Horford speaks

[PureGreatness]

Ive always heard that Horford doesn't like playing with Joe.

[HawksFan87]

Ive always heard that Horford doesn't like playing with Joe.

oh well he better learn how to deal with it lol, or he can go.

[Eddielives]

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.

Congratulations on the most vast oversimplification ever. Al made most of his shots so how in the world could you say Al shooting more had anything to do with us losing more games. Sorry but your statement doesn't make any logical sense.

[APE]

A lot of tough talk from a guy who spent the latter part of the season being punked by Spencer Hawes and Brandon Bass...

[DrReality]

Think he needs to be more vocal. He has as much or more maturity than his teammates.

[TRUEINTELLECTPLAYA]

A lot of tough talk from a guy who spent the latter part of the season being punked by Spencer Hawes and Brandon Bass...

Spencer Hawes punking anybody is bit of a stretch

[APE]

Think he needs to be more vocal. He has as much or more maturity than his teammates.

Would you listen to a guy who's out there scared to play in the post?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Eddie . . what Drew's offense did was try to make everyone on the team a threat offensively, by moving the ball and setting people up for open shots.

Remember? People around here were coining the new offense . . "The Pentagle" ( a play on Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense that he learned from Tex Winter )

In theory, whomever had the open shot, whether it be JJ or Smith or even Damien, should take the shot. But when most of the team can't shoot, it's not a good offense to run.

So not only did the new offense take shots away from the two guys who led us in scoring in 09 - 10, it encouraged other guys to shoot jumpshots.

We saw Smith almost completely kick the habit of chucking 3s, to him taking 100+ this year. We saw Al take more jumpers too, even though he made them at a great rate.

But we also saw them shoot less around the rim. Significantly less.

The previous season, we were one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league, because it was mainly our perimeter guys taking jumpers. This season, when our bigs started jacking up jumpers, our offensive rebounding rate plummeted.

In essence, Drew's offense got this team all out of balance. It took shots away from our most versatile scorers, while it also took our bigs away from the rim, contributing to a decrease in offensive rebounds for possible put backs and shots in general around the rim.

So yeah Eddie . . it might sound ridiculous, but the fact is that the offense also had JJ shooting a lot of 3s ( in the beginning ), instead of working people to set up his floater ( one of the highest percentage shots he takes ).

Our bigs need to play in the paint more, and let our guards take care of the perimeter. The fact that Al's shots from the perimeter increased, while his shots around the rim decreased, is NOT a good thing for the Hawks..

It's no coincidence that we went from having a top 5 offensive rating as an offense . . to falling around 20th as an offense. It's also no coincidence that the only games we won during the playoffs, were games in which JJ and Jamal were balling.

[Jody23]

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.

Northcyde, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this point. Whether or not JJ is being selfish or not while he pounds the air out of the ball, only he truly knows, but it defenitely does not help the team perform well consistently. Even LD's comments prior to game 4, from what I can remember, indicates this. Has it resulted in a few wins in close ball games? Sure, but the same style of play consistently has resulted in stagnant offense. Josh may get hot from three point range a few games and that may result in wins, but that doesn't make it good basketball and a style of play that would be effective on a regular basis as we've seen. When these basketball analysts call the Hawks out for playing too much one on one, they're not just picking on the Hawks, they're telling the truth.

As far as Horford is concerned, sure he needs to regain his form from the regular season as he didn't play particularly well in the post season, but what he's saying is the truth. People may not like it, but it's the truth. The Hawks need more EFFECTIVE size, not just off the bench, but in the starting lineup. How many years does it take for people to see that a combination of Horford and Josh at the 4 and 5 just isn't big enough to get it done in the playoffs, especially against the teams that matter. It's no secret as analysts, like CWebb, have pointed this out repeatedly. People can get upset at him for saying it, but the fact of the matter is this young man, who's a 4, came into this league and has been playing the 5 for four years now because he was asked to. While doing so, he's managed to make two All-Star teams and one all-nba team. I'd say he's earned the right to speak his mind when asked. People keep saying he should just toughen up as if it's that easy to play against bigger guys. LOL at that! When he says it's taxing, he's telling the truth folks.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Jody23

[Diesel]

I dno't disagree with Horf. We do need capable size and blue collar work ethic.. but how would we get it?

