Atlanta Hawks at Knicks: Al Horford on Amar’e Stoudemire: ‘He’s a talker. All I do is bring my game to the court.’
New York–Yes, Al Horford said “you take it personally” when someone calls you out in the media the way Amar’e Stoudemire has done twice to Horford this season.
But Horford, not much for hype, says he will make his point tonight at Madison Square Garden against Amar’e’s Knicks.
“He’s a talker. He’s going to talk, you know what I’m saying?” he said at shootaround today. “All I do is bring my game to the court. That’s what I will do tonight.”
Stoudemire has tried to inflame what already promised to be an intense game after Marvin Williams and Shawne Williams scuffled during Atlanta’s 111-102 victory on Jan. 28. Both immediately after that game and again yesterday, Stoudemire seemed to question Horford’s toughness and declared that Horford “doesn’t want to see me.”
Horford seemed more amused than offended by that last part.
“I don’t understand what he means by I don’t want to see him,” Horford said. “Like we are supposed to be scared of him or something. Ain’t nobody scared of nobody. We are all grown men. It’s all good.”
Seemingly lost amid the fight and Amare’s tough talk is that the Hawks own two victories this season against the Knicks, who are being left behind by Atlanta in the Eastern Conference standings.
Before the victory at Philips the Hawks won 99-90 on Nov. 27 at the Garden, after which New York won seven straight against mostly lesser competition.
“I walked out with the W’s the last two times,” Horford said. “So that’s that.”
Horford was productive and efficient in both games. In New York he had 17 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals, one block and one turnover while shooting 7 of 14 from the field. In Atlanta he had 19 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, one steal, one block (against Amar’e) and one turnover while shooting 8 of 12 from the field.
Amar’e has scored more than Horford in the matchups but hasn’t been as efficient. In New York he had 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block and four turnovers while shooting 7 of 15 from the field. In Atlanta he had 27 points, three rebounds, one assist, zero steals, one block and three turnovers while shooting 9 of 21 from the field.
And Stoudemire is down 0-2 where it counts most, though he’s certainly leading in sound bites.
“He’s making a huge deal out of this,” Horford said. “It’s just another game. I’m coming out ready to play, like I do everything night.”
Oh, yeah, the game.
Coach Larry Drew said he would use the “big” lineup again tonight, unless the Knicks go small with Amar’e at center instead of Mozgov.
“That would not be a favorable matchup for Twin,” Drew said with a wry smile.
As for all the noise surrounding the game, Drew the Hawks don’t need it to get going but said he’s always willing to use “whatever it takes to get my guys juiced up and motivated.” In this case, though, he doesn’t think he needs to say much to his players.
“They see it. They hear it. They got on the bus [for shootaround] telling me some things. They are aware of it. And they were expecting it. It’s not a thing about anybody being surprised.”
Al acknowledged that, in the end, the game could end up being a fun spectacle.
“We’re playing at the Garden, man,” he said. “It doesn’t get any bigger than this, at least for me. Any time I come to New York I am looking forward to it, pre-Amare Stoudemire and with him being here. So I am just excited to play.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
483 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:17 pm
Bad shot by Joe, bad shot by Smoove, bad shot by Jamal, bad shot by Mo, bad shot by Smoove, bad shot by Jamal…
The worst part about it is that the Knicks are not playing that well on offense and are taking their own share of bad shots. And when they don’t the Hawks have defended them pretty well over the last few minutes. It’s really a shame the Hawks can’t convert this into a run of their own. This is a golden opportunity they are wasting.
Sautee
February 16th, 2011
9:17 pm
“He (Jamal) has not played well since LD started playing him extended minutes at the backup PG spot…”
co-freakin’ sign
trade him for a starting PG
Wabe
February 16th, 2011
9:18 pm
Not knockin’ Josh here, but a lot of times, people try to defend him taking jumpers by saying he usually takes them at the end of shotclocks. That really hasn’t been the case today.
He’s been jumper happy.
It’s so funny with this team too. In the pregame, you always have LD talking about playing inside-out. The Hawks come out and decide to stay perimeter.
Dumb stuff.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:19 pm
Be aggressive, Al…
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:20 pm
d down!
Wabe
February 16th, 2011
9:20 pm
There you go…
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:20 pm
Bibby is a pretty good post defender.
O'Brien
February 16th, 2011
9:20 pm
Jamal is 1-6 tonight in 13 minutes, with no points, no assists, no rebounds.
Why not give Jordan a few minutes of PT?
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:21 pm
Knicks are going after Bibby. Credit to Bibby, though, he has played a solid game.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:22 pm
What the f-ck was that, Jamal…
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:22 pm
smh. poor way to end qrt.
honest_abe
February 16th, 2011
9:23 pm
wabe: you nailed it. the hawks get way too jumper happy. they’re a soft bunch. its amazing they aren’t down by 20
Melvin
February 16th, 2011
9:23 pm
SMH, ISO Marvin….
Wabe
February 16th, 2011
9:23 pm
lol @ that.
That’s exactly what I was talking about.
Him and Zaza can’t finish. They end up losing the ball and ultimately just try to play for a whistle.
Samuel
February 16th, 2011
9:23 pm
Mo looks like a skunk. LD shops at Value Village on Memorial Drive.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:23 pm
As a team, the Hawks have just been terrible offensively in this quarter. Predictably, they went away from what worked for them in the first half. Terrible.
ATL FAN
February 16th, 2011
9:24 pm
iso marvin lmfao
hawks_4_life
February 16th, 2011
9:24 pm
LIKE I SAID….SCREW YOU CRAWFORD….CANT WAIT FOR YOU TO LEAVE…..NEVER WAS A FAN….EVEN IF YOU ARE ON YOU STILL SUCK….YOU SCORE 50 GIVE UP 70….
