Al Horford Has Been Disappointing

[ATLnightwing]

It take's a lot of guts to make this thread, especially after the subject matter just hit a game-winner. In all fairness though, I have been planning to make this thread for a few weeks now, even strengthening parts of my argument while watching tonight's game.

I predicted this season Al would be averaging AT LEAST 20ppg and 10 rebounds. I understand his new frontcourt mate, Millsap, is an excellent scorer and rebounder, however, I expected him to have a mindset of stepping up his game significantly.

He has not been aggressive on the boards for the most part. A lot of times, I see Al defer to wing players to get an easy defensive rebound. I feel that as our primary big man, he should be striving to gobble up as many boards as he can to gain momentum.

He has not been consistent offensively. Some games, I see runs where every play, the first instinct is to feed Al down low. I love when we do that. Sometimes I see him begging for the ball down low (which is good) ,other times not at all. This dude sometimes stands in the corner 3 pointer spot during guard isolation plays. What is our center doing? I remember watching a game a few years ago (not sure which one, I just know Hewbie Brown was commentating), and I remember in this game play after play we would just give the ball down low to Horford and he would straight abuse the defender by overpowering him. Hewbie kept referring to it as "bully ball". Where is this bully this year?

His increase in turnovers and decrease in free throw percentage has also been standing out. I was really surprised to witness these, as typically these mistakes are uncharacteristic of him.

My primary disappointment with Al doesn't come from him though. I feel he does not get enough minuets as leader of the team. Often times, he gets subbed out while scoring well. He has had a relatively healthy career and is clearly a stable player. He needs an increase in minuets, no doubt. In my opinion, I feel Coach Bud in general subs out the starters a little too much for a weak bench (Antić, Ayón, Jenkins).

I predict he'll get better, but I'm not gonna lie, I thought he would be striving for that star status this year.

Edited November 30, 2013 by ATLnightwing

[NBASupes]

This is a bad night to make this thread my friend.

[ATLHawks3]

Something is distracting him, question is, what is it?

[Plainview1981]

Maybe you can make the argument that he is trying to pace himself since he now has more responsibilities than before, but I think that he is not happy with the team... I think perhaps he feels the same way that some of us in that the team right now looks to be headed nowhere. Maybe we get lucky (Yeah, when does that happen?} and the Hawks get a great draft pick from the Nets, but right now it looks like the Hawks are stuck in mediocrity and Horford probably feels that he hasn't got the help that he asked for. But that is how it works with today's players... Fans are expected to be loyal, but players want 20 million dollars a year and a championship supporting cast... And we the fans are supposed to be understanding about all of it.

[ATLnightwing]

Maybe you can make the argument that he is trying to pace himself since he now has more responsibilities than before, but I think that he is not happy with the team... I think perhaps he feels the same way that some of us in that the team right now looks to be headed nowhere. Maybe we get lucky (Yeah, when does that happen?} and the Hawks get a great draft pick from the Nets, but right now it looks like the Hawks are stuck in mediocrity and Horford probably feels that he hasn't got the help that he asked for. But that is how it works with today's players... Fans are expected to be loyal, but players want 20 million dollars a year and a championship supporting cast... And we the fans are supposed to be understanding about all of it.

That's a good point. A lot of people think Horf is the type of star that should be a secondary or even third best player on a contending team. Maybe this is what's bothering him? Maybe he's realizing he can't contend with this current Hawks team and teaming up with someone else on a different team might be his best option to get a ring?

[ATLnightwing]

So is it safe to say Horford can't even get on Toronto Chris Bosh or Kevin Love status? People view(ed) them as franchise players and labeled them as stars. Horford surely does not get the same treatment. People don't even know he's a 2 time All Star. I think people view him like an Al Jefferson or Rudy Gay. Just a good player.

[Sothron]

I blame the coaching staff and Teague frankly. Al is such a highly efficient player that he needs to be the primary scoring option every possession. You watch elite teams that make sure to feed their main scorers and then you have the Hawks which never do that.

[benhillboy]

I think Al could put up an Aldridge-like 20-10 on a losing team, but all Al knows is team success in the league, or at least playoff contention if you view that as success. He has no problem defferring to teammates if they're in position to make a possibly better play, and I can't knock that, but I feel what you're saying. There's that level it seems like he can reach but never quite does. He's still gonna have that month-long stretch like he did last year after the break where you wont find a better center. But I think he's all he's ever gonna be at this point: a great player. Better than very good, but not a star.

[Peoriabird]

Al struggles inside on offense. He can't use his left hand and quite frankly has to hold the ball with 2 hands when going to his right. He has limited agility which why he looks so awkward around the basket. Having said the above, Dude is a deadly jump shooter. Its strange to me that he isn't a better free throw shooter.

[Jody23]

Horford's a really good player, but he's not and never has been a number one guy. That's not his game. Not a knock on him at all, just the way it is.

[nathan2331]

Although I can see why Horford would be mad, I don't think he should really have a problem playing center. First of all, you can make a case for him being the second best center in the league right now. If he wants a center so badly HE should have gotten Dwight (the only center better than him in free agency) down here or at least make a call. Not mad, just saying. This is really where my problem lies with him. He doesn't act like a star or diva, which is nice, but that also means he doesn't command the respect of other players. It's a trade off, but we need someone on this team that will convince someone to come here and play. Hawks fans always say no free agents don't want to sign here but what are the players doing to change that.

