Hawks' Horford merits Rookie award

Post #1 » by **HMFFL** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:25 am

Think supporters for presidential candidates are a fervent bunch? Get a load of those backing Hawks center Al Horford for NBA Rookie of the Year.

Horford's teammates know that he's trailing Seattle's Kevin Durant in the polls. That has them speaking a bit louder these days.

"It's all political," Hawks point guard Mike Bibby said. "It's been that way before I got here [to the NBA], since I've been here and will probably be that way long after I'm gone. But you've got to go with Al. He's been getting it done every night for a team that's fighting to make the playoffs."

Hawks rookie point guard Acie Law IV has ties to both candidates, giving him a unique perspective.

"Listen, Kevin Durant's a good friend of mine and a great player," Law said, "but for what Al contributes to our team, what he means to this team and how important he is to the resurgence of this franchise, I don't see how anybody but Al could win this award.

"Durant is having a great scoring year. But as far as making his teammates better and his team better, you just don't see that. With Al in the game, he makes it easier on all of our players. I think it's his award, hands down. It shouldn't even be close."

Despite Law's insistence otherwise, Durant's going to be tough to beat. He leads all rookies in scoring (19.6) by a wide margin. He's had plenty of national television exposure, something Horford and the Hawks haven't. Horford's lone experience came during the Rookie Challenge during All-Star weekend.

Horford does lead all rookies in several categories, including rebounds (9.8 ), double-doubles (20) and efficiency rating (16.4). He also ranks second in minutes (931.5), third in blocks (1.0), fourth in scoring (9.8 ) and field goal percentage (.497) and is tied for sixth in steals (0.8 ) and assists (1.5).

Horford has 35 double-digit rebound games and has already been named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month twice (November and February).

Link

realfung · Post #2 » by **realfung** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:49 am

he will get the award.....

killbuckner · Post #3 » by **killbuckner** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:35 am

realfung- you don't actually believe that right? Durant is going to win this easily.

High 5 · Post #4 » by **High 5** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:43 pm

Horford easily deserves to win this award. Surprisingly most people I have seen agree with this, but unfortunately it's usually more of a beauty pageant with the points. A lot of the "experts" at ESPN, NBA.com and the TNT guys are going with Horford, though. It'll be interesting to see who wins.

killbuckner · Post #5 » by **killbuckner** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:50 pm

its fine to say you think Horford deserves it- I don't think that the actual vote is going to be even close. Durant will win easily

High 5 · Post #6 » by **High 5** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:53 pm

killbuckner wrote:its fine to say you think Horford deserves it- I don't think that the actual vote is going to be even close. Durant will win easily

I think you're going to be surprised. There's a chance Horford gets robbed, but looking at what people are saying they seem to favor Horford.

killbuckner · Post #7 » by **killbuckner** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:57 pm

Put it this way, I think there is a better chance that its unanimous for Durant than Horford wins.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #8 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:04 pm

^^^I strongly disagree with that. I think Durant is the favorite but I wouldn't be suprised if Horford won it. Correct me if I'm wrong but 2006 was unanimous and Bargnani(lmao)was the only person to get a 1st place vote besides Roy in 07. I'd be shocked if Horford doesn't get atleast a few votes. This is just my opinion from watching the other teams feeds on League Pass.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #9 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:16 pm

Also..since you all are so big on plus and minus stats...Durant's +/- on the season is -9.2which is tied for Stuckey(nice player but plays behind an all-star) for the worst among rookies. Thad Young's plus/minus is actually +9.2 . I haven't checked every team(nor do I really care) but I am pretty sure that Durant has the worst plus/minus in the league among players who play regular minutes and this is playing on a complete garbage squad.

killbuckner · Post #10 » by **killbuckner** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:38 pm

HG- I have never advocated using +/- for players between teams. Particularly when one player is on an absolutely embarrassing team. (though I did say that I wanted the Hawks to take Thad Young instead of Acie law)

And you are making an argument over who deserves it. Durant is averaging almost 20 per game- Horford is averaging under 10 per game. I don't think that Horford has any chance of actually winning the award with those numbers.

gsuteke · Post #11 » by **gsuteke** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:43 pm

I'm sure Horford is perfectly happen in Atlanta knowing his personality as opposed to being in Seattle.

High 5 · Post #12 » by **High 5** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:49 pm

killbuckner wrote:HG- I have never advocated using +/- for players between teams. Particularly when one player is on an absolutely embarrassing team. (though I did say that I wanted the Hawks to take Thad Young instead of Acie law)

And you are making an argument over who deserves it. Durant is averaging almost 20 per game- Horford is averaging under 10 per game. I don't think that Horford has any chance of actually winning the award with those numbers.

The voters are supposed to look at everything and not just their NBA.com profile. If you do that then Horford should definitely win. Just gotta hope the voters do that.

Retrovision · Post #13 » by **Retrovision** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:50 pm

Kevin Durant Averages 19.6 a game ! :bowdown:

Wait A Minute He's 482-1144 from the field :wavefinger:

Al Horford Should be ROY , instead of this shot jacker.

JoshB914 · Post #14 » by **JoshB914** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:44 am

High 5 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

The voters are supposed to look at everything and not just their NBA.com profile. If you do that then Horford should definitely win. Just gotta hope the voters do that.

You are 100% right. Unfortunately, the voters know nothing about Al other than his nba.com profile. They just see the ESPN Hype Train, which is all about Durant, and that is going to cost Al the ROY.

killbuckner · Post #15 » by **killbuckner** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:18 am

has anyone ever won the ROY averaging under 10 points per game?

High 5 · Post #16 » by **High 5** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:20 am

He's playing out of position, averaging a double-double (basically), making all the hustle plays, and he is reliable in crunch time. He's a smarter player, comparable passer (I think he's a bit better) and better defender than Durant. Horford's stamina is insane too for a rookie big.

killbuckner · Post #17 » by **killbuckner** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:51 am

Horford just isn't providing enough offense. Workmanlike players don't win ROY. You can say you think he deserves it but there is just no way in hell he is going to win it.

conleyorbust · Post #18 » by **conleyorbust** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:01 pm

killbuckner wrote:Put it this way, I think there is a better chance that its unanimous for Durant than Horford wins.

You don't actually think it would be unanimous do you? Chris Paul wasn't a unanimous winner... I would bet my next paycheck that it won't be unanimous. You are smarter than that.

killbuckner · Post #19 » by **killbuckner** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:07 pm

COB- I think that if Durant gets his average up over 20 per game then he has a shot at it being unanimous. I don't think there is any chance at all that Horford wins it.

killbuckner · Post #20 » by **killbuckner** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:14 pm

Durant is likely going to average EIGHT points more than the second place finisher. Thats 66% more points than second place. I doubt you can find an example of someone winning the ROY of the year over a guy scoring 3 points more per game. PPG is just what voters usually go off of. This is going to be a landslide for Durant.