There's a kind of guy in the NBA who looks mediocre, but he's a favorite of coaches everywhere.
Their performances were flat and stable, and they could not find a few highlight moments throughout their careers.
Their data doesn't explode either, it's so old every year, but it never seems to affect their ability to find a job.
They also don't have any outstanding skills, they complete the tasks at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends safely, and you can't pick out the good, and you can't pick out the bad.
Stand out one, bland.
Representative figures include Danny Green, Holliday, P.J. Tucker, Ingles and others.
Whether in the Spurs, Raptors or Lakers, Danny Green has been ridiculed by fans as "Iron Forest" and "Crouching Dragon Phoenix" because of the projection of the six-veined Excalibur, but the coaches never seem to care about his data and external evaluation. He has always been the absolute champion of the board.
Tucker had hit a wall everywhere when he first entered the league because of his five-short stature, but since he found the self-positioning of the small ball inside, whether it was the Rockets, bucks or this year's Heat, they all stood up because of his joining.
Before Holliday won the championship with the Bucks last year, most people only knew him as one of the league's "Hollidays" of many. It wasn't until the Finals, when Paul was tossed to death, that I realized he was so underrated.
The same was true of Ingles, who had been playing at the Jazz for seven years. Since he was promoted to the main force in the 17-18 season, the Jazz's worst one-year winning rate is also more than 60%. As soon as he was injured this season, the team collapsed immediately, and even rumors of Gobert-Mitchell's discord broke out.
Compared to the superstars, they may be the heart of the coach. Because only by actually coaching and witnessing their subtle but indispensable contributions on the field do you know that such players are equally scarce, and there is no rich disease of those superstar masters.
This type of player is called a "ball blindness appraiser" for the time being.
And the best of them this season is the protagonist of this article, Al Horford.
What does Horford mean to the Celtics?
In the 2017-18 season, the Celtics defensive efficiency was 103.9, the league first,
18-19, although choked by Irving, but still the sixth in the league,
This season, the defensive efficiency is 106.9, which is the first in the league.
All three seasons have one thing in common, with the team's starting center being Al Horford.
In the regular season this year, Tatum's defensive victory contribution (DWS) was the first in the league, Robert Williams was a "Rodman" defensive monster, and Smart became the best defensive player in the guard after Payton in 1996.
But last season, these guys were all in the team.
In the 20-21 season, the Green Army averaged 112.6 points per game, fifteenth in the league, 112.5 in defensive efficiency, and sixteenth in the league.
In the start of these two seasons, there was a change of one person, Al Horford.
Compared to T.T. Thompson before and Daniel Theis, who is now playing his own substitute, how good is Horford?
Offensively, he's one of the best space-based interiors in the league since 2015-16, scoring more than one three-pointer with around 35 percent shooting in each season.
This season he has averaged 1.3 shots from 3.8 shots per game, shooting 33.8 percent.
But what most reflects Horford's uniqueness is the ball against the Nets in the second leg a few days ago.
Bruce Brown was cut off one-on-one by Tatum from outside the three-point line, and Horford, who was still behind Drummond, immediately sprinted to follow, and the stunned Chuang Shen quickly disappeared into the camera.
You know, this year Horford is about to turn 36 years old, and Zhuang Shen is 28 years old.
Of course, the most systematic Horford value is still defense.
This season, Robert Williams has emerged as the NBA version of "Sakuragi Blossom Road", with a height of 2 meters 03, sweeping the entire three-point line up and down with excellent movement and keen sense of smell, averaging 9.6 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocks and 1.0 steals.
But the reason Why Rowe can jump up and down like this is because there is a reassuring Horford under the basket.
Horford, who is 2 meters 06, not only still maintains the sensitivity and hard work of the small ball inside line, but also does not delay the overall change of defense system of the Green Army. At the same time, when facing the inside giants such as Embiid and Alphabet Brother, it is still the last barrier of the team.
Against Philadelphia on December 1 last year, the Emperor scored just 13 points on 3-of-17 shooting under his personal care. At the same time, he only spent 4 fouls, leaving Embiid only 10 free throws on the free throw line.
On December 13 against the Bucks, Alphabet Brother also had only 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
In both matches, the Green Army laughed to the end. Horford's plus-minus on the pitch is a staggering +15.
With the appointment of new coach Udoka this season, the Green Army's defensive system has completely moved towards unlimited changes.
This is the most effective defensive strategy for dealing with blocking and dismantling, which is a great test of the player's one-on-one defensive ability and sense of synergy.
Whether it is the starting lineup of Horford, Lowe, Tatum, Jaylen and Smart, or Grant Williams, White and Pritchard on the bench, the Green Army actually has the ability to change at least three or more positions.
But the most tested of these were Smart and Horford.
The two are not only the commanders of the inner and outer defenses, but also the two players with the greatest pressure to change defenses under the existing system.
Smart is not only the first line of defense for the opposing defender, but also often needs to change the opponent's forward line or even the center after the block is dismantled.
But his excellent judgment and command have made the Green Army the best defensive and three-point team in the league today.
The pressure is even greater on Horford, who is about to turn 36, and his time at the back this season is 21.9%, ranking first among all starting centers in the league, and a career record.
It is precisely because the Green Army has this group of defensive players who are both internal and external, physically, skillfully and consciously strong enough, that they have the courage to play this kind of replacement defense system that has extremely high requirements for players' physical fitness and communication.
Even pressed the most capable duo in the league, Durant + Irving (ten days ago, I believe no one would disagree).
In fact, Horford, this is how he has played all his career.
