Al Jefferson - He Is Who We Thought He Was

[mct]

I get frustrated with Al, too, but I wish we could just end the myth that he's so inefficient. TS% does not do him justice because TS% doesn't account for turnovers. If you count TOs as FGAs in the TS% formula, Al's only goes down from .504 to .468 this season. Dwight Howard's on the other hand drops from .556 all the way down to .473.

Obviously Jefferson doesn't have the same impact on the other end, and he'll never get the opposing bigs in foul trouble, but he'll always get a decent shot off, and, when he misses (as opposed to turning it over), the team has a chance at an offensive rebound.

Dumping the ball down to him is a fine way to spend an offensive possession.

Edit: Started typing this before dinner. E23 beat me to the point.

[babyjax13]

Al isn't a superstar. We all know this. He is a solid player and pretty much the go to guy in an offense that doesn't have a better option like retiredcoach is saying above. I would rather have Al than Booze to be honest.

No need to make him the scapegoat here. Ty needs to mix things up. Favors starting and Sap coming off the bench might be a interesting move. I would like to see how it plays out.

I agree with this 100%.

[BJSmiles]

I'd be interested to see how many of his misses are offensive rebounded, seems to me like not many are.

[mct]

I'd be interested to see how many of his misses are offensive rebounded, seems to me like not many are.

Man, if we could mine that stat, we could come up with the single greatest metric for scoring efficiency:

PTS / 2 * (FGA + TO + (.44 * FTA) - FGA resulting in OREB)

[StocktonShorts]

I get frustrated with Al, too, but I wish we could just end the myth that he's so inefficient. TS% does not do him justice because TS% doesn't account for turnovers.

Let's use Offensive Rating then, an estimate of how many points a guy produces per 100 possessions, which does account for turnovers.

Al's rating is 105 so far this year, his lowest since his second year. Marc Gasol's ORtg is 115. Dwight Howard's is a career low 104 so far, but his defensive rating is so good that it's pretty stupid to even compare his offense to Al's.

[StocktonShorts]

I'd be interested to see how many of his misses are offensive rebounded, seems to me like not many are.

Man, if we could mine that stat, we could come up with the single greatest metric for scoring efficiency:

PTS / 2 * (FGA + TO + (.44 * FTA) - FGA resulting in OREB)

You should check out some of Dean Oliver's work:

http://www.basketballgeek.com/2009/10/2 ... play-data/

[mct]

Al's rating is 105 so far this year, his lowest since his second year. Marc Gasol's ORtg is 115. Dwight Howard's is a career low 104 so far, but his defensive rating is so good that it's pretty stupid to even compare his offense to Al's.

Yeah, but no one ever calls Dwight Howard an inefficient scorer. That's the only reason I brought him into the comparison, which in most other regards is unfavorable for Big Al.

[Jefff]

He's a good guy, he's a pretty good player, he still needs to be traded. That's really all there is to say about him.

yeah, a useful player, but i won't build a franchise around him. Considering we still have Favors and Kanter, i say he's a great trade chip for the next year.

[Jefff]

Ah, for me he's better than Booz. Similar offense and rebound rate, but two inch taller and a bit better defense; reasonable contract and a good locker room guy.

[The59Sound]

Al puts much more effort than Boozer into playing his own guy and providing help defense, but Boozer is leaps and bounds better on the defensive boards, as far as technique and IQ. Wish Al could figure out how to box-out (or how to shove a guy in the back every play without getting caught, I guess).

[Luigi]

I admit to his box out weakness. Boozer and Okur kept people off the offensive glass. Jefferson and Millsap give up a ton of offensive boards. Millsap is the real head scratcher here, since he really is a great rebounder.

[Reckless]

this dude frustrates me to no end. 19 shots(shooting 36%), 1 free throw attempt, 0 assists, only 5 rebounds in 27 minutes.

[falcon107]

Both Al Jefferson and Millsap have to go. Not that actually they are bad players, but as they don't have any place at this team's future.

As both of them are good players, that means they are assets, they can be traded with two good guards. If after this change and giving more time to our young players success comes, then it is welcomed. Otherwise I do not want this team to go to the playoffs to lose at the first round.

[carrottop12]

All of our bigs are who we thought they were.

Al Jefferson - Inefficient ball stopper.
Paul Millsap - Third big trying to be a starter.
Favors/Kanter - Clearly the future, but too young to give us 30 minutes a night right now.

[StocktonShorts]

I'll say this in defense of Al: I think the Jazz are using him wrong. I think he would flourish with a PG capable of running the high pick and roll. From what I've seen, Al does a nice job in pick and roll situations: he's mobile, agile and has great hands.

The conventional wisdom with Al is dump the ball into him down on the block and "let him go to work" -- I'd be curious to see what happens when you avoid using him that way.

[outerspacefella]

I'll say this in defense of Al: I think the Jazz are using him wrong. I think he would flourish with a PG capable of running the high pick and roll. From what I've seen, Al does a nice job in pick and roll situations: he's mobile, agile and has great hands.

The conventional wisdom with Al is dump the ball into him down on the block and "let him go to work" -- I'd be curious to see what happens when you avoid using him that way.

+1.

[babyjax13]

I'll say this in defense of Al: I think the Jazz are using him wrong. I think he would flourish with a PG capable of running the high pick and roll. From what I've seen, Al does a nice job in pick and roll situations: he's mobile, agile and has great hands.

The conventional wisdom with Al is dump the ball into him down on the block and "let him go to work" -- I'd be curious to see what happens when you avoid using him that way.

Absolutely. The few times he and Harris have run the pick and roll it has looked like the perfect play for him. We need to be running it at least 3-4 times per game.

[UTJazzFan_Echo1]

I agree with the P-and-R, we really need to start using it more often. It's almost as if our pick and roll offense died when Boozer left, it seems like we rarely use it anymore since his departure. I would be really interested to see how much we used it when Boozer was here compared to now.

I think using it more would help all of our bigs, even Favors and Kanter.