Malinhion wrote:NO-KG-AI wrote:I'm not seeing this big time potential in Horford that everyone else is, he has no outstanding offensive or physical skills, he's not intimidating defensively, and he's only a solid rebounder. I think he's the only one other than Curry that was below a block per game.
Huh?
He had a longer standing reach than fellow Gator 7-footer Joakim Noah, his lane agility drill and 3/4-court sprint were both faster than Kevin Durant's, and he also beat both top picks in max vert and bench press. Throw in a back-to-back championship pedigree and the rookie campaign you just witnessed. He provided solid post play at both ends and was the piece that pushed the Hawks into the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. What's not to like about Horford?
Do you seriously think he's peaked? Even with a marginal improvement on his rookie campaign, we're looking at a player producing as well as Bogut, Kaman, Bynum, Chandler, Biedrins, Sheed, etc. That's a solid tier-2 center in a league with a very meager pinnacle.
Noah's standing reach was unimpressive though.
I don't think he's peaked, but I can't rank him above Aldridge, West, Okafor etc, and I do think he's ultimately a PF.
He's very solid, that's really about all though to me, he's unspectacular offensively, solid on man D, a strong rebounder(lovin that for sure), and a proficient passer.
I like Horford, I just don't see him as a star, but I can definitely see him surpassing people like Chandler, Beans, and Sheed, I think he will have enough of a repertoire offensively to score 17ish and make himself much more dangerous than Chandler and Biedrins.
Maybe it's defensively that's not doing it for me, very solid on man D, but not much of a game changer on help D at all.
I dunno, I think West has about peaked, I think Aldridge will be better than West when he peaks, and Okafor is a stronger rebounder, and much more dominating presence defensively right from the start, and I think he will definitely see a jump in offense this next year.
I like Horford though, solid solid player, should border on all-star status, and his teams will probably be successful.
Edit: as for the athleticism tests, Kevin Durant stunk at the camp, and Oden didn't lift because of his wrist, but he handled Horford downlow in the championship game(which isn't an indictment on Horford, I thought it was incredible that he did, because Horford is a strong, stout mofo).
Note to Wolve's fans, Kevin Love's numbers were pretty similar to Horford's, which looks really good, definitely dispels that unathletic white guy myth.
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