Second, the ultimate winner in life - the beauty of the country and the mountains all want
In 2007, interior doubles Jay el Horford and Jokim Noah from the University of Florida were selected by the Hawks and Bulls with the third and ninth picks in the first round, respectively.
They dominated the NCAA for those two years, becoming the only defending champion in nearly three decades in 2006-07 under the leadership of current Bulls head coach Billy Donovan. Even in the entire 83-year history of College Basketball, only six universities have done it.
With his joining, the long-weakened Eagles ushered in a long-lost period of strength.
Before he arrived, the Hawks had not made the playoffs in the 21st century.
After his arrival, the Hawks made it to the playoffs for a decade in a row.
The Eagles at that time were a low-key and solid team.
Josh Smith, the "Eagle King" who could dunk with LeBron PK, Joe Johnson, who later became known as "Singles Joe", Mike Bibby, who had the last peak, and the pillar of the interior line was Al Horford, who was still in his rookie period.
In the 07-08 season, the final Celtics finals settled the Lakers led by MVP "Black Mamba" Kobe Bryant 4-2, but faced this Hawks in the first round, they were dragged to grab seven.
Horford, who was still a rookie, was able to score 12.6 points and 10.4 boards in front of Garnett, the best defensive player of the season.
After that round of the game, the Hawks also officially became the Playoffs regulars in the East.
But those years of the East were too strong, LeBron's Cavaliers, the Big Three's Green Army, Howard's Magic, and later the "Big Three" Heat, Rose's Bulls, all of which were strong contenders for the championship.
Horford was named an All-Star in his third year of his career (2009-10), and although his 14.2 points, 9.9 boards, and 2.3 assists are not eye-catching, he is the kind of reliable interior line that can be trusted and can play any hard battle in the eyes of almost all coaches.
Although compared to those superstars under the gods, he was always one level behind the eagle.
2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals lost 4-0 to the Cavaliers,
2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals 0-4 Loss to Magic,
2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals lost 2-4 to the Bulls,
Lost 2-4 to Celtic in the first round of 2012,
Lost 2-4 to the Pacers in the first round of 2013,
The Eagles of those years always played the role of "stepping stones for strong teams", and they lost in the playoffs to almost all of the best teams in the East that season.
Overall excellent, but not high.
It is not only the Eagles, but also the precise positioning of Horford.
This was the case in the 2014-15 season.
In 2013, the team fired former coach Larry Drew and hired Popovich's chief senior disciple, Budenholzer, at the Spurs. He helped the team complete the renewal in just one season.
Joe Johnson went to the Nets and Smith went to the Pistons, but with the introduction of solid and solid big forward Millsap and sharpshooter Korver, "brother-in-law" Teague is also becoming more mature.
The only constant is Horford, who has always been the "patron saint" of the team's penalty area.
In the 2014-15 season, they finished first in the Eastern Conference with 60 wins and 22 losses. Teague's assault, Korver's sharp shot, Carroll's tough defense, and Horford + Millsap's "mini" twin towers were silvery under coaching Coach Bouden.
That year, they were second only to the Warriors, who won 67-15 and later won the championship, overbearing LeBron, who returned to Cleveland and formed the "Cavaliers Version 2.0", to become the number one seed in the East.
Especially in January 2015, they won all 17 games, and the starting five were collectively elected as the best of the NBA of the Month, the only one in history. And with the exception of Carroll, all four were selected as Eastern Conference All-Stars that year.
However, in the eight years of 2010-2018, there was a common dark cloud overhead from all Eastern Conference teams – LeBron James.
No matter how powerful they are in the regular season, in the playoffs they will eventually submit to this ageless king.
2015 Eastern Finals, 0-4 Cavaliers,
2016 Semifinals, 0-4 Cavaliers,
For two consecutive years, eight showdowns, one unwinned.
Even in the second game of 2016, the Cavaliers blasted out a playoff single-game shooting record of 45 from three points.
So in the summer of 2016, the Eagles, who played overall basketball to their limits, were also broken up by LeBron, and Horford signed the Celtics to start his new NBA journey.
He had just turned 30 and was at the peak of his form.
Excellent skills, good consciousness, and agile skills are the fundamentals of 2.06 meters that he can stand in the NBA.
And, many people overlook,
He was one of the first NBA insiders to adapt to the small-ball era and develop a three-point skill pack.
Prior to 2015, in the first eight seasons of his career, he had only made 75 shots and thrown 21 goals outside the three-point line, shooting 28.0 percent from the field.
In the 2015-16 season, he shot 256 three-pointers and hit 88 in one season, shooting 34.4%.
From 2015 to the present, he has been able to guarantee to throw more than one three-pointer with a shooting rate of around 35% in every season.
It took almost a year for him to complete the "spatialization" of a traditional inner line.
Although when it comes to the great interior, he has Duncan, Garnett, Dirk, howard in the league in the first half of his career, and thick eyebrows, letters, Embiid, and Jokic in the second half.
Horford's name is rarely mentioned, but it has never been eliminated by this league, and it has become more and more moist.
Whether it's the Hawks, Celtics or Philadelphia, you can get big contracts wherever you go.
Although he has no championship and no MVP, he has a total career salary of $240 million and has what the league is recognized as the most beautiful wife.
His wife, Emily Vega, was a Dominican representative at the age of 18, winning the 2003 Miss Universe title.
The two married in 2011 and now have four children.
Although not in the NBA Horford is not called a top superstar. But his life was undoubtedly perfect.
So this year's Celtics, has a chance to fulfill his dream of a championship?