Ron
February 16th, 2011
9:24 pm
I agree with Najeh on this one. We really need to get the ball into the post. Also, can we please get Al some more shots? Those two requests basically go hand-in-hand. We need to get Josh off of the perimeter and into the post, and we need to either run some pick-and-pop, pick-and-roll, or post-ups for Al as well. This game is getting out of hand. By the way, that last foul on Al could really hurt us. If I were L.D., I’d roll the dice and not sit Horford beyond the 8:00 minute mark in the fourth quarter, because the way this game is going, we can’t stick with the bench too long.
O'Brien
February 16th, 2011
9:24 pm
My bad. Jamal has 2 points. Why not give Jordan (or Teague some minutes at bacup PG, since Jamal is horrible tonight).
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:25 pm
“Not knockin’ Josh here, but a lot of times, people try to defend him taking jumpers by saying he usually takes them at the end of shotclocks. That really hasn’t been the case today.”
No argument from me today. Most of his misses in this game have been unnecessary. And Jamal has if anything been worse.
Melvin
February 16th, 2011
9:25 pm
I hope this is the last game we see this Hawks roster intact….
Sautee
February 16th, 2011
9:25 pm
Second pick overall stripped by a second string center.
Tell me again why Marvin is not a disappointment?
ATL FAN
February 16th, 2011
9:26 pm
agree im actually hoping for a blowout, only way to make things change around here…
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:26 pm
aye Woody Steve Harvey suits were no better.
hawks_4_life
February 16th, 2011
9:26 pm
As bad as it is I still feel we can win this
O'Brien
February 16th, 2011
9:26 pm
Can teague (or Jordan) do any worse than Jamal has done tonight though?
In 14 minutes, jamal is 1-7, 2 pts, no rebounds, no assists, no steals. This is where I say give th eyoung guys a chance.
Jody
February 16th, 2011
9:27 pm
LD made a poor decision by changing the lineup for this game. He should have made the Knicks have to play a bigger lineup instead of trying to match what the Knicks do.
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:27 pm
damn.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:27 pm
Bibby has been huge in this game. Now the Hawks need stops.
James
February 16th, 2011
9:27 pm
We are continuing our negative rebounding trend once again. We are now being outrebounded 35-27, and the only guy getting it done on the glass (Al) is in foul trouble on the bench.
ATL FAN
February 16th, 2011
9:27 pm
lmfao steve harvey suits hahahahaha
O'Brien
February 16th, 2011
9:28 pm
Ok Guys. 20.5 points is the points for the hawks.
Who wants to play over/under?
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:28 pm
nice Josh.
Sautee
February 16th, 2011
9:28 pm
I wonder if LD has seen enough to make changes yet?
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:28 pm
lol @ Bibby lost
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:28 pm
Horrible start to this quarter defensively.
ATL FAN
February 16th, 2011
9:29 pm
under
honest_abe
February 16th, 2011
9:30 pm
melvin: amen
Sautee
February 16th, 2011
9:30 pm
O’B,
I’ll say 17
Mac-Town, Georgia (urban-macon.blogspot.com)
February 16th, 2011
9:31 pm
Top Performers
Los Angeles: P. Gasol 26 Pts, 16 Reb, 2 Ast
Cleveland: R. Sessions 23 Pts, 6 Ast, 3 Stl
http://espn.go.com/nba/conversation?gameId=310216005
hawks_4_life
February 16th, 2011
9:31 pm
FOR ME THE WORSE PART IS NOT THAT IM UP AT 330AM, ITS THAT I HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE NY TELECAST. ENOUGH FOR ONE NIGHT….SOLDIER OUT…..
James
February 16th, 2011
9:32 pm
Josh needs to calm down in this game a bit. He’s a bit too trigger happy right now. I’m all for him being aggressive and attacking the basket, but a lot of his shots have been out of control tonight. He’s 6-15 right now. I’d prefer for him to try and contribute in other ways on nights like this when he just doesn’t have it going shooting the ball. You can dominate a game without take a shot when you have a skill set like his.
Jae Evolution
February 16th, 2011
9:32 pm
So when’s that trade for Ramon going down…enough with these jumpers, the reason we lose in the fourth is because we take ALL jumpshots, we won’t win this if they first shot we take is a jumper, let’s just see…
O'Brien
February 16th, 2011
9:33 pm
I think Hawks get 20 points, so I’m going under.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2011
9:33 pm
Under, by far. Doesn’t seem like there’s any end in sight to the jumpers.
Wabe
February 16th, 2011
9:33 pm
Whatever…
Win or lose, makes no difference to me. Because again, this team hasn’t shown anything up to this point in the season that they’re really geared to do anything come playoff time.
I’ll say again, the Knicks added Amare and Felton. It’s really those two surrounded by a bunch of role players. But, what’s sad is a lot of those role players seem like better players than some of our core peices. I really think if these two were matched up in the playoffs, it’d be a 7 game series. And I think that’s sad, because they basically added Amare and Felton and they’re good enough to compete and possibly knock off a Hawks team that’s been working to get where we are for 3-4 seasons now.
bigdave
February 16th, 2011
9:34 pm
lol @ Bibby:
“aye lets get some stops and run man”
superiorblogman
February 16th, 2011
9:34 pm
Hawks are all gay
James
February 16th, 2011
9:35 pm
If we lose this game, you can bank on the fact that L.D. will say that we “settled” too much in this game. And, he’d be 100% correct in that assessment. We are not the orlando magic. I realize that the 3 ball has been kind to us in this game, but that does not mean that we need to put all of our hopes into threes to get us back into this game.