Horford on first All-Star berth: “It’s like a dream come true for me”
NBA Eastern Conference coaches voted Hawks guard Joe Johnson and center Al Horford to the All-Star team, the league announced tonight.
The Hawks last had two All-Stars in the same year in 1998, when Dikembe Mutombo and Steve
Smith both made the team.
It’s the fourth straight All-Star selection for Johnson but the first for Horford. The Hawks selected Horford with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft out of Florida and he’s already an All-Star at age 23.
“It’s like a dream come true for me,” he said. “When you’re playing basketball as a kid, you envision yourself making it to the NBA. And once you make it to this level, you work so hard to get to an All- Star level.
“It’s just a blessing for me to take part in this game.”
Johnson, 28, is the first Hawks player to reach four consecutive All-Star games since Mutombo from 1997-2001 (the game wasn’t played in 1999 due to the lockout). The Hawks acquired Johnson in a trade with Phoenix in August 2005.
“It means a lot to me to be selected as an All-Star again,” Johnson said. “It’s really a tribute to the Atlanta Hawks organization, and my teammates and coaches. I’ve put in a lot of hard work over the years, and over the summers, and it’s always nice to see it pay off.”
Hawks coach Mike Woodson also had lobbied coaches to vote for forward Josh Smith to make his first All-Star team but he couldn’t make an East roster that includes forwards Paul Pierce of Boston, Chris Bosh of Toronto and Gerald Wallace of Charlotte.
Rounding out the East reserves are Boston guard Rajon Rondo and Chicago guard Derrick Rose. Rondo, Wallace and Rose are also first-time All-Stars.
The All-Star game will be played Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Irving, Tex.
The 30 NBA head coaches were asked to vote for seven players in their conference: two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. They were not allowed to vote for players on their team.
The West reserves include Utah’s Deron Williams, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Memphis’ Zach Randolph and Portland’s Brandon Roy.
The starting lineups, selected by fan voting, were announced last week. The East starters are Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson, Cleveland’s LeBron James, Boston’s Kevin Garnett and Orlando’s Dwight Howard. Starting for the West are Phoenix’s Steve Nash, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire.
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118 comments Add your comment
jg
January 29th, 2010
7:50 am
I really truly thought josh smith would get into that game too. I’ve always thought of him as good player with the potential to be great–this year he has been very close to great! He still has moments of taking bad shots at critical times–but he hustles every trip, wants to win every game and isn’t afraid of anyone. I like him a lot–Crawford too–they both are considered All-Stars in my opinion.
Need to definitely win tonight against Boston and some how find a way to have a chance in Orlando. Avoid a blow out–let’em know we can at least hang with them.
The Truth
January 29th, 2010
8:04 am
AL HORFORD IS A BEAST!!!!
CONGRATULATION
ALSO
THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS YES, AL HORFORD IS A CENTER!!! Does that finally means he is the second scoring option and gets more touches per game?
Astro Joe
January 29th, 2010
8:48 am
KG looked like a 89 YO last night against Orlando.
And for those who criticize Joe’s comments about the fan attendance during the regular season… there are still tickets available to the game tonight against the Celtics. The radio shows are giving away tickets. Come on… we can’t sellout a Friday evening game against the Celtics?
doc
January 29th, 2010
9:02 am
najeh lakers loom for the celts after us. they might be pissed but are on tired legs. yup they are against the wall but are definitely vulnerable tonight and again with the lakers. dont “entrench ” us too quickly into fourth as we just might win two in a row tonight and saturday. besides we got to beat the magic on our own anyway.
vava74
January 29th, 2010
9:39 am
As for Josh…
Well it’s a big shame since there are very few players in the league which can influence the game flow like Josh does.
Again, his intrinsic quality is higher than his numbers.
He needs to be more consistent (even within games), clean up his act with the refs and polish his offensive game a bit and he will become a perennial selection.
Astro Joe
January 29th, 2010
10:09 am
vava, I agree. I think that Smith needs to show that this is a “lifestyle change and not just a diet”. I have little doubt that he could be a fixture on the team if he continues his first half performance for years to come (and the Hawks continue to be a top 3-5 team).
vava74
January 29th, 2010
10:36 am
Clyde,
Your quality as a NBA talent assessment has one name: “Sean Williams”…
oops… should I say CBA or NBDL talent assessment?
Daniel
January 29th, 2010
10:45 am
I think Josh got left off the ballot because Kevin Garnett got the fan vote. If Bosh gets the starter spot, which he should have. Then Gerald Wallace, Paul Pierce and Josh Smith are your reserves. KG is not an All Star this year. He looks done.
drmaryb
January 29th, 2010
10:46 am
Hey FRESH!
Glad you like my humor. I don’t post very often – my business is very demanding these days.
But I like to check in on here from time to time to see what – Big Ray, Doc, Ken, Najeh, Rich Brave and ‘Nem are up to.
This blog can really get bogged down with drama and silly people saying silly stuff…So my Theoretic-ally and Realistic-ally humor was just another attempt at making you guys laugh and just trying to keep it light. Life is way too short to be so serious, especially about some lucky guys playing such a silly game.