[Eddielives]

Northcyde, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this point. Whether or not JJ is being selfish or not while he pounds the air out of the ball, only he truly knows, but it defenitely does not help the team perform well consistently. Even LD's comments prior to game 4, from what I can remember, indicates this. Has it resulted in a few wins in close ball games? Sure, but the same style of play consistently has resulted in stagnant offense. Josh may get hot from three point range a few games and that may result in wins, but that doesn't make it good basketball and a style of play that would be effective on a regular basis as we've seen. When these basketball analysts call the Hawks out for playing too much one on one, they're not just picking on the Hawks, they're telling the truth.

As far as Horford is concerned, sure he needs to regain his form from the regular season as he didn't play particularly well in the post season, but what he's saying is the truth. People may not like it, but it's the truth. The Hawks need more EFFECTIVE size, not just off the bench, but in the starting lineup. How many years does it take for people to see that a combination of Horford and Josh at the 4 and 5 just isn't big enough to get it done in the playoffs, especially against the teams that matter. It's no secret as analysts, like CWebb, have pointed this out repeatedly. People can get upset at him for saying it, but the fact of the matter is this young man, who's a 4, came into this league and has been playing the 5 for four years now because he was asked to. While doing so, he's managed to make two All-Star teams and one all-nba team. I'd say he's earned the right to speak his mind when asked. People keep saying he should just toughen up as if it's that easy to play against bigger guys. LOL at that! When he says it's taxing, he's telling the truth folks.

I'm not going to defend Horford's play in the Chicago series or the playoffs in general. He didn't play well. But there is an obvious division between Hawks fans as it pertains to Horf and Smoove. When you look at the criticism being leveled at both, it's obvious to me that the Al criticism started when Josh continued to be a headcase this year and even some of his supporters started getting on the bandwagon of when is this guy going to stop his bad habits and they started being agreeable to the idea of trading him. It also heated up when Al was having such a good year and it became obvious that as to the future of this team, Al is the man. So when Al had a subpar playoff run, it was all the ammunition the Smoove supporters needed to hammer and hammer on to try and push their agenda. Make no mistake, the supporters of Smoove are loyalists to the player, not the team. Al has been the most mature and emotionally capable guy of leading this team, at least in terms of his maturity and on the court presence. He just doesn't have the tenure to be the leader because the silent but highly paid Joe by default has to be considered the leader. But Al is the guy who this team needs to help build around, not because he is a number one superstar option but he is a team player who, as a whole, has played to the best of his ability and been very successful, overall, at what he has been asked to do. In my opinion, Al has the MOST right of any of our players to speak out on what this team might need to make the next step. Love him or hate him, Al is considered not just by myself and many Hawks fans as a better guy to have on your team, but to almost every NBA analyst who gets the chance to comment on Josh and what he is all about as an NBA player. You pretty much hear the same thing from the media, "enigma," "headcase," etc. Nobody trusts the guy because he's too erratic so why not try to move him for a better center so Al can just be the 4 and the hawks team can move forward. Hell, move Joe to get a center if it makes sense. AT this point, this team has peaked. There is no room financially, thanks to Joe, for this team to improve in the free agent market and we are stuck in mediocrity which rules out any draft help. The only option is to make changes.

[Diesel]

I don't think Al is the man.

We all have this thought about Al.. Like he's Alonzo or Karl Malone.

However, the truth is that Al doesn't have the mentality to be a low post player. For our offense, we need a low post player. I would easily trade Al for Al Jefferson.

Now here's the deal with that.

Al Jefferson's defense has been underwhelming.

They have Paul Milsap and Derrick Favors.

They are really high on Kanter.

The writing is on the way, Jefferson is out.

So is a whole lot of other guys if they can get what they need.

I think that Utah will be in the middle of a lot of trades if they can get what they need.

