NBA: Horford interview:”The litter is a mental affair.”

Al Horford is next to Kyrie Irving the most important Boston Celtics player. SPOX met the All-Star in London for a short talk about the Celtics season and his personal development as a sniper.

And his explanation for why Daniel Theis is not a classic rookie.

SPOX: Mr. Horford, first of all congratulations on the very successful Celtics season so far. Would you have thought it possible when Gordon Hayward injured himself after only five minutes of the season?

Al Horford: I never expected such a balance sheet.

SPOX: What is your explanation for this?

Horford: That’s not so easy to answer. It all starts with our coach Brad Stevens, I think – he lives this mentality, that you should get the best out of what you have. He does not think backwards, but forwards, and he transferred that to us quite well. We got together and wanted to show Gordon that we should not yet be depreciated, that we still have quality. But I really didn’t expect that we would have such a constant season without Gordon. Discipline is a very important factor for us.

SPOX: In itself, this is rather unusual, since many of the top performers are in their first or second year of their career. How can it be explained that this works so well in defensive terms? Boston still has the best defensive rating in the league.

Horford: Here too I would start again with the coach. The defensive discipline is very important to him – those who are not at the back of the game don’t get that much time, for example Jaylen Brown learned at the beginning of last season and improved defensively. Defense is the first and most important step in getting into rotation. And even though there are many young players in our team, they all have internalized this. We communicate well with each other defensively and also a Jayson Tatum, who is rookie and only 20 years old, finds himself in it very well. So it is a mix of personnel, coaching and ambition, I would describe it that way.

SPOX: In the big positions you, Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes have experienced players at your disposal, but Daniel Theis also has a rookie. How did you take him?

Horford: Daniel is a winner. In any case, one notices that he is not a classic rookie, because he has been playing professionally on a rather high level for several years now. He is really good as a rebounder and shotblocker and does a lot of Plays under the radar, which don’t stand in the boxing score and still make a positive contribution to the victory. Daniel is definitely a type of player you like to stand next to you, especially defensively he fits perfectly into our scheme.

SPOX: Kyrie Irving also fits well into this scheme, although he has been known as a defensive allergy sufferer in recent years. Did that surprise you?

Horford (grins): I mean, it’s a good surprise, right? I think he’s just aware of the role he’s playing with us right now for the rookies and sophomores. He’s the star, he’s the champion, he’s the one they’ve seen in the finals, even though he’s still very young himself. This automatically makes him one of the leaders and he really wants to take on this role. That is why it is important to him that he not only leads the way in an offensive but also defensive manner with a good example. There’s no question he has the skills to do it.

SPOX: With Irving you have an impressive chemistry with Irving in Pick’ n’ Roll, since the beginning of the season. Have you already worked on it in the training camp or has it just developed naturally?

Horford: That came very naturally indeed. Kyrie is a very intelligent player and I’m just someone who tries to make the game easier for everyone else by moving in a certain way or filling certain spaces. I think that we just complement each other very well – it didn’t take much time to find each other.

SPOX: They were both also in the All-Star Game. Would you say that you are currently in the best shape of your career?

Horford: I would say so, yes. I’ve scored more points in my career in a few seasons than I do now, but I think I’ve become a more complete player and now I’ve mastered some things that I didn’t know how to do in the past. I feel like I’m getting even better.

SPOX: Your threesome in particular has become a real weapon, with over 43 percent of them meeting this season. How much work is behind it? Just a few years ago they hardly took the litter at all.

Horford: In any case, there is a lot of work behind it – you have to adapt a little bit to the times and today the litter has become much more important than at the start of my career. But the work is done almost more on the mental level, if I am honest. It’s all about being comfortable with the Distance Throw and taking it with confidence, simply because it’s not our traditional task. It has already started in Atlanta in the last few years that my coaches and team mates encouraged me to throw from outside because they saw that the litter looked good in practice. Meanwhile I feel very comfortable with it in the game. But there were many units and conversations behind it. As I said, the throw is a mental matter.

SPOX: What are your goals for the rest of the season? How important is First Seed?

Horford: That is not our top priority. We want to play good basketball, that’s what it’s all about – the fact that seeding isn’t everything, we only experienced last season when we had a home advantage in the conference finals and still lost against Cleveland. No, we just want to reach the playoffs in the best possible way and play our best basketball at the right time. Then it will show where the journey leads!