Official Game Thread: 76ers at Hawks

[lethalweapon3]

“I plan on being here for life, too, if y’all will have me!”

 

WELCOME BACK TO THE ATL, AL HORFORD! ALL IS FORGIVEN!

Oh, I really shouldn’t be speaking on behalf of everybody in Hawks Nation. Just lil’ ol’ me, a childhood Sixers diehard, turned crotchety Hawks dieharder.

Fans of the Atlanta Hawks, and of the visiting Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Philly) don’t usually see eye-to-eye. But one thing is always sure to clench our arms and unite our spirits, and that is any occasion we get to stick it to the Boston Celtics.

Especially Danny Ainge. And especially one other guy.

“WHAT A GREAT PLAY BY MARCUS!” There goes Tommy Heinsohn, ruining yet another play call. A Celtic scrambled toward the sideline on Friday night after a halfcourt steal, saved the ball, and flung it behind his back to set up a nifty driving layup by Jayson Tatum against the Raptors. It was, indeed, a fantastic play. If only the aging wonder of a colorless commentator, Heinsohn, could discern between guard Marcus Smart, who was not on the floor, and center Robert Williams, the one who made the play, the one who subbed in for Smart barely a minute earlier.

It’s the kind of astute insight we will come to expect around here, from Dominique Wilkins, in 2045. Tommy wasn’t always off his game, back in those days when the game lacked a three-point line. The grainy instructional videos from the Sixties and Seventies show us this ten-time NBA champion, as a player and a coach, was a guy who was once sharp as a tack. Nowadays, he’s just crazy like a fox.

“As much as you think he’s a great player, he’s not a great player!” That was Bitter-Beer-Face Tommy’s assessment of a four-time All-Star, the Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford, in April 2016. Too busy to notice, Al was having a grand time making mincemeat out of Heinsohn’s main men – checks notes – Jared Sullinger and Amir Johnson, as Atlanta cruised to a satisfying six-game series win over Evan Turner and the C’s.

Like Ainge, Isaiah Thomas knew Al was a “great player.” Great enough, anyway, that he volunteered his services as the All-Star consigliere for Danny to pry Horford away from the Hawks’ sketchy management crew.  I.T. AND Horford together in Boston? Whatcha gunna do NOW, King LeBron?

On the upside for Boston, Al held up his end of the deal, a four-year contract worth $113 million that featured a final-year $30 million opt-in. He was able to steal four more conference-final games against LeBron’s Cavs than he could as a Hawk, although sadly not all in the same series. He was top-ten in 3FG% and All-Defensive 2^nd Team in 2017-18, the season that Boston (64.4 winning% with Al in regular-season; 59.5% in the playoffs before Milwaukee ran the table) fell one win short of a trip to The Finals.

But to the Celtics, fans were sold on Horford, upon arrival being not just a rental but a lifer, akin to Robert Parish, who gave Boston all of his 30s before graying out and moving on. El Jefe was supposed to be The New Chief, his Gator-armed defensive rebounding, free throw carom flinching, jab-stepping eccentricities easy to disregard. Horford was the great-enough player that, along with a trove of lottery draftees Ainge stole over the years, would be used to woo greater players to Beantown, helping the franchise elevate their championship tally into the twenties. When fans and media start calling you, “The Godfather,” kissing a ring you don’t yet have, you’re not supposed to skip town on them. Once you’re in, You’re In.

Changing Al’s perception as more than some mid, mired in mediocrity in a mid-tier NBA market, was of high importance to the Horford clan, as was relocating to a familiar town, the place where Al and his wife met. The Celtics did all they could to upgrade the team, including making Thomas scream, “et tu, Brute?” as he soon found himself getting belittled in Cleveland so Kyrie Irving could take his place. But things didn’t quite go as originally advertised by Ainge and the Celtics brass, to Horford or anyone else.

Free agent stars weren’t arriving in great supply, unless you count Gerald Green, Shane Larkin and/or Aron Baynes while high on PCP. Boston’s greatest masterstroke of a free agent gamble, snaring Gordon Hayward from Utah, crumpled five minutes into the 2017-18 season. The rest of the roster additions, like Kyrie and Marcus Morris, came via trade or mid-season free agent pickups, and either got wishy-washy about sticking around or weren’t asked back.

