Al Horford Compared To Other Centers/PF

killbuckner · Post #61 » by **killbuckner** » Thu May 15, 2008 10:41 pm

I don't see him ever developing into an offensive force at center. I think that you can tell when a player is on the outside and has a mismatch what their instinct is to do with the ball- and Horford's instinct is to pass. And there is nothing wrong with that- Horford can have a great career without ever trying to take someone off the dribble in that situation. I just don't see his future being at center- I think his offense would be more effective at PF where he could overpower people more.

conleyorbust · Post #62 » by **conleyorbust** » Fri May 16, 2008 3:10 pm

killbuckner wrote:I don't see him ever developing into an offensive force at center. I think that you can tell when a player is on the outside and has a mismatch what their instinct is to do with the ball- and Horford's instinct is to pass. And there is nothing wrong with that- Horford can have a great career without ever trying to take someone off the dribble in that situation. I just don't see his future being at center- I think his offense would be more effective at PF where he could overpower people more.

Just curious, this isn't necessarilly pointed at you but at the board in general.

I've heard this a lot, "Al is a prototypical Power forward and therefore needs to be played there so he can back guys down". You are pointing out that he looks hesitant to face up. Which prototypical power forwards with decent offense a) don't have a faceup game and/or b) don't post up centers on a very regular basis? I can't think of any, contemporary or historical.

Malone, Barkley, Boozer, Brand... all those guys utilize(d) great face-up games.

Jefferson/McHale have faceup games but spend most of their time in the post where they are most often guarded by centers.

I can't think of a single power forward whose game relies exclusively on overpowering opponents, that is generally the work of a guy like Artis Gilmore or Shaq.

If Horford doesn't take advantage of an obvious mismatch it doesn't mean you rearrange your roster for him, it means you make him spend the summer working on his faceup game and get in his face when he acts too passive.

He won't be an elite offensive player is he can't learn how to take guys off the dribble - most great power forwards do more damage facing up.