Al Horford ruled out for the regular season

Post #1 » by **HMFFL** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 3:03 am

I think most Atlanta fans expected this to happen. It's official.

Al Horford (pectoral surgery) is "definitely" out for the rest of the regular season, confirmed coach Larry Drew.
No surprise here. Horford isn't even going to start shooting for another month and he was already on the record saying he's targeting the playoffs. His fifth season ends with averages of 12.4 points and 7.0 rebounds in just 11 games. Barring a trade, Zaza Pachulia will start at center the rest of the way.
Source: Michael Cunningham on Twitter/Rotoworld.com

Post #2 » by **ATL Boy** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 3:10 am

Al should take his time coming back, I'd rather have him healthy in the long run than right now. Especially the way Josh has been playing

MaceCase · Post #3 » by **MaceCase** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 3:15 am

Not news, they reported this from the moment it happened.

Post #4 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 3:18 am

This news makes me sad.

But at this point, I almost wish were losing more so we could see L Drew getting booted, a higher draft pick, and maybe Josh Smith and Marvin Williams packaged in a move that clears cap space.

(I can think of a couple of last place teams that would do well to add Smoove to their roster. CLE, CHA, NO are you listening?)

Either way, get well soon Horfy. See you in the Fall.

Superiorblogman · Post #5 » by **Superiorblogman** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 3:26 am

Not good.

Skyhawk1 · Post #6 » by **Skyhawk1** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 4:23 am

I miss Al ...

fullcourt · Post #7 » by **fullcourt** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 9:58 am

i think this is actually good news for the Hawks.

i would rather get the Magic or Bulls in the first round with a healthy Horford, Joe, and Josh, rather than having home court advantage in the first round against the Celtics, Knicks, or Pacers.

i think the Hawks can easily sweep the Magic, or beat the Bulls in 6 games with a healthy Joe.

Celtics suck, but they are a vet team and could hit another gear in the playoffs. Lin is slowing down, but he could find a second wind in the playoffs, and although the Hawks have been beating the Pacers, Hibbert still gives match up problems.

theatlfan · Post #8 » by **theatlfan** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 3:45 pm

Can't see how some would see this as good news. Our BCS was always that Horford would get his sea legs back under him at the end of the regular season and then we have a healthy and fresh AS C for the playoffs and maybe surprise a couple of teams on our way to a deep playoff run. Now we have to figure out how to round him into form in the playoffs (if he's even back by then) - something that, flatly, LD isn't creative enough to manage. As far as I'm concerned, this is akin to saying the season's shot, and we'd be lucky to get the 2nd round ouster that many are thinking is the best the team could do anyway.

Honestly, this news is a signal to me that we should consider blowing it up. Unfortunately when he's even on the court, JJ is showing that not only was he not worth the contract he got, he's not even worth 1/2 of it. If we can't trade JJ, then we really can't do anything. So, we're stuck in the middle - we can't rebuild with his contract on our books, we can't go for it now since Horford will be, at best, 80% for the playoffs.

Post #9 » by **wizardg** » Fri Mar 9, 2012 2:12 pm

Bad news bad luck for the Hawks who are the 3rd best team in the East.

No Joe is not a leader superstar, but retaining Joe allowed them to beat Orl in the playoffs last year and they would have a legit shot at ECF if AH didn't go down.

Hawks are a nice team. They've won 3 series. They've been in 3 G7s. They are young but they have moe playoff exp than Chicago, Philly or Chicago.

But reality is they are not healthy and best they can hope for is to somehow get out of round 1 and have Al H in the second round

it will take the 6th seed to do that.