Hawks 4th in the league in fast break pts

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The Cavs announcers mentioned it last night. When you consider that the Hawks don't have much help on the break from their pgs and they have frequently slowed it down in the second halves that ranking is fairly surprising.

Last night's comeback started when Horford went to the bench and they put Smith at center against Big Z. Why did this work? Because Smith used his quickness to his advantage and took Big Z off the dribble. When you do that you can not only score but you can also get him in foul trouble.

When Smith moved to the center spot it took Brown less than 3 minutes to pull Big Z (who had 17/11 with 4 blocks at that point) out of the game.

So why can't Horford take guys like Big Z off the dribble? If he is capable of getting a rebound and starting the fast break why can't he take one or two dribbles against a big, slow center like Big Z?

[Lascar78]

Smith looked great in the 4th last night. He was working to his strengths: minimize the dribbling and use the quickness/strength. He was taking 1 or dribbles at most and attacking the rim. His footwork looked good.

Horford will never be able to do this as well because he is just not as quick with his feet as Josh is. Of course he still should be able to against the slower ones like Big Z, but maybe not against most C's.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Here we go again.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

But to answer your question, maybe he isn't doing it for the same reason Acie doesn't look to be aggressive on offense himself . . . They're ROOKIES.

And rookies tend not to do obvious things at times, for fear of messing up. Smith only learned to do that just last year. If Horford was the best or 2nd best player on the team, he might be more inclined to take more chances and do more things.

It's interesting to see how highly critical you are of Al, and not of Acie. Acie was the guy that I thought would have very little problem making the transition to the league.

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Horford will never be able to do this as well because he is just not as quick with his feet as Josh is.

Smith doesnt' have a quick first step. That is why he can't play the 3.

We've all seen Horford grab a defensive rebound and start the fast break and he clearly doesn't look slow when he does it. So why can't he drive against guys like Bogut, Big Z, Gasol, etc? Those guys are sure to use their size advantage on horford so why won't he use his speed advantage against them?

At the very least he could get them in foul trouble. As it stands now anyone guarding Horford doesn't have to worry about picking up fouls. They basically have the night off defensively.

[Lascar78]

I think Smith's first 2/3 steps are considerably faster than Horford's. Yeah he isn't slow for a 3 but he's quick for a 4. Horford is normal for a 4, quick for a 5.

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But to answer your question, maybe he isn't doing it for the same reason Acie doesn't look to be aggressive on offense himself . . . They're ROOKIES.

And rookies tend not to do obvious things at times, for fear of messing up.

That makes no sense. Horford doesn't get pulled for his mistakes. Back in november he was turning it over left and right but didn't get pulled from the game.

And Horford is aggressive on offense when he is posting up. Problem is that he is posting up against bigger players.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON for Horford not to at least try to take bigger players off the dribble ONCE.

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It's interesting to see how highly critical you are of Al, and not of Acie.

Give Acie 30 minutes a game for 3 months and i will be critical of any glaring weaknesses he has just like i am critical of everyone elses play. The fact is that Horford has played over twice as many minutes as Acie and that disparity is growing.

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I think Smith's first 2/3 steps are considerably faster than Horford's. Yeah he isn't slow for a 3 but he's quick for a 4. Horford is normal for a 4, quick for a 5.

That is just wrong. Horford is plenty quick he just doesn't use his quickness.

for comparison purposes here are some sprint times from the combine:

Horford 3.37

Jeff Green 3.34

Crit 3.32

Gay 3.32

Shelden 3.59

Horford isn't slow at all. He is certainly quicker than any center he faces not named Amare.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

In college, Horford's offensive game was the 12 - 18 foot face-up jumper, and the baby hook in the post. He also has a quick spin move when he gets the ball in the post. That's his comfort zone on offense.

Taking people off the dribble while facing them up, wasn't part of his game. And even though he may not get pulled for his mistakes, he's still a rookie, and rookies tend to play not to mess up. Especially when surrounded by better and veteran plyers.

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In college, Horford's offensive game was the 12 - 18 foot face-up jumper, and the baby hook in the post. He also has a quick spin move when he gets the ball in the post. That's his comfort zone on offense.

Taking people off the dribble while facing them up, wasn't part of his game. And even though he may not get pulled for his mistakes, he's still a rookie, and rookies tend to play not to mess up. Especially when surrounded by better and veteran plyers.

The reality is that Horford won't be anything but an offensive liability until he starts taking guys to the basket. his post up game isn't going to work against bigger players, simple as that.

And it isn't like i have been saying Horford should be traded (like you did with Smith) or that his minutes should be cut. I am saying he won't be effective playing the way he is now.

I was saying the exact same thing about Smith back in november but apparently that is ok since Smith isn't a sacred cow like Horford. I criticized Smith constantly for taking 3s instead of taking it to the rim. I didn't say he should get traded or have his minutes cut.

If i really don't like a player i will say i want him gone (Childress, Blo, Lue, Shelden). Go find a quote where i said Horford should be traded.

[NJHAWK]

Its very tough coming into this league being a big man or a point guard. Which makes what Horford is doing even more incredible. Acie is still adjusting and we are all praying he gets it soon. Im still puzzled why Woody has completely given up on Shelden. I would put some serious money on the fact that Woody was in BK's ear telling him he wanted Shelden drafted because of how bad we needed a rebounding and defending big man. Im sure Woody was crying hard for Shel and now he wont even play him over ZaZa who hasnt given us anything but horrible defense and sloppy play on offense. I think if Shel could just get a lttle confidence he could give us alot more than ZaZa.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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Its very tough coming into this league being a big man or a point guard. Which makes what Horford is doing even more incredible.

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I agree.

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Acie is still adjusting and we are all praying he gets it soon. Im still puzzled why Woody has completely given up on Shelden. I would put some serious money on the fact that Woody was in BK's ear telling him he wanted Shelden drafted because of how bad we needed a rebounding and defending big man. Im sure Woody was crying hard for Shel and now he wont even play him over ZaZa who hasnt given us anything but horrible defense and sloppy play on offense. I think if Shel could just get a lttle confidence he could give us alot more than ZaZa.

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Woody was very willing to play Shelden decent minutes at the beginning of the year. But he's too inconsistent to be trusted. I think the only reason Zaza plays over him, is because he's a bigger body and can be used at center. It's a shame that Chill has more "scrap mentality" in him, than Shelden.

I blame the lack of PT he receives on Shelden and his play on the court.

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Its very tough coming into this league being a big man or a point guard. Which makes what Horford is doing even more incredible.

Just because he is rebounding well doesn't mean he can't score also. Whoever is guarding him basically has the night off right now.

Look at all of the rookies that are playing regularly right now and the majority of them are scoring at a higher rate than Horford.

click

I am not asking him to jump through hoops. All i am saying is that he should drive against slower players which he never does.

Acie might play tentative but at least he drives, even though he doesn't finish often enough. He might be tentative taking his J but at least he takes them.

Horford isn't even trying to take it to the basket and that is just lame.