NBA coach: Al Horford will make Boston Celtics' All-Star Isaiah Thomas 'even better' in pick-and-roll

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/07/nba_coach_al_horford_will_make.html




NBA coach: Al Horford will make Boston Celtics' All-Star Isaiah Thomas 'even better' in pick-and-roll





Boston Celtics forward Al Horford walks past NBA Championship banners while arriving for a media availability at the team's practice facility, Friday, July 8, 2016, in Waltham, Mass. Horford agreed to a four-year, $113 million deal with the Celtics as an unrestricted free agent, ending nearly ten years with the Atlanta Hawks. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)


Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com




on July 09, 2016 at 3:01 PM




An NBA coach explained why he believes Al Horford's multi-dimensional skill set will lift the Boston Celtics to a different level in pick-and-roll situations.

David Locke, who runs the Locked on NBA podcast, recently broke down free agency with a coach who requested anonymity so he could openly discuss all of the league's movement. In addition to plenty of other smart discussion -- listen to the whole podcast here -- the coach shared some ways Horford should help the Celtics this season.

"(Horford's) obviously a great player," the coach said. "And Brad Stevens runs a lot of pick-and-roll. They'll play him out of the post a little bit is my guess because Brad has some of that in his offensive system. But I think the best use of him will be with (Isaiah) Thomas and him in pick-and-roll actions, a little bit like Golden State. Isaiah Thomas is just such a dynamic player when he gets in the key area and in the paint area, and then you've got Al Horford who does it both -- a lot of times in our league bigs are either rollers or they're pop guys, and Al is one of the guys who's unique who can do both. So I think Brad will really utilize that part in the multi-dimension in the pick-and-roll with Al, and make Isaiah Thomas -- who's one of the most dynamic guys in the paint -- even better."

Horford's a more dynamic roller than Amir Johnson, who was sometimes used in that scenario last season, and a better shooter than Jared Sullinger, who often ran pick-and-pops.


"The one thing it goes back to is he's multi-dimensional," the coach said. "There's one pick-and-roll coverage for when you play against a big who's just a solid roller and not a popper, and there's another pick-and-roll coverage for a guy who's one-dimensional and just a popper. Well, the problem with a guy like Al Horford is he can do both. So now you're going to have to pick your poison. If you get into one (coverage) where you're worrying about him popping then he's going to start rolling on you and they'll pick you apart. Or if you're in another one and you cover it for somebody who's a roller and he starts popping, then he's standing out there, and his ability to grow into making threes has really made him a great, great offensive threat."

The coach also discussed where he thinks Boston could finish in the Eastern Conference. Those comments, more talk about the Horford signing and some trade speculation can be found below in the latest episode of the Locked on Celtics podcast with the Rainin' Js:



bob
MY NOTE:  And the NBA is a pnr league.


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One point that is overlooked with Horford is the miles on his body.  He has relatively few.

He didn't start in the NBA until he was 21, what would almost certainly be the kiss of death for anybody today, and had injuries that limited his play.  He has only played a total of 578 games in his 9 NBA career.  That's an average of only 64 games/season.

By comparison, DeAndre Jordan is 2 weeks away from being 28 years old and has played 592 games, Dwight Howard is 30 years old and has played 880 games, Noah is 31 and has played 572 and Marc Gasol is 31, has played 8 seasons and has played 569 games.

Factor in that Horford has more of an outside game, where there is less physical punishment than what players like Howard and Jordan and Whiteside receive underneath and so there's not much wear-and-tear on Horford.


bob


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Noah and Horford both left Florida after 3 years and back to back titles. Surprising to see that Horford has only played 6 more games than Noah, who has been quite injury prone. 

Not sure what the "kiss of death" comment means about him not starting until age 21 Bob. He started 77 of the 81 games he played in as a rookie. That is to be expected of the #3 pick in the draft, no? 

Smart is now 22 and hasn't established himself as a better guard then either Thomas or Bradley. That is starting to look more like a "kiss of death" situation. Making Smart more of a Tony Allen elite role player than the all-star we hoped to get with the 6th pick.

I mentioned a few times that Garnett had played roughly 37,500 minutes and had just turned 31 when the C's traded for him in 2007. 

Horford had just turned 30 a month before his signing and has logged only about 23,000 NBA minutes. 

Garnett's original extension kept him here at a HUGE cost for his 31-35 seasons. He was what we expected for 1.5 seasons. Missed half of one with injury and returned at 60-80% of his old self for the last 3 seasons of that deal. 

Horford is here for huge money as well, but his relatively low mileage, developing 3 point shot and versatilty make me feel he will be his former self for two more seasons and then like 85-95% of his prime the final two years we have him here. Crossing mt fingers he avoids a Garnett 2009 type injury. But remember, at that time KG's leg had like 18,000 more NBA minutes logged on it than Horford's do now.

Ram wrote:Noah and Horford both left Florida after 3 years and back to back titles. Surprising to see that Horford has only played 6 more games than Noah, who has been quite injury prone. 

Not sure what the "kiss of death" comment means about him not starting until age 21 Bob. He started 77 of the 81 games he played in as a rookie. That is to be expected of the #3 pick in the draft, no? 

Smart is now 22 and hasn't established himself as a better guard then either Thomas or Bradley. That is starting to look more like a "kiss of death" situation. Making Smart more of a Tony Allen elite role player than the all-star we hoped to get with the 6th pick.

Ram,

By "kiss of death" I meant that, by the way teams draft today, being 21 years old and still in college often drives your drafting position down. Buddy Hield is, I believe, an exception to that.


bob


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bobheckler wrote:

Ram,

By "kiss of death" I meant that, by the way teams draft today, being 21 years old and still in college often drives your drafting position down.  Buddy Hield is, I believe, an exception to that.


bob

Oh I gotcha. It is true that age does hurt you a little bit in the draft these days. But the cream still rises to the top. 

Horford was never 21 and in college. He was young for his grade and turned 20 in June, a month after his junior year. He probably would have left after his sophomore year if he wasn't on a team with Noah and Brewer also willing to give up the NBA and go for the back to back titles. It hurt Noah more than anyone. He was a 21 year old junior and dropped from possibly the #1 pick in 2006 to like 9th in 2007.

Hield isn't the only exception. Kris Dunn was a redshirt junior, he's 22 years old and went top 5. Valentine and Prince were seniors who went in the lotto. Sabonis and Poeltl were sophomores but Sabonis was 1 month and Poeltl 7 months older than Horford when he was drafted. Heck Ben Simmons turns 20 in 10 days, he's just 6 weeks younger than Horford was when Al was drafted.