Al and Zaza

[Guest]

» Update: 12:36 PM ET

Michael Cunningham: #Hawks C @Al Horford (pectoral) says he's out for 1st round vs. #Celtics. Hopes to play in 2nd round. Twitter

Michael Cunningham: #Hawks also planning to be without C Zaza Pachulia (foot) for start of series vs. #Celtics. Twitter

This is not good.

[NineOhTheRino]

Hawks need to figure this bs out and stop playing with our heads. How is it possible that every minute the freaking story changes?

[hawkrule152]

AL needs to stop being a f*cking pre madona.. tired of all these BS reports gettin our hopes up an shit.. make up ya damn mind already

[MaceCase]

What's with all these paired off thread titles? What's next on the Homecourt, Jason and Eric?

[niremetal]

I think it's meant to mess with the Celtics' game planning more than the fans' heads. Screwing with us is just icing.

[lethalweapon3]

See you in the second round!~jameer

[coachx]

I'm sure Horford is concerned with straining his previously torn pectoral muscle when players try to rip rebounds away from him. With that specific injury players will be trying to tie Horford up at every oppurtunity possible. Those muscle tears (especially to larger muscles like the pectoral) take forever to heel.We all know how easy it is to re-injure a previously torn hamstring that was not given enough time to not only heal........but not given time to regain the lost strength. Its the same thing with the pectoral.He has been practicing.....this much we know. If he truely doesn't play then I believe it would be b/c he just doesn't have the strength yet to hold on to balls in the "rip" drills done in practice.Hopefully this is just some possum like gamesmanship.

Edited April 25, 2012 by coachx

[arhawkfan]

Think JJ or Josh would try to play.

[NineOhTheRino]

Think JJ or Josh would try to play.

Josh would. Joe and Al seem like the type who would take a game off for a bad haircut.Al sounds more like our dude D12 everyday. Just make up your damn mind already! I doubt this team needs him, but he should still be a man and stick to his decisions. Edited April 25, 2012 by NineOhTheRino

[coachx]

Josh would. Joe and Al seem like the type that would take a game off for a bad haircut.

It may even make Josh a better player if it forced him to stop taking perimeter jumpers.

Think JJ or Josh would try to play.

Perhaps..........hard to speculate without walking in a man's shoes. Edited April 25, 2012 by coachx

[HawkItus]

Josh would. Joe and Al seem like the type that would take a game off for a bad haircut.Al sounds more like our dude D12 everyday. Just make up your damn mind already! I doubt this team needs him, but he should still be a man and stick to his decisions.

Really?!?! Seriously does your man crush make you ignore history? JJ came back EARLY from injury. Plays hurt all the time. You are becoming joke with these Josh fluffing posts.

[NineOhTheRino]

and Josh came back early from a high ankle sprain. Really the issue isn't Al playing or not playing. The issue is Al's inability to make up his mind. Seems he's telling coaches and management what they want to hear rather than what he truly feels. Man up son!

[AHF]

I can't get upset over Al Horford "not making up his mind" when it is his body that is going to cast the deciding vote. D12's issues were about making up his mind - does he want to stay or go? Al's issue is simply whether he can recover in time to play or if he is going to be too limited to go. Not the same situation at all.

[hawkman]

This is all a smokescreen. These guys never flip flop this much when it comes to when they will return from injury. In fact, all this conflicting information coming out just seems strange. Since when is there a dearth of Hawks related information available through the media? The last time this much info came out about Hawks personnel was around the trade deadline and 80% of that info seemed manufactured by teams who thought they could get our players for peanuts. I think this is all just a good old fashioned smokescreen so the Celts won't know who to game plan for. At least I hope so.

[HawkItus]

I don't buy it. How can you rule yourself out for a 7 game series? Your telling me if we have homecourt for game 7 and Zaza isn't back Horf wouldn't suit up and give it what he's got? Come on! If that is the case I do start to question his commitment. Hell Willis Reed came out on one leg. Man up!

Edited April 25, 2012 by sultanofatl

[EAambassador]

Am I missing something? I though for sure that the doctors and our training staff have cleared Al to play. What true competitor will hold himself back after the doctors have cleared him to play not just in the regular season but for the playoffs? Al is not the tough guy we all thought. No way Josh or Joe sits out due to injury after they have been cleared to play.

[niremetal]

Josh would. Joe and Al seem like the type who would take a game off for a bad haircut.

[NineOhTheRino]

I don't buy it. How can you rule yourself out for a 7 game series? Your telling me if we have homecourt for game 7 and Zaza isn't back Horf wouldn't suit up and give it what he's got? Come on! If that is the case I do start to question his commitment. Hell Willis Reed came out on one leg. Man up!

Well I'll be...Either my sarcasm meter need calibration or you actually agree with me.

[HawkItus]

Atlanta Hawks

Updated: Horford out for first round of playoffs

12:29 pm April 25, 2012, by Chris Vivlamore

Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena. Here is my updated story on Al Horford after my conversation with him following this morning’s practice.

Reality hit Al Horford – and it hit hard.

The Hawks center said Wednesday he will not be available for the team’s first-round playoff series against the Celtics. He has not progressed enough following surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle.

“I realized that I’m not nearly where I need to be or want to be – not even to give the team anything,” Horford said. “That’s when we kind of decided that it was best for me to take some time off, keep working, see how I progress. But we are just not where we need to be yet.”

The Hawks could also be without center Zaza Pachulia when the playoffs begin. Pachulia will not play in Thursday’s regular-season finale against the Mavericks, the seventh straight game he will have missed with a sprained left foot. Coach Larry Drew said Paculia is scheduled to be re-examined this weekend – when the NBA playoffs are scheduled to begin.

“Don’t know,” Drew said when asked whether Pachulia would be ready for the postseason.

Horford competed in 4-on-4 full-court drills Monday and following the workout was encouraged with how he felt. He said he even made a few baskets. The feeling changed the following morning when Horford said he “felt like I went backward.”

“I knew from the very beginning that I wasn’t going to be able to get my strength until later this summer but I have very, very little strength in the post where I can’t hold my own ground,” Horford said. “The playoffs are intense. The intensity goes up. You can go in and play in a practice. You can even play in a regular-season game. But the playoffs are different. The way that I play, and to be most effective to the team, I’m not at that point.”

Horford did not dismiss the idea that he could be ready for the second round of the playoffs should the Hawks advance.

Knowing that his return would provide a boost, Horford tried to convince himself it was possible. He even discussed with coaches a change in his playing style – using picks to get jump shots. That’s not Horford’s game – and he knew it.

“I have to be in the paint,” Horford said. “I want to be a presence inside being able to get tough rebounds, defend. I feel like I’m a good post defender. If I come out, I would be limited to doing stuff that I can do but it’s not what I’m all about.”

Horford had surgery Jan. 17 after suffering the injury six days earlier against the Pacers. The original diagnosis called for him to miss three to four months. He has missed 54 of the team’s 65 games going into Thursday’s finale.

During rehab, Horford has been limited to lifting a light amount of weight, designed only to maintain the range of motion in his shoulder.

“It’s tough because I’m trying to look at it different ways and tell myself that yes I can play,” Horford said. “It’s hard when you are hit with reality like this. This is the first time that I’ve actually had an injury of this type and any type of surgery. I’m learning from this and hopefully this will make me a better player. I know I’m going to be much more motivated when I come back, I tell you that, whenever it is. I have to keep working and see what happens.”

[High5]

If Al really did say he was going to play tomorrow night, why would he then turn around and say he's out for an entire 7 game series? I don't think Horford is showing up with something new every day. It's just typical media games. We won't know what's true until it happens.