Al Horford: Size matters
NBA hottie: “I decided to move from a good situation to a better one. To be here with the Celtics,” says Al Horford.
As they say in basketball, “height is might” and “you can’t teach height” so you can understand why Al Horford was such a hot commodity during the off-season in the National Basketball Association.
The prized big man previously with the Atlanta Hawks was courted by numerous teams, but he chose to bring his talents to Boston this year.
He continues to put up solid numbers for the Celtics (with averages of 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, and 1.7 blocks) as he anchors their frontline. He has also improved his free throw shooting to 82 percent from his career average of 74 percent.
The Philippine STAR was invited to join international media in a video conference call with the many-time NBA All-Star.
STAR: Given the amount of history of the Celtics franchise, what does it mean to you to be considered the best-ever free agent asset?
AL HORFORD: I think it’s really an honor to be part of this franchise, this organization. There is so much history, but at the end of the day, it’s not about just me coming in here and me impacting the team. It’s all about helping the team win a championship. And that’s why I’m here, I decided to move from a good situation to a better one. To be here with the Celtics.
What do you think the team still needs to compete against Cleveland in the East?
I think defensively, we’re making strides as a group. I feel like right now, we’re not playing our best basketball yet, but we are still winning. We’ve been very competitive, but I think at the end of the year, we keep developing guys, I feel we have a realistic chance to compete with anyone at the end of the year.
How do you motivate your younger teammates?
I think the first thing is leading by example. Making sure that guys are seeing a good example and me as far as how I carry myself and how I work every day, how I take care of my body. Defensively, giving them pointers and offensively, showing them how they can be better. I explain to them that it’s all about winning. I think that the sooner the guys understand it’s about more than the stats and numbers. It’s more about winning the games and that’s when we become a special team.
Your point guard Isaiah Thomas has really developed into a tremendous player...
He’s an all-star! The way he’s playing this year, he has separated himself from a lot of point guards and if he continues to develop, he can contend for the MVP and win championships. Basketball is a team sport, he understands that and it’s all about working together the right way.
What are your thoughts about the inflow of international players into the NBA?
It’s changing the landscape quickly and in a big way. Their ability to play the game in a different way, international ball, FIBA ball is much different, it’s a lot of ball movement, a lot of passing.
Every player is more skilled! It’s challenging. It’s not good enough to play just one position. You can’t just post up and rebound the ball. You have to be able to face up, you have to pass and it’s making my game better and I think next year, there will be even more international players coming in.
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