The prospect of having to go from I.T. to Kyrie to, maybe, Kemba as his setup man in the space of four seasons wasn’t helping matters, either. But there was one thing that Al valued, above all else, that Ainge could not deliver on, and just about anyone in Atlanta could have warned Danny about it.

I don’t know which of you Squawkers used to go by the handle, “Aliznotacenter,” or something like that. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you peeled back the mask and revealed Alfredo himself, or at least Tito, or Br’er Jon, or Sister Anna.

All Horford needed to stick with the Green Goblins was, simply, a pivot he could play with that was at least a clear step up from prime Zaza Pachulia, allowing him to ply his wares more fully as a power forward. Wrestling for 50/50 balls with the Zydrunas Ilgauskases and Roy Hibberts of the world was cute in his twenties, but those pecs aren’t getting any younger. The Baynes Train was about the best they could do, and even that guy was heading out the station.

Instead of just opting in and dragging out the inevitable letdown next summer, Horford spotted an opportunity and pounced on it. It just so happens that the opportunity availed itself with Boston’s most despised historic intra-division rival (sorry, Knicks). Boston opened their 2019-20 campaign watching their former bedrock ringing the Liberty Bell Thingy at Wells Fargo Center, his new team pulverizing the Celtics into 36.7 FG% shooting in a 107-93 Sixer victory. You (Might) Hate to See It.

Now, Al has his former Hawks backup center, Elton Brand, pulling the player-personnel strings instead of upriver-seller Ainge.

Now, Horford gets to dance with Joel Embiid, when the All-Star center is healthy (probable for tonight, ankle sprain and lacerated lip), rather than going toe-to-toe with him several times a year. He gets Ben Simmons to play the 1-spot, and Al doesn’t have to park himself on the low block as his point guard tricky-dribbles the ball to death.

Further, Horford gets the bane of Banks County Sheriff’s Office, Mike Scott, backing him up, instead of the frontcourt duo trying to man somebody’s defensive fort. With J.J. Redick gone, one can argue that Philadelphia’s biggest threat to bury threes comes from the forward positions. If Scott (5-for-9 3FGs this season) isn’t giddying-up from downtown, or if he’s too busy giving Eagles fans the smoke, then there’s Tobias Harris (6-for-11 3FGs) and Horford (3-for-13 3FGs so far in 2 games). Their teammates have combined to shoot 6-for-20 in the early going and, of course, that doesn’t include Simmons.

Philly (2-0, like the Hawks) has the inside track to stick it not only to Heinsohn and Ainge in Boston in the Eastern Conference, but to Al’s former coach, Mike Budenholzer, another Hawks ship-jumper, who gets the Greek Freak to do much of the dirty work in Milwaukee these days. While Horford would have been expected to face-up with Giannis for a majority of minutes in Boston, he’ll have more length and defensive help in Philly to alleviate the pressure.

I can be mad at Al for the wacky Summer of ’16. But I can’t stay mad. Al was one of many players and staff who found themselves, at different times, constrained under the Punch-and-Judy, “Don’t Shake His Hand, Billy!”, ownership regime of the so-called Atlanta so-called Spirit so-called Group. As a Hawks fan, I do find some measure of glee watching unsatisfied ex-Hawks chasing their destinies elsewhere, be it in Greece or Detroit or Boston, whether they’re wildly successful or disastrously not. Particularly after enduring the ASG years, it was understandably worth a shot.

I spent most the past week glued to my free trial of NBA League Pass, fixated upon Baze and Taurean, Marvin and Jeff, Timmy and Dennis, Al and Mike, all trying their darnedest to make things pan out better elsewhere. Invariably, there’s play-by-play and color commentary along the lines of, “Player X has been really helpful to Team Y, after Z years playing in Atlanta,” maybe nobody more frequently than Al. If League Pass had a “follow your favorite team’s former players and coaches, exclusively, for $19.99 a year!” option, they’d have a born sucker right here.

Thankfully, I’ll get to just buy a ticket to watch Horford, Scott, and the Sixers try keeping up with the NBA’s hottest scorer tonight at State Farm Arena. Trae Young (38.5 PPG, 9.0 APG, 55.0 3FG%, 1.5 SPG, 7.0 RPG, Who Cares TOs/game) has been “great enough” to make Al and other ex-Hawks wish they had stuck around town just a bit longer.