[HawksFan87]

I'm not going to defend Horford's play in the Chicago series or the playoffs in general. He didn't play well. But there is an obvious division between Hawks fans as it pertains to Horf and Smoove. When you look at the criticism being leveled at both, it's obvious to me that the Al criticism started when Josh continued to be a headcase this year and even some of his supporters started getting on the bandwagon of when is this guy going to stop his bad habits and they started being agreeable to the idea of trading him. It also heated up when Al was having such a good year and it became obvious that as to the future of this team, Al is the man. So when Al had a subpar playoff run, it was all the ammunition the Smoove supporters needed to hammer and hammer on to try and push their agenda. Make no mistake, the supporters of Smoove are loyalists to the player, not the team. Al has been the most mature and emotionally capable guy of leading this team, at least in terms of his maturity and on the court presence. He just doesn't have the tenure to be the leader because the silent but highly paid Joe by default has to be considered the leader. But Al is the guy who this team needs to help build around, not because he is a number one superstar option but he is a team player who, as a whole, has played to the best of his ability and been very successful, overall, at what he has been asked to do. In my opinion, Al has the MOST right of any of our players to speak out on what this team might need to make the next step. Love him or hate him, Al is considered not just by myself and many Hawks fans as a better guy to have on your team, but to almost every NBA analyst who gets the chance to comment on Josh and what he is all about as an NBA player. You pretty much hear the same thing from the media, "enigma," "headcase," etc. Nobody trusts the guy because he's too erratic so why not try to move him for a better center so Al can just be the 4 and the hawks team can move forward. Hell, move Joe to get a center if it makes sense. AT this point, this team has peaked. There is no room financially, thanks to Joe, for this team to improve in the free agent market and we are stuck in mediocrity which rules out any draft help. The only option is to make changes.

You, Al and his father are the only people who thinks he's the "man".

[Guest]

I don't have any issues with what Al had to say, is what he didn't say that I'm concerned with...that he will spend the offseason working on his footwork and post game....but like Diesel said maybe he just isn't a post player.

I want no part of Al Jefferson, beside the fact that he doesn't care about anything beside scoring, word is he is also very lazy.

[hawkman]

I don't have any issues with what Al had to say, is what he didn't say that I'm concerned with...that he will spend the offseason working on his footwork and post game....but like Diesel said maybe he just isn't a post player.

I want no part of Al Jefferson, beside the fact that he doesn't care about anything beside scoring, word is he is also very lazy.

I agree about the Jefferson part but I do take issue with Horford. I was really hoping his soft play was due to injury. Now it appears this is the way he wants to play from now on? That's unacceptable to me and should be unacceptable to any objective Hawks fan. I'm not sure when his mentality officially changed, but I don't like where his game is heading. He IS the blue collar guy the team needs. He was as tough as they came down low when he first got here, and that's exactly what this team needed back then and needs now. I don't get it. Are we ruining these guys? Why is everyone getting so soft? He was averaging a double-double at the center position and played at an ALL Star level at that position, and then said he needed help and wanted to play PF? Now I could understand him wanting to play PF and all, but at least beast out at that position once you get put there to show you are most effective there. I'm sorry, but Al needs to man up and get back to playing the type of game that made him the Boss. This isn't gonna get it.

[Guest]

I agree that Al's play was less than stellar and he lacked the toughness that we all expected from him, but some of it is also on LD, the new offense (more jump shooting from the bigs), and the constant juggling of the line-ups with Josh and Al starting at SF/PF/C. Select a line-up and stick to it.

[AHawks89]

I'm honestly starting to think Al Horford is the locker room cancer. :negative: :training:

[terrell]

Horford saying we need another center = Bye Smoove

Should = bye Marvin, bye future pick, and bye Hinrich and his expiring contract Edited June 2, 2011 by terrell

[terrell]

Never heard Joe complaining about playin the 2 or the 3. Never heard Josh complaining about playin the 3 or the 4. Never heard Hinrich complaining about playin the 1 or the 2. And never heard Jamal(who is not a pg), complain about playin the 2 or the 1. Just sayin. I like Horford, but just play ball man. How bout hitting the weight room and working on your post game. And btw, if you ever want to be an allstar again, better keep playin center. Just my 2 cents.

Edited June 2, 2011 by terrell

[Guest]

I would like to see Horford work with Hakeem this offseason on his post moves.