What's the deal with Horford? - not taking shots anymore

[MikeB12]

Horford was playing great and really adding offense this year and all of a sudden he is only taking a few shots a game now...  What is going on?   I haven't been able to watch any of the recent games...but the box score shows Horford taking less than 10 shots a game; sometimes as few as 3 or 5 shots.

I thought Horford was going to be an offensive force the way he started out early in the season but something is going on - any ideas?

MikeB

[Jiri Welsch]

He may not be fully healthy after that concussion. Or he may be focused on distributing the ball more than anything else—I’m pretty sure he’s had double digit assist games recently.

Horford is like this throughout a long season. I’m excited to see playoff Al return soon!

[GreenFaith1819]

Big Al's fine.

http://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4726318/with-al-horford-facilitating-celtics-get-back-to-beautiful-basketball

"Probably the most underrated guy in the league, in my opinion, for everything he does,” Vogel said. "He plays the 4, he plays the 5, holds the fort down blocking shots. They’re able to switch on defense, and his communication on that end of the floor with his hands. And, obviously, when you have the ability to have five 3-point [shooters] out there with what he can do [offensively]. If you switch and he rolls it down to the post and gives space to Kyrie and their wings ... to me, he’s probably the most underrated guy in the league.”

According to Coach Vogel who has a keen eye.

Love the threat he gives us.

[Big333223]

I don't think it's the concussion because the 3 games after he came back he was red hot. But in the last 4 games he's scored just 7, 3, 7, and 5 points after averaging 15.5 prior to that. So in the last 4 games he has failed to reach even half of what his average was. So something isn't quite right.

I'm not worried because 4 games isn't many and because he had 10 assists in a blowout of the Magic last night. But I do always like to see Aggressive Al. I hope to see him tonight.

[BitterJim]

There definitely is something up with Al's shot. I can remember a few times during the Golden State game where I yelled at the TV because Al had an unusual hitch in his shot - like he was hesitating instead if just shooting. I didn't see it during the Heat game, but it's something I'm gonna keep an eye out for.

As for Al being "a force" offensively... I wouldn't expect that out of him ever (at least as far as scoring goes). His main strengths are stretching the floor, running an offense/distributing, and making shots when he needs to. He's never gonna be the leading scorer for a successful team.

[mmmmm]

I think it's because Brad has moved to using Morris in the starting lineup instead of Baynes/Theis.

That has shifted Al to the 5 instead of the 4.  I think Al is more confident offensively taking shots from the 4 and also, Morris is more of a consumer of shots than Baynes.

Personally, I wish Brad would go back to starting Baynes and bring Morris off the bench.   We've been horrible defensively with Morris in the starting lineup (over 116 points per 100 allowed) and the increase in offense has not come close to making up for it (107.3 points per 100 scored).

[Moranis]

Best suited as a 3rd or 4th option on offense and as such is inconsistent, which is pretty common.

[KGs Knee]

Al's scoring has decreased as Kyrie's has gone up, not a big surprise.  Al is playing more of a facilitator role lately.

Al prefers to defer to a player like Kyrie, much as he did with IT.  It doesn't mean Al can't turn it on when he needs to.  Al is also probably coasting a bit and saving energy for the playoffs like he did last year.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I think it's because Brad has moved to using Morris in the starting lineup instead of Baynes/Theis.

That has shifted Al to the 5 instead of the 4.  I think Al is more confident offensively taking shots from the 4 and also, Morris is more of a consumer of shots than Baynes.

Personally, I wish Brad would go back to starting Baynes and bring Morris off the bench.   We've been horrible defensively with Morris in the starting lineup (over 116 points per 100 allowed) and the increase in offense has not come close to making up for it (107.3 points per 100 scored).

I also prefer to see Baynes starting; I think having Morris with the second unit helps their offense.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I think it's because Brad has moved to using Morris in the starting lineup instead of Baynes/Theis.

That has shifted Al to the 5 instead of the 4.  I think Al is more confident offensively taking shots from the 4 and also, Morris is more of a consumer of shots than Baynes.

Personally, I wish Brad would go back to starting Baynes and bring Morris off the bench.   We've been horrible defensively with Morris in the starting lineup (over 116 points per 100 allowed) and the increase in offense has not come close to making up for it (107.3 points per 100 scored).

Sample size is way too small to be meaningful, though.  Morris is a solid defender, as he showed against Charlotte.  With our offense as stagnant as it is, Morris provides needed help with spacing.  I think the level of skill on our team has influenced the desire to win the battle between starting units rather than managing/chipping into leads via the second unit.

[Hank Finkel]

Al's scoring has decreased as Kyrie's has gone up, not a big surprise.  Al is playing more of a facilitator role lately.

Al prefers to defer to a player like Kyrie, much as he did with IT.  It doesn't mean Al can't turn it on when he needs to.  Al is also probably coasting a bit and saving energy for the playoffs like he did last year.

I agree.  Al is a great all around player and scores when he needs too. 

[azzenfrost]

I hope he always feels the need to. I feel like C's are almost always better off with Al scoring more and not just facilitating.

[mmmmm]

I think it's because Brad has moved to using Morris in the starting lineup instead of Baynes/Theis.

That has shifted Al to the 5 instead of the 4.  I think Al is more confident offensively taking shots from the 4 and also, Morris is more of a consumer of shots than Baynes.

Personally, I wish Brad would go back to starting Baynes and bring Morris off the bench.   We've been horrible defensively with Morris in the starting lineup (over 116 points per 100 allowed) and the increase in offense has not come close to making up for it (107.3 points per 100 scored).

Sample size is way too small to be meaningful, though.  Morris is a solid defender, as he showed against Charlotte.  With our offense as stagnant as it is, Morris provides needed help with spacing.  I think the level of skill on our team has influenced the desire to win the battle between starting units rather than managing/chipping into leads via the second unit.

But it isn't the offense of the _starters_ that is stagnant.   It has consistently been the _bench_ (until Rozier erupted the last two games) that has laid an egg offensively.

If you believe Morris helps the offensive spacing and playmaking, it is more needed with the 2nd unit than with the starters.

And while the sample sizes are small (we are only a 1/4 way through the season, they are starting to have some weight and the differences in results (between Baynes starting vs Morris starting) are pretty stark.   The samples will have to swing wildly in the opposite direction over the next 20 games to neutralize that huge gap.

The problem with starting Morris is that it forces Horford to play the 5 for more of the game when he's clearly dominating when he's at the 4 more often.

[chiken Green]

Al is just a smart player.. The league has taken notice this is hot offensive start so they are trying to take him away.. He is just making the right play..  This opens the floor for other guys to have great moments Mainly Brown and Tatum.

This is who Al has always been. The ultimate glue guy..

[incoherent]

Al is just a smart player.. The league has taken notice this is hot offensive start so they are trying to take him away.. He is just making the right play..  This opens the floor for other guys to have great moments Mainly Brown and Tatum.

This is who Al has always been. The ultimate glue guy..

Agree 100%

Al's stats are meaningless to me because he has proven to me knows how to make the right play.  If for a couple games Al doesn't score I wont be worried because he likely didn't think he was open enough or had team mates more open.

You can't say that about Jaylen/Tatum/Irving.  We need these guys to score the ball. We need these guys creating for themselves from time to time throughout the game. Not only to win but for their own development that is crucial to future team success.

People are going to grade Al the same way they grade Jaylen/Iriving and that is probably an incorrect way to do so.  He's a non-traditional big man in an NBA era that is still in it's infancy.