This season's first Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Young has propelled Atlanta, so far, to the league’s second-best shooting percentages (57.1 eFG%, 59.2 TS%). As the Hawks plan on ramping up the tempo following grind-fests with Detroit and Orlando, it’s safe to note the Sixers (NBA-low 22.5 opponent 3FGAs/game) haven’t faced an offensive dynamo quite as relentless as Young yet. They can ask the #1-overall pick they discarded last year, Orlando’s Markelle Fultz, if they have any uncertainty about that.

Trae’s longer-limbed wing teammates have helped stifle perimeter shooters (NBA-best 22.1 opponent 3FG%). If that theme continues versus Philly, then Embiid, Simmons, Horford and the Sixers will have to pile up points in the paint (Atlanta’s 60.0 Paint Points per-48 currently leads the NBA, ahead of Philly 54.0), and from the charity stripe (as the Magic tried, in vain, to do) to at least keep up with Atlanta (3-1 last season vs. PHI) for 48 or more minutes.

John Collins (4 blocks and 10 D-Rebs vs. ORL, in Saturday’s thrilling 103-99 win; only one game with 3+ blocks and 10+ total boards last season) and the Hawks’ bigs will do all they can to slow the Sixers’ rolls to the hoop, but Collins will need more interior help than he has received thus far (ATL NBA-high 16.5 opponent 2^nd-chance points per-48) from Alex Len, Damian Jones and Bruno Fernando.

If Young, who has been more active as a roving defender, can switch off effectively onto Josh Richardson or defensive rookie hound Matisse Thybulle, rookie wings Cam Reddish and DeAndre’ Hunter can help make it a tough night for Simmons. Back on offense, Jabari Parker (14.0 PPG) and the awakening Kevin Huerter may be fun to watch against Scott and the otherwise talent-thin Sixers’ second-line.

Even though it’s with another Eastern Conference competitor, I do wish Al Horford second-best in his quest to one day reach the NBA Finals, and to be able to do something of substance once he gets there. He’s made the playoffs in every NBA season he could finish healthy, and was instrumental in the Hawks ending its eight-season playoff drought and extending runs into the playoffs for nine consecutive years.

Having ushered in Rebuild ver. 7.0 for Ainge and the Celtics should cement his personal banner-raising legacy in Atlanta when the 2030s get here. I wish him good health and fair fortune for him and the Horford clan in the years to come.

Except for Tito. That guy can stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

Awesome!!!

[NBASupes]

Your best one yet. 5-star thread! 

[Gray Mule]

Horford's payroll numbers for this season - - $28 million.

Hawks three centers combined payroll -------$8.2 million.

As we watch tonight, remember that their big boy is making over 3 times as much as all three of our centers combined!  Just something to think about when Horford takes the floor.

At least, with our three, Hawks have 18 fouls before we run out of centers and end up with JC having to move over to center!!

GO ATL HAWKS !

[marco102]

Bruno is probable tonight. I can't link tweets.  Twitter is blocked on my work computer :(.

[Thomas]

In reference to Al and his scripted rhetoric. "Same old song and dance my friend."

[hazer]

Bruno needs 20mins/nt! Working hard, learning fast, like his rep that proceeds him. He’s the strenth/lenth we need at C, and the dawg/fire too  

[Dnice]

Please play...

 

[High5]

I'm tired as hell right now, but I know I'm going to be too excited to sleep if we manage to win this one. Especially if Embiid plays.

[JayBirdHawk]

2 hours ago, marco102 said:

Bruno is probable tonight. I can't link tweets.  Twitter is blocked on my work computer :(.

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

Lol Bruno!

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

 

[Marvin24Williams]

Good measuring stick game. Let's get the dub boys

Edited October 28, 2019 by Marvin24Williams

[hazer]

Man they were riding Trae and the Hawks’ jock on NBA-TV. Nice sea change

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Trae will need help tonight.

Good start from Collins and Reddish.

[terrell]

Len shot is broken..

[GameTime]

Hunter played great D on Joel

[hawkman]

I'm liking the Rookies so far.

Ok, I'm a believer. We got ourselves a team.