Am I looking too much into this or does seem like big AL had an issue with the off-season(Josh) move?

[willthepureshooter]

As I read this mornings interview between C-Viv and Al Horford, I noticed a couple bullet points that peaked my interest.

"It’s going to be different. Josh is a great player. We had some good chemistry. It’s going to challenge, not only me but some of the other players to step up in different roles and do different things. It was unfortunate to see Josh go but I understand.... "

"More than anything, I have to trust in (General manager) Danny (Ferry) and his vision and where he is going. Even though at times, as people and as players, we can get caught up looking at what is in front of us and he might be looking two or three steps ahead. I might be upset with him like ‘Why did this happen? Why did this move happen?’ At the end of the day I do trust in his vision with this team and what he wants to accomplish. As a player I have to sit back and do my job...."

“I was on edge of course. I’m not going to lie to you. I questioned certain things, like ‘What is going on here?’ I was like ‘We need to get Kyle back. We need to get Jeff back. What’s going on?’ I was definitely on edge about all the things. Once I realized how everything was going, I was like ‘They have a vision. They know that they are doing. I have to trust them.’ I have to make sure that I get better and just get ready...."

Decent interview, but C-viv is killing me with the hack-job typing. I noticed all of his grammatical issues started after Ivan Johnson departed (looks over shoulder).. But nonetheless, Horford kept it genuine and actually showed us how important Josh was to him and the team. Those guys were an exciting duo. I'm pretty sure Horford is a nervous wreck right now. It will be a hard task to carry the weight of an entire franchise on your back. Somewhere in a candy painted Boeing 747 Joe is laughing his heart out. I still don't understand the whole Ivan Johnson debacle. And if Mike Scott doesn't make the team, I might lose it..

Question.. Do you guys think Horford will flourish or decline in Smooves absence??

Edited September 25, 2013 by willthepureshooter

[Admin]

Hard to say if it was the Smoove decision he was questioning or not. It could have been when we looked like we were getting rid of Teague in favor of Ellis or Jennings. Could have been letting Zaza go. I think his nice words about Josh were more about being PC and not talking about the negatives Josh brought to the team and how those are going to get better. I think he's going to miss a lot of the easy buckets Smoove created for him but overall I think Al will be better as we have a nice cadre if big men now and a system that should benefit his style of play.

[Gray Mule]

We're going to fall on our face and lose most games - - Not!

Sure, we're going to miss Josh. Horford is going to miss Josh. These two

had been together for all of Horford's NBA life.

Hawks have some very good new players. How long it takes for them to

change from good individual players to a real team remains to be seen.

Bud has been a coach for many years in the NBA but this is his first time

to be the head honcho and not just one of the coaches.. This Hawk team

will be a challenge for him, which we believe he is looking forward to

just as much as we who are fans can hardly wait for the season to begin.

Things are changing. Life goes on. Personally, I believe we will be a better

team than we were last season if, and that's always the case, if we can

stay healthy. Injuries can ruin an otherwise sunny outlook.

GO DREAM!

[Wretch]

"It was unfortunate to see Josh go but I understand.... "

That's the most important thing he said. Horford chooses his words well and he's a class act. He's spoken on record about Smoove's shot selection and he understands. I think his most pressing concern was building the team as a whole.

Josh Smith should not be anyone's offensive focal point. You shouldn't go to him, you shouldn't put the ball in his hands, you shouldn't lean on him. AT BEST he is a 3rd, complimentary option. We were allowing him to be our alpha... That right there changed the dynamic of this team in so many ways, it's not even worth discussing.

With Josh Smith out of the way, you now allow others to fully step up. You HAVE to go to Teague and Horford. The question is, can these guys step up? I think a lot of it will depend on how consistent Horford can be with more touches. Will he get more touches? Those are the real questions.Personally, I don't think a team can live on jumpshots. I'm not too keen on jump shooting big men, but if you got it like that (Dirk, Garnett), then you have to lean on it. It can work, you just need the right compliment. Teague (penetrating and being aggressive) is the right compliment. Milsap doing dirty work is the right compliment. A better compliment would have been a 7 foot banger...but let's not digress.

I would put money on Horford, and our offense in general, looking MUCH better in the absence of Josh.

[Randy]

Hard to say if it was the Smoove decision he was questioning or not. It could have been when we looked like we were getting rid of Teague in favor of Ellis or Jennings. Could have been letting Zaza go. I think his nice words about Josh were more about being PC and not talking about the negatives Josh brought to the team and how those are going to get better.I think he's going to miss a lot of the easy buckets Smoove created for him but overall I think Al will be better as we have a nice cadre if big men now and a system that should benefit his style of play.

I think this is spot on. I'm thinking that Al realized with all the roster moves off season he is staying at center, and with ZaZa not coming back, he really doesn't even have much backup anymore. Plus, he was probably the main recipient of Josh's good passes so that's probably another issue for him. In the end, I think Al works hard to say the right things in the right way, whether he really feels that way or not.

[thecampster]

I think this is spot on. I'm thinking that Al realized with all the roster moves off season he is staying at center, and with ZaZa not coming back, he really doesn't even have much backup anymore. Plus, he was probably the main recipient of Josh's good passes so that's probably another issue for him. In the end, I think Al works hard to say the right things in the right way, whether he really feels that way or not.

Defensively, Josh made Al's life at center much easier. But I don't think the article is specifically Josh centric. Maybe only one or 2 thoughts. Al is/was a big fan of Teague, Harris and work ethic. Say what you want about Josh but his offseason work ethic was extremely good and he had a positive effect on Teague in this manner (word is the three of them were very close in the locker room).

[hawkman]

Horf is no fool. For all the talk about Smoove being 'selfish', he sure dished a lot of passes to Horf for easy baskets.

[AHF]

Josh was an excellent passer. That isn't mutually exclusive with having terrible, terrible shot selection. Josh's problem wasn't that he was a black hole - it was that he tooks lots and lots of really bad shots that resulted in him playing to his weaknesses on offense much of the time. As an interior passer, he and Horford made a great pair.

[yungsta]

Josh was an excellent passer. That isn't mutually exclusive with having terrible, terrible shot selection. Josh's problem wasn't that he was a black hole - it was that he tooks lots and lots of really bad shots that resulted in him playing to his weaknesses on offense much of the time. As an interior passer, he and Horford made a great pair.

Good passing skill but his decision making is so bad that it almost negates it. He always goes for the touchdown plays instead of making the smart simple play which results in many unforced turnovers

[Guest]

I will never forget those two passes off the back board in the SAME game....hahaha. Never thought it was possible but being Josh Smith, only he can pull of such a feat.

Can someone find them and post the videos?

[Admin]

I will never forget those two passes off the back board in the SAME game....hahaha. Never thought it was possible but being Josh Smith, only he can pull of such a feat.

Can someone find them and post the videos?

It was posted on here before but not seeing it on YouTube after a quick search.

[Guest]

The chat room almost broke when he did that. Rofl

[macdaddy]

I already forgot them or never saw them. You sure they weren't missed shots?

[APE]

It was posted on here before but not seeing it on YouTube after a quick search.

Man, I miss THIS hustle!

[macdaddy]

OOOOO. I remember that. I thought you meant he actually made good passes off the backboard. Yeah that was horrible. I love the title of the video.

[Guest]

Thanks for posting,,,,,always good for a laugh!

Even MJ loves to laugh at it.

Edited September 27, 2013 by JayBirdHawk