Give Al Horford the R.O.Y. award

[campybatman]

He isn't Shelden Williams... Atlanta got it right in 2007. I don't understand why Kevin Durant is in the discussion. Hawks became a playoffs team with Horford's help this season and Durant helped Seattle to another possible top five lottery placement, again. Granted Durant is playing out-of-position being a forward and now playing guard. Still, his statistics for the season pale in comparison to Horford, in my opinion. Bottom line is: Atlanta improved after the draft and Seattle regressed. Never mind that the Hawks acquired Mike Bibby via a trade. In a weaker eastern conference, the Hawks probably could've clinched an eighth playoffs seed prior to the acquisition of Bibby. Maybe they do or maybe they don't but they're certainly a better lower tier team than the Sonics right now.

How about putting the weaker teams of both conferences in a lottery playoffs and the Hawks might eliminate the Sonics in a seven-game series because it'll be Durant and Green and then a few good teammates. That's like Pierce and Walker and average teammates.

[vegas_runnin_rebel]

The Sonics regressed because Ray and Rashard left when they landed Durant. Take Joe Johnson and Josh Smith off of the Hawks, and ask Horford to be the first option and you're looking at a 19 win team too. Horford has a bright future, but he's not capable of carrying a team on his shoulders any more than Durant is right now.

[cfan79]

He looks like a worthy candidate after his performance in the 1st game. Definitely the best Atlanta Hawk tonight.

[SuperDeluxe]

He has been much more solid than Kevin Durant. He doesn't even play like a rookie. Horford is my choice too.

[nasbahceltic]

Can't help but be impressed by the young guy. Reminds me of a young Karl Malone

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

I'm with the OP. Durant hasn't impressed me most of the year while Horford has been averaging a near double double on a playoff team.

[Truthiracy]

I don't even like Durants game, and I doubt he'll ever lead his teams to many playoff victories.

Horford should be ROY

[TheSheriff]

How much worse is Seattle without Durant? They had the second worst record in the NBA (only winning 20 games), without him they area what? a 17 win team? Without Horford the Hawks don't smell the playoffs, therefore Horford did more than Durant this year and should win the RoY award.

[Bleeding Green]

Luis Scola doesn't like the idea of giving to any of these jokers.

[cfan79]

The problem is that the people deciding who gets the award will just look at stats. If Horford were on Seattle though he'd probably be averaging 20 and 15.

[s1ickd]

Durant is the more productive rookie and therefore deserves ROY.

Ask me who id prefer on my team, and i say Al Horford. An athletic legit banger/rebounder/finisher that contributes that early as a starter isn't very common. Scoring wing players are much more common to come across.

[campybatman]

The Sonics regressed because Ray and Rashard left when they landed Durant. Take Joe Johnson and Josh Smith off of the Hawks, and ask Horford to be the first option and you're looking at a 19 win team too. Horford has a bright future, but he's not capable of carrying a team on his shoulders any more than Durant is right now.

I can see the point you're making... However, the rookie of the year award can either represent a rookie who has had a statistical impact in the league or has impacted the team he plays for statistically. Horford has succeeded in both areas. He has started seventy-seven of eighty-one games to Durant's eighty out of eighty starts. Durant scores more because, as you'd said, he's the first option. Whereas, Horford is a complement player in the starting line up to Johnson and Smith like Camby is to Iverson and Anthony. Yes, that places tremendous pressure on a young Durant. However, if he deserves to be rookie of the year. Then he should be a rookie that defied those challenges. I don't think that he has... That is, he isn't a clearcut winner for the award like a James. And this race is certainly not as close as say a Howard and Okafor.

[vegas_runnin_rebel]

How much worse is Seattle without Durant? They had the second worst record in the NBA (only winning 20 games), without him they area what? a 17 win team? Without Horford the Hawks don't smell the playoffs, therefore Horford did more than Durant this year and should win the RoY award.

The Hawks won 30 games last year versus 37 games this year. It would be easy to give Horford all of the credit for that 7 game boost in the standings...But if you look at last years Hawks team, you'll see that Joe Johnson only played in 57 games. This season JJ played in all 82 games. Something tells me that having their All-Star SG on the court for 25 more games (as well as Josh Smith for 9 more games) had every bit as much to with their improvement in the standings as anything Horford did.

As far as Durant's year in Seattle goes, he was stuck in a horrible situation and had the unenviable task of being the only rookie in the league asked to carry a team on his own. If Horford had gone to the Sonics instead of Durant, they'd have been just as pitiful. Hell, just look at how the T-Wolves faired with Al Jefferson putting up monster numbers.