[NBASupes]

Although I can see why Horford would be mad, I don't think he should really have a problem playing center. First of all, you can make a case for him being the second best center in the league right now. If he wants a center so badly HE should have gotten Dwight (the only center better than him in free agency) down here or at least make a call. Not mad, just saying. This is really where my problem lies with him. He doesn't act like a star or diva, which is nice, but that also means he doesn't command the respect of other players. It's a trade off, but we need someone on this team that will convince someone to come here and play. Hawks fans always say no free agents don't want to sign here but what are the players doing to change that.

He's not a center, to say he's the 2nd best center is crazy talk because anytime he goes v. a true center who is good, Al gets killed. He is a very good player but a center, he is not and it's more obvious now with Smoove gone not protecting the rim.

[nathan2331]

He's not a center, to say he's the 2nd best center is crazy talk because anytime he goes v. a true center who is good, Al gets killed. He is a very good player but a center, he is not and it's more obvious now with Smoove gone not protecting the rim.

He may not be a center, but he is averaging close to the same amount of points as last season (17.1 to 17.4) in 5 less minutes than last season while shooting 55% FG. He is also 3rd among centers in blocking I believe at 1.9 per game so he's got to be a shot blocker right? I'm kidding but in all seriousness he may not be a center but he does a heck of a job impersonating one. A bigger concern for me would be the SG/SF position. We're a top 10 defense right now (not that it means much) so why bring in a center like Asik who's a liability on the offensive end. If I were Ferry, I'd try to see what it would take to get Afflalo from the Magic. Even though he can't keep his hot shooting up the rest of the season, I think he would still play well here considering he won't be the first option.

[JETSET]

Are people really blaming Teague for Horford's shortcomings. Horford is to blame for his shortcomings. He has no more than two post moves and a high percentage of his made shots come from someone else creating a wide open shot for him. Anyone who watched the Heat game saw him get straight abused by Bosh. His shooting % is so high because he is usually taking a wide open shot or a shot right by the rim. He has never been asked to create your own shot which will lead you to taking tougher shots which will lower your FG%

[JETSET]

He may not be a center, but he is averaging close to the same amount of points as last season (17.1 to 17.4) in 5 less minutes than last season while shooting 55% FG. He is also 3rd among centers in blocking I believe at 1.9 per game so he's got to be a shot blocker right? I'm kidding but in all seriousness he may not be a center but he does a heck of a job impersonating one. A bigger concern for me would be the SG/SF position. We're a top 10 defense right now (not that it means much) so why bring in a center like Asik who's a liability on the offensive end. If I were Ferry, I'd try to see what it would take to get Afflalo from the Magic. Even though he can't keep his hot shooting up the rest of the season, I think he would still play well here considering he won't be the first option.

How do you get this?

[TheFuzz]

He's playing solid. He's a top 5 C and there are only 2 PFs I would straight up take for him age and contract considered in Davis and Love (possibly Bosh).

He has trouble creating his own offense though. I think we could feature him a little bit more and he'd still play top-notch though. Same amount of points in less minutes? Per 36 he's a solid 19/9/3/2/1 on good efficiency with good defense. Anything more than that really and you're getting into superstar territory. Newsflash: he's not a superstar.

[nathan2331]

How do you get this?

I apologize for that statement. I read an article somewhere saying that and repeated it myself without doing any research. After a little bit of research I found that the only thing we're ranked top ten is EFG%/TS% - not a top ten defense. Even with that revelation I still don't see why we should be in a hurry to get a center next to Al, at least this season.

[lethalweapon3]

I apologize for that statement. I read an article somewhere saying that and repeated it myself without doing any research. After a little bit of research I found that the only thing we're ranked top ten is EFG%/TS% - not a top ten defense. Even with that revelation I still don't see why we should be in a hurry to get a center next to Al, at least this season.

Opponent points per 100 possessions, before we got blitzed by the Rockets (and the Celtics in that 4th quarter), we slid up into 10th in the NBA. After last night's rally the Hawks, bounced back up to 11th.

http://stats.nba.com/leagueTeamGeneral.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=30&MeasureType=Opponent&PerMode=Per100Possessions&sortField=OPP_PTS&sortOrder=ASC

Those Bobcats in 4th place have me looking side-eyed though! :-)

~lw3

[nathan2331]

 Opponent points per 100 possessions, before we got blitzed by the Rockets (and the Celtics in that 4th quarter), we slid up into 10th in the NBA. After last night's rally the Hawks, bounced back up to 11th. http://stats.nba.com/leagueTeamGeneral.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=30&MeasureType=Opponent&PerMode=Per100Possessions&sortField=OPP_PTS&sortOrder=ASC Those Bobcats in 4th place have me looking side-eyed though! :-) ~lw3

Thanks for that clarification. But the question still remains: if we make a trade, should it be for a center or SG/SF?

[willthepureshooter]

Are people really blaming Teague for Horford's shortcomings. Horford is to blame for his shortcomings. He has no more than two post moves and a high percentage of his made shots come from someone else creating a wide open shot for him. Anyone who watched the Heat game saw him get straight abused by Bosh. His shooting % is so high because he is usually taking a wide open shot or a shot right by the rim. He has never been asked to create your own shot which will lead you to taking tougher shots which will lower your FG%

THIS! AL has to really bogged down and get serious about developing a post game to himself. If it wasn't for the pick and roll, AL would have a hard time getting his shot off. The kid has to work and what to be great. You can't just show up with a NCAA Championship and think you'll automatically gain respect.