Hawks' Horford Deserved Top Rookie Honor
By Jamie Lay (Posted May 13, 2008)

Following a training session in September, rookie Al Horford shot free throws while first-year assistant coach Alton Lister closely watched him. Lister, a former NBA center, advised Horford on the consistency of his free-throw motion. The two-time college national champion worked for the next 20 minutes on his shot before leaving the court to join the rest of his Atlanta Hawks teammates already in the locker room. This scene was foretelling of Horford’s inspiring first season.

While his former teammates from Florida (Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah and Taurean Green) were relatively quiet in their first NBA seasons, Horford impressed coaches, players and fans across the league. He nearly averaged a double-double in the regular season with 10.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He finished second in the NBA rookie-of-the-year voting and led the Hawks to the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Horford, however, was the only unanimous selection on the 2007-08 T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie Team, the league announced today.
 
Horford received 58 votes, while Seattle’s Kevin Durant, winner of the 2007-08 T-Mobile Rookie of the Year award, received a total of 57 votes.
 
Rounding out the T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie First Team are Houston’s Luis Scola (53 points), the Los Angeles Clippers’ (and former FSU standout) Al Thornton (48 points) and Seattle’s (and former Georgetown forward) Jeff Green (43 points).

After the Hawks’ Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics, SportsUnlimited talked with Lister about Horford’s difficult transition from power forward to center and why he should have won the NBA Rookie of the Year.

When did you first start working with him?
At mini-camp. I really didn’t get a chance to do a lot of individual work. We were doing a lot of two-a-days. Our schedule was pretty heavy. But once we got into training camp I was able to start working with him.

At first glance, what did you think of his game?
The first thing you notice is he has a very good understanding of the game. They really taught him well at Florida. Anytime you win two national championships, you are doing something right. I saw that he had a good feel for the game, a good basketball IQ. He’s a tough kid, and he’s a winner. You could tell he’s all about winning.

In what ways did you think he could improve?
I knew he could score around the basket, but I knew it was important for him to step out and shoot the ball, which he developed a lot this year. I thought he had the intangible things: the rebounding, the toughness. As far as his skill work, that’s just something you have to do every day. He can score with his back to the basket. We’ll continue to work on him facing up with the ball and putting it on the floor now. I think every year a guy should add one thing to their game from the summer time to improve on.

What should he add to his game this summer?
When he first got here he was shooting 57 percent from the line. He ended up shooting in the high 70s, so he improved that. Also, he improved on being able to step, face and turn similar to Tim Duncan. He really got good at it. That’s going to open up his other drives and other moves because now they have to guard him.

What will you work on with him this summer?
Getting his shot more consistent, where he can step out and shoot the ball. To feel comfortable away from the basket, and being able to show a shot and then put it on the floor and drive bigs and beat people off the dribble. I think that’s the next thing that he needs to add to his game.

To which NBA player would you compare him?
I like the kid from New Orleans: [David] West. I really like his game. I think Al could be a similar player. Because he can step out and shoot the ball from the floor. He can step out with his back to the basket. He was an undersized power forward. I really like his game because he’s versatile. I can see Al being that type of player for our team this year.

How did he transition from power forward to center?
The NBA isn’t like it used to be where everyone had 7-footers, so you can get away with it. Still, there were some nights where I was glad we had other bigs because he wasn’t used to playing against guys that big – NBA centers. Al has been always the biggest, strongest guy. He had to adjust to taking guys away from the basket, face up against them and use his quickness.

Do you think he has developed into a quality center?
He’s gotten better and better and better throughout the year. You could just see his confidence getting better. I saw him get in foul trouble a couple times throughout the year. He worked on that. He worked on anything. We’d just sit down and watch film and I would say “Al, you like going to the left shoulder so now you have to develop a counter move. Every team scouts you. They know what you do. And they are going to take that away so you’re going to have to have a counter move for it.”

Do you expect him to return to the forward spot or stay at center?
It depends on what happens with the roster, who they bring in. He has experience at both positions so that’s an asset for him. It doesn’t matter to him. He’s just going to compete and play hard. That’s Al. He’ll play the five, the four. Whatever our team needs, he’s going to provide.

In your mind, should he have been the rookie of the year?
There is no question. I don’t understand what they base it on, other than the exposure [Kevin] Durant got being on national TV more times. Al stepped it up in the playoffs. He’s a major reason why we made the playoffs. He averaged close to a double-double in the regular season. Then he averaged a double-double (12.6 ppg and 10.4 rpg) in the playoffs, and this is a rookie. He led all rookies in double-doubles, and he’s playing out of position too. I just didn’t understand. What are you basing it on? We hadn’t made the playoffs in nine years and we made the playoffs. He’s a major, major part of why we made the playoffs. Everybody that you talk to - in terms of coaches - really respected him and thought he should be rookie of the year.

It’s almost as if they didn’t appreciate the value of what he was doing: switching positions, the numbers he put up, the Hawks making the playoffs. All those things didn’t seem to matter. It’s almost as if they weren’t paying attention, the ones voting him in.
Again, it’s the exposure. I think Durant had more exposure. They were on TV more often, so more people are able to see him. I think scoring is what they base it on. Durant was on a bad team and he scored the points. To me, that’s not that impressive. He didn’t improve their team. I think Al improved our team and that’s the thing. That’s why I felt he should have got rookie of the year, because he took us to the next level. If we didn’t have him, we wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs.

The Comparison: Horford vs. Durant

Al Horford
-Switched from power forward to center
-Hawks made the playoffs for the first in nine years, took the Boston Celtics to seven games.
-Averaged 10.1 points and 9.7 rebounds
-30 first-place votes (390 points)

Kevin Durant
-Played forward, same position as college
-Supersonics had the worst record in the West (20-62), second to last in 2006-2007 (31-51)
-Averaged 20.3 points and 2.4 assists
-90 first-place votes (545 points)