[Scalamental]

Horford had a great game and a solid season, but the Hawks wouldn't be in the playoffs if they were in the west like Durant's team. I'm not wild about Durant myself, and I think Hoford has everything to be a good player (he's a good kid, has a big body, has some decent big man skill) but it's not enough for him to be head and shoulders above Durant. It's a close one.

[Hatertots]

-= original quote snipped =-


The Hawks won 30 games last year versus 37 games this year. It would be easy to give Horford all of the credit for that 7 game boost in the standings...But if you look at last years Hawks team, you'll see that Joe Johnson only played in 57 games. This season JJ played in all 82 games. Something tells me that having their All-Star SG on the court for 25 more games (as well as Josh Smith for 9 more games) had every bit as much to with their improvement in the standings as anything Horford did.

As far as Durant's year in Seattle goes, he was stuck in a horrible situation and had the unenviable task of being the only rookie in the league asked to carry a team on his own. If Horford had gone to the Sonics instead of Durant, they'd have been just as pitiful. Hell, just look at how the T-Wolves faired with Al Jefferson putting up monster numbers.

Actually, the Hawks had a similar winning percentage with JJ and without him last season.

You're right that all the credit shouldn't go to Horford alone; Marvin Williams went from horrible last season to below average this season, so that does make some difference. But Horford's work on the glass is the big reason why the Hawks aren't sitting at home right now.

[campybatman]

Durant's season averages don't match his highlights. And I'm noticing that no one has still expressed why Durant deserves it outright.

Two weeks old but I concur with these sentiments in favor of Horford winning the award.

"Listen, Kevin Durant's a good friend of mine and a great player," Hawks rookie point guard Acie Law told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "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."

Durant will probably get the award because his game is more flashy and his name has a louder ring. He came into the NBA with some steam, fueled by his standout freshman season at Texas and his link to Portland rookie center Greg Oden, who were the two most talked about players in college last season.

Which should get the award? Style or substance?

"I'll tell you what, Horford, it's a shame," Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers told the Journal-Constitution. "I don't know what rookie's playing better. I think he is a terrific player on a team that has a chance to make the playoffs and be very good. I don't know if he gets enough credit."

If the rookie of the year award goes to the player most likely to be a big-name star, then it's Durant's award. But if it really is for the rookie who had the best season, then Durant loses out.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8830503

[vegas_runnin_rebel]

Durant's season averages don't match his highlights. And I'm noticing that no one has still expressed why Durant deserves it outright.

Durant's season averages (and the Sonics paltry win total) reflect the fact that he had to try and carry an entire team on his back. Horford had the luxury of being a role player on an already talented team. When you factor in the dramatic difference in responsibility (and attention from opposing teams) that he each player faced, and look at the way Durant finished the year (21 PPG on 52% shooting in March, 24.3 PPG and 6.4 RPG in April) I think he deserves to win the award.

At any rate, I'm not knocking Horford. He's well on his way to becoming a top notch big man. But I do think that you'd have to be blind not to see that he landed in the ideal situation (all he's asked to do is play hard and rebound), while Durant landed in the worst possible situation. Had Durant gone to Portland instead of Seattle, he'd have put up far more efficient numbers (Roy and Aldridge would have made him better), while playing on a 40+ win team.

[vegas_runnin_rebel]

But Horford's work on the glass is the big reason why the Hawks aren't sitting at home right now.

But how unique is his work on the glass? A decent case could be made that Joakim Noah could have stepped in for the Hawks and done the same thing this year.

[tlee324]

I think Horford's better than Noah, always did, just my opinion. Horford is going to be a very good pro and a productive rebounder and scorer. I think if he develops a jumper, he could be a Boozer-type of player with all-star potential.

I still think that KD's the best rookie (since Oden's hurt) and deserves it. It's not his fault his team is so bad right now... if Durant were in ATL right now, I think they'd be a better team. Durant's a very dynamic scorer, a better all around player, and actually did a very good job improving his FG% and shot selection in the second-half. ATL has more weapons on it than SEA, and Horford only has to focus on what he does well while Durant is tasked with doing a lot more for that team, which is lacking in many areas, IMO. This is an individual award, and I don't think his lack of a team should take away from his ability on the floor.

[Bleeding Green]

Are you guys racists against Luis Scola? It's OK if you are. Argentinia isn't even a real country upon even a superficial review.