| Horford, Smith Begin To Create Scary Frontcourt Authored by Brian Reynolds - October 29, 2009 - 3:30 pm
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Horford, the third year center out of Florida, was absolutely stellar on both ends of the floor. He put in 24 points on 11 for 17 shooting from the field. He also pulled down 16 rebounds, a nice feat considering the guy that was guarding him – Roy Hibbert – is 4 inches taller than Al. Oh yeah, Big Al also tallied four assists and two blocked shots while only committing one turnover.
“He had a monster game,” said Mike Woodson. “He scored the ball, he rebounded the ball. He protected the paint when guys got beat. He was huge tonight.”
I was able to catch up with Horford in the Hawks locker room after Atlanta’s 120-109 victory and asked him what he thought was the most improved part of his game from a season ago.
“My mid-range shooting,” Horford said without a second-thought. “I worked on it all summer with Mark Price (Atlanta’s shooting coach). I really got after it and I feel very confident right now. When you have a guy like Mike Bibby that’s finding you and making the game easier for you, it makes a big difference to be able to knock down the mid-range shot with consistency.”
Before the game I sat courtside and watched Horford and Zaza Pachulia warm-up. After some drills that consisted of catching the ball at the top of the key and making a move to the basket for a lay-up, Horford and Pachulia put in lots of time shooting the mid-range jumper. Granted, there were no defenders, but it was obvious that the two had been working on this part of their game throughout the offseason. Horford and Pachulia might have missed a combined three of 50 shots before I walked away.
Another Hawk who was just as impressive was Josh Smith. Smith scored 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field. He also had eight dimes, five steals, and one block with just one turnover.
“Josh and I, it’s our third year playing together,” said Horford. “We know where each other is at all times on the court. He makes the game easier for me and I try to make the game easier for him.”
Atlanta is actually returning all five starters from a team that reached the second round of the postseason last year. The chemistry is already there and with added depth on the bench – guys like Jamal Crawford, Joe Smith, and Jeff Teague – there is little reason not to believe that Coach Woodson and his staff can’t improve on their 47 win total from a year ago.
“If he and Al play like that the rest of the year, man, they are really going to put us in good position to win basketball games, said Woodson.”
If he and Al play like that the rest of the year, you might see more than Joe Johnson in a Hawks uniform at the 2010 All-Star game in Dallas.
--Brian Reynolds is a contributing writer for RealGM and a recent graduate of Emory University. He can be reached at Brian.Matthew.Reynolds@gmail.com |
