How about a little Horford Appreciation?

[Snakehead]

Horford's defense has been outstanding to start the year.

People were sad about losing Bradley and Crowder for defense, but the best two defenders on the team are still here (Smart and Horford).

He also does extremely well setting and running the pick and roll.  I think he was great last game shooting from 3 more too.  As long as he is shooting 3's to keep the defense honest, I will be happy having him as the rock for the team all year.

He will never get the credit he deserves but hopefully we all appreciate him.

[jbpats]

My intention is obviously not to turn this topic into a 'Horford is God' reaction after every game, but obviously the man excelled again last night.
Thought it was interesting, Reggie Miller called out how Kyrie is elevating Horfords game, and I think I have to agree. Don't want to turn this into a Kyrie vs. IT discussion, but from what I've seen of Kyrie I feel his court awareness is so much greater than IT's and based on this small sample size of games thus far I feel he does have the ability to get the most out of Horfords skill set.
Needless to say, only a few games in and they are a strong 1-2 punch.

[green_bballers13]

Horford is a solid team player. He's not a stats guy. I don't hear Warriors fans complaining about Draymond's pedestrian stats.

[ChillyWilly]

Horford is a solid team player. He's not a stats guy. I don't hear Warriors fans complaining about Draymond's pedestrian stats.

Because he avgs nearly a triple double.

[green_bballers13]

Horford is a solid team player. He's not a stats guy. I don't hear Warriors fans complaining about Draymond's pedestrian stats.

Because he avgs nearly a triple double.

Last year Dray averaged 10/8/7. Last year Horford averaged 14/7/5.

I think Draymond is an excellent player. I'm only making the case that Horford's stats don't show his true contribution.

[trickybilly]

There is one big man in the league better than him. Marc Gasol.

That's it... And yes, he is better than Anthony Davis.

Jokic is right there in the rearview mirror though...

While it is a personal choice, I must highly recommend saying no to drugs.  They can make an individual say all kinds of crazy insane things!

I can see how you would think that. I just think playmaking in bigmen is STILL massively underrated by the league.. and rebounding fractionally overrated. I get that Davis and Towns are "better", I just want my bigman on a championship team to be good, really good, at three things - passing, decision-making/playmaking.

[cltc5]

Guy has stepped up this year.  Let's hope we see it consistently.  Props

[Green-18]

Al is the single most important player on this team right now.  Brad's entire offensive system functions because of Horford's versatility.  Scal made a great point last night about the importance of making the right plays and reads every time down the court.  Al doesn't always stand out but his value is in his ability to make the right plays on both ends of the court for 30+ mpg.

[CoachBo]

It is a joy to watch Al play every night.

EVERY night.

Not to mention the joy I get from him proving my point about sabermetric nuts.

[ETNCeltics]

He certainly had a masterpiece of a game last night.

I really wish he'd become more aggressive offensively. He has a nice post up game, a good mid-range shot, and a very good 3 for a big man. There are just too many games where he only takes 7 or 8 shots. He's too good of a player for that to happen. Offensively, he's one of the most complete big men in the league.

[footey]

Seems like Brad is just figuring out how to get the most of out Al this season. Not sure if this has anything to do with the Kyrie/IT substitution, or just a natural progression.

His inside offensive game has gotten more efficient. He is rebounding better (is it the Baynes effect, perhaps?)

Al particularly on defense continues to impress me. He was stellar vs. Giannis, especially the first half. And vs. Porzingis, he really frustrated that kid. 

To me, Al is one of the most underappreciated players in the NBA, including by his own fan base. 

He is the prototype player we should try to draft with our next high pick, for an orderly transition of this team. The modern game really suits his style. I am really starting to appreciate the fact that we signed him up.

[Vox_Populi]

It is a joy to watch Al play every night.

EVERY night.

Not to mention the joy I get from him proving my point about sabermetric nuts.

What point?

[fairweatherfan]

Speaking of "sabermetrics" (is it 1989 already?) NBA Math has these neat visualizations of TPA (total points added) by team members. It's a flawed stat, they all are, plus small sample, yada yada, but here's ours:



Al's pretty clearly coming out as the best player on the team so far. Kyrie's a close second and has surprisingly scored as a positive contributor on defense too, with Rozier 3rd.


BTW, here's what Milwaukee looks like haha:



A bunch of mediocrity then Giannis as the pushpin holding up the upper-right corner.

[jbpats]

Come on folks, do we have more believers around here?
Through the first 11 games Horford is the ONLY player in the NBA to have a postiive +/- in every game played.

He is on another level this season, arguably the defensive player of the year up to this point and to me the real 'on the court' reason the Celtics are playing at this level.

[Tr1boy]

No.

He couldn a hit lastnight