Boston Celtics: 5 Reasons Why Al Horford Can Transform The Celtics
By Adam McGee
Defense
A common narrative for Al Horford teams throughout his NBA career, which will continue on during his time with Boston, is that discussion will be driven around how his skill-set would make him a better fit at the 4-spot. Or to give it the coarse terminology that its often afforded on Twitter, that Horford isn’t a “true center.”
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In reality, there’s no such thing as a true center, particularly in a league that is gradually rendering traditional positional sensibilities archaic. Slightly undersized by the historical standards of great centers, Horford isn’t a dominant shot blocker like Manute Bol or Mark Eaton, but that makes him no less of a defender.
If anything, rather than being viewed as a “true center” the term “complete center” should be coined for the former Florida Gator. Unlike many peers of his size, Horford doesn’t have his feet stuck in the mud. Not only is the 30-year-old capable of switching out on to smaller, faster and more athletic players, he’s comfortable in doing so.
The Hawks were the league’s second best defense in the regular season last year, and with a game on the line, it would often be Horford who’d be tasked with shutting down the opponent’s best offensive player in isolation.
Although he’s not your stereotypical rim protector, to say that Horford isn’t a good defender around the basket would be horribly inaccurate too. Among centers who have played over 30 minutes per game in over 50 games, Horford has ranked eighth best in terms of defensive field goal percentage for the past two seasons (49.4 percent last season, 49.9 percent in the year before).
By the same qualifying measures in terms of games and minutes played, Horford also led the NBA’s centers in terms of defensive rating in his own right last season.
As the NBA’s sixth best defense in 2015-16, the Celtics didn’t need much help on that end, but they’ve got a major upgrade for the new season all the same.