Al Horford battles bigs for the Hawks

[Admin]

Second-year center proves he can bang with NBA’s bigger bodies

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Phoenix — Couldn’t Al Horford have picked an easier way to make a living this week?

The Hawks’ second-year center faced Orlando All-Star center Dwight Howard Monday, trades elbows with Phoenix superstar Shaquille O’Neal here Wednesday and will wrestle with Portland rookie behemoth Greg Oden Friday in Kansas City.

That’s three of the NBA’s most jaw-dropping physical specimens in the first week of the preseason for Horford, who could literally hide in the shadow of each man.

Horford, however, doesn’t mind the hard work one bit. In fact, he’s looking forward to the rigors of his job.

“He certainly can’t run from it,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “It is what it is. And that’s the amazing thing with Al, he played them last year, he played all the bigs in our league and held his own. So he’s not going to run from it. He’ll do his thing.”

Horford slugged it out with Howard Monday in Orlando and more than held his own as the Hawks pulled out a 118-101 win in the preseason opener for both teams.

Horford showed off an improved offensive game, complete with a face-up component he rarely utilized as a rookie. And he battled on defense after being manhandled a bit early on by Howard.

“To me, that’s what’s so special about his game,” Hawks captain Joe Johnson said. “When one approach isn’t working Al knows how to turn the page and go to something else that will. That’s why he was a rookie for about the first 30 minutes of training camp last year. After that, he seemed like a 10-year vet, because he’s so smart about his business.”

The business this week wasn’t even on Horford’s radar until someone brought it up after the Hawks’ practice Wednesday morning at US Airways center.

“That is a tough road,” Horford said. “Dwight and Shaq are probably, along with Yao Ming, the most dominant centers in the league. And then you toss in a guy like Oden, everybody knows he’s so athletic. We’ll have to do a good job keeping him off the boards.

“It’s a huge challenge for a frontcourt to handle. So it’s important for us to handle them as a unit, Josh Smith and Zaza [Pachulia], Solo[mon Jones] and Randolph Morris, too. I can’t do it by myself.”

Woodson has no problem with Horford being the point man in that unit, especially after watching his rapid ascent into the NBA’s upper echelon of young big men.

While guys like Oden and Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum have shown flashes of what they might become, Horford is already a steady double-double performer.

“It’s just amazing,” Woodson said. “You just know what you’re going to get with him. You coach him like a veteran because he picks up things so quickly. When he makes a mistake, he doesn’t correct it two days later or two games later, he corrects it right there. That’s pretty special when you look at a young player.”

Horford takes pride in being a quick study. He also loves the relationship he and Woodson have developed.

“It’s good to have a coach that’s understand and knows that he can talk to me,” Horford said. “I feel like I get it. And you’re able to talk to me like a regular person, I can understand where you’re coming from and what you want from me because we all want the same things. We all want what’s best for this team. And that’s why I think we have such a good understanding and we don’t have any problems.”

Horford’s mind is more at ease this season with the additional help, particularly from both Jones and Morris.

“I feel like both Solo and Zaza have really improved their games,” Horford said, “especially Solo. Then you have Randolph and they can all come in and give us solid minutes. I don’t have to worry about having to carry so much on my own.”

If needed, though, Horford has proved to be more than capable.

“There’s no doubt he’s the real deal,” Smith said. “I think everybody around the league knows that Al is just as dangerous as these great big men he’s facing every night.”

[DrReality]

Very mature. He's got allstar written all over him.

[TheDude]

i love the "especially solo" quote.