. To me . . "me ball" would mean that he looks to shoot every time he gets the ball . . like how Jamal does. But even Jamal ( sometimes ) does that out of necessity because no one else on the floor can score.

It's one thing to get mad at JJ for not playing fast enough. But he's not being selfish at all by doing all of that pounding. He's either trying to size his own man up, or trying to draw the double team to pass to open guys for shots.

It's hilarious that people fault JJ for passing it to an open jumpshooter with 5 seconds on the shot clock. That dude is usually wide open. So who's fault is it if the guy can't make the open jumper? Bibby used to make a living off of JJ passing him the ball in those situations. Marvin used to 3 years ago.

But now, very few people on this team can consistently make the open shot. And people wonder why Jamal and JJ wanted to look for their own shot at times?

JJ dropped 34 on the Bulls in Game 1, basically playing the same way he always had. It was Jamal and JJ who won the Orlando series.

But let's keep it real.

You know why Al wants the ball to move more? It's because he has big time difficulty creating and making his own shot. He's highly dependent on others creating for him. That's why he had difficulty in the postseason.

It's disapointing that Horford didn't mention his post game FIRST that he needed to work on. But that's how he views himself. He wants to be a jumpshooting PF/C, instead of a banging PF/C.

And if he doesn't want to become that banger "blue collar" guy, then this team will always be views as "soft" . . as well as Mr. Horford.

Highly disappointed in Al and that interview. LOL @ he did a good job in the postseason, when he was by far our most disappointing player.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

And before anyone says . "no northcyde . . Marvin was our most disappointing player".

No he wasn't.

Expectations for Marvin have fallen so much that we're shocked when he plays well. We're not shocked when he doesn't show up.

What was shocking . was to see Horford play PF almost 60% of the postseason, and play absolutely horribly offensively. Then we see guys like Noah, Gibson, Boozer, and Asik have their way with him on the boards.

LOL . . I guess Al had to take a shot at JJ, because JJ said we needed more "blue collar" guys on the team. Maybe both will listen to each other and upgrade their games in that area.

Now all we need are the Smith and Jamal interviews.