For me…it’s all just ENTERTAINMENT! Have fun and pay your bills I say! Whether these TEAMS win or lose…They are all Millionaires!
Anyway, have some fun on here! But more importantly…lets take care of our FAMILIES! Now, that’s REEL!!!!!!!!!!!
Freshmaker
January 29th, 2010
10:56 am
Cosign your 10:45, Daniel. That’s exactly it. Horfy got in because he’s a C (and a really good one), not because he’s “better” than Smoove. I like KG, but he’s missed a lot of time in the first half of the season, and shouldn’t be on the AS team in my opinion. If he wasn’t there then I think Josh would be on the team as a reserve.
vava74
January 29th, 2010
12:46 pm
Interesting stats:
http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus/plusminus_sort.jsp?pcomb=5&season=22009&split=9&team=
Look how the Cavs best 3 line ups do NOT include Shaq…
In relation to the Hawks, the best line up is by far (per minute – not accumulated) is Bibby, Craw, JJ, Smoove and Al, more than doubling the +- ratio of the starting 5.
I think Rod will be smiling if he reads this… This is in line with our typical Hawks game: our starting 5 starts slow and then we get back into the game with Crawford going crazy for a bunch of points.
Some combinations listed have far too few minutes played to be considered relevant (anything under 100 minutes).
vava74
January 29th, 2010
12:47 pm
J-Smoove » G. Wallace head to head per 48 minutes:
JS pts 21,67 : reb 12,2 : ass 5,56 : stl 2,16 : blk 3,1
W pts 21,24 : reb 12,5 : ass 2,18 : stl 1,83 : blk 1,38
I think it is safe to say that Josh wins the head to head hands down!!!
GeeMack
January 29th, 2010
1:05 pm
vava74
Never mind that G. Wallace is a sf that averages 18 pts & 11 rpg. If Josh had Wallaces points and rebound there is no way he’s not an all-star.
SWAT Native
January 29th, 2010
1:05 pm
Astro Joe,
As to the Hawks having trouble selling out a Friday night game against the Celtics, I’ve noticed that the Hawks have started raising the ticket prices for their big games this year. I’m going to watch the game on TV.
vava74
January 29th, 2010
1:11 pm
GeeMack,
Wallace is a combo forward who plays a lot of PF in CHA (look at Diaw’s stats and you will see that he cannot be seen as a guy who really plays the PF position).
Wallace’s numbers are better than Josh’s per game due to the fact that he plays a lot more minutes.
Rod from College Park
January 29th, 2010
1:31 pm
vava74,
I did not have to see that stats to tell you that was our best lineup. I told you before the season started that it would be. Our habit of starting slow and getting behing so early in games is due alot to Marvin starting. Joe is usaually a slow starter, and takes some time to get in the rhythm of the game. No other player in the sarting lineup is a scorer. I think you will eventually see Woodson be forced to start Jamal, especially in the playoffs, because we won’t be able to consitently play from behind agianst good teams.
Ken Strickland
January 29th, 2010
2:21 pm
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the Spurs/Hawks gm, but a quick look at the box score told me a lot. Our HC’s philosophy seems to be if my favorite players aren’t hitting their jumpshots, just keep giving them mins so they can keep trying to pound that square peg into that round hole.
He just doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of trying a different concept, like inserting a player like RMorris, who can utilize his inside moves to help the OFF go inside out when outside period isn’t working.
All of you BIBBY LOVERS can’t come up with an excuse lame enough to excuse giving him 26+mins and getting nothing but zero’s accross the stat sheet. He’s getting worse as the season progresses, and Woodson is hurting this team more and more by trying to protect him and keep him in the starting lineup. He obviously wasn’t hitting his jumper(0-7), wasn’t creating scoring opportunites for others(1 assist), he obviously didn’t penetrate and draw fouls(0-0), and we all know he didn’t play any DEF. DO ANY OF YOU BIBBY LOVERS THINK JTEAGUE COULD HAVE DONE ANY WORSE IF HE’D BEEN GIVEN 26+MINS? WHY IS IT OK WITH ALL OF YOU BIBBY LOVERS IF WE LOSE GMS WITH HIM GETTING EXTENDED MINS AND STINKING UP THE COURT, BUT YOU WANT TO KEEP TEAGUE FIRMLY ENTRENCHED ON THE BENCH BECAUSE YOU HAVE THIS UNWARRANTED FEAR THAT WE’LL LOSE GMS IF WE PLAY HIM EXTENDED MINS? DO YOU SEE HOW STUPID THAT SOUNDS?
Bottomline, you and your beloved HC MWoodson want to continue giving extended mins to an aging PG that’s become inconsistent and whos overall production is declining as the season progresses, instead of playing and developing a younger, quicker, faster, penetrating PG that can actually put DEF pressure on the ball, and who will definitely get better as the season progresses, if given the same mins and support as Bibby. WHERE’S THE LOGIC?
Whoo Hoo! Two Hawks to Soar In All-Star Game | Parkside at Buckhead
February 1st, 2010
8:13 am
[...] Game, and two of our very own Atlanta Hawks have been chosen to play in this year’s battle. Guard Joe Johnson and center Al Horford will join other lead players on the eastern team to play against the Western team. This will be [...]