I am glad we picked Kanter and Burks. Will Jefferson improve

Hoops Addict · Post #1 » by **Hoops Addict** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:55 pm

Long time no post.

I am pleased with the picks. Go Kanter- The videos show that he appears to have a very good outside shot ( with good range) and uses his body like a real center. I hope for 12 points and 8 rebounds next year.

Will Jefferson be better playing PF with a legitimate center like Kanter??? This will be a good test for Al.....instead of being forced to playing center ( undersized)......he will be guarded by the PF.

Xsy · Post #2 » by **Xsy** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:22 pm

Pretty sure Utah's been trying to assemble a bunch of guys that can play multiple positions. I expect PF and C minutes from Big Al, Favors, and Kanter. PF and maybe SF from Millsap.

Hayward can be playing SG and SF, with Miles, and Burks can play SG and PG if he needs to.

We have a logjam, but a lot of the guys are interchangable. Ty should be able to find minutes for everyone.

eLo · Post #3 » by **eLo** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:17 am

Hoops Addict wrote:Will Jefferson be better playing PF with a legitimate center like Kanter???

Kanter is not legit center he is 19 years old rookie, and we don't have to worry about Jeffersons improvement( last season 1,528 pts/ 794 rb) but about improvement of prospects like Favors and Kanter.

Im really curious why peps constantly are worry about Big Al, i dont recall that talk about Williams although he was also mediocre defender and post similar stats ( if you can transfer assist to rebounds)

Reckless · Post #4 » by **Reckless** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:49 am

eLo wrote:
Hoops Addict wrote:Will Jefferson be better playing PF with a legitimate center like Kanter???
Kanter is not legit center he is 19 years old rookie, and we don't have to worry about Jeffersons improvement( last season 1,528 pts/ 794 rb) but about improvement of prospects like Favors and Kanter.

Im really curious why peps constantly are worry about Big Al, i dont recall that talk about Williams although he was also mediocre defender and post similar stats ( if you can transfer assist to rebounds)

how do you know Kanter can't play center, he is big enough to play center

he is more of a center than Jefferson is

Jazzfan12 · Post #5 » by **Jazzfan12** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:46 pm

Al was one of the worst defenders in the league and has had a positive net +/- once in the last four years despite playing on terrible teams. He needs badly to improve his BBIQ or he'll be a net negative on the court still...

Neon Black · Post #6 » by **Neon Black** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:58 pm

I think we're all forgetting that one of Kanter's big ? marks is his defense. Al isn't great, but at least he blocks shots. I don't see exactly how Kanter is a better center....especially without a single NBA game on his record, much less a game at all in a long while.

As for Big Al, the question isn't whether or not he can put up the #'s. He beasted last season. The real question is can he do it on a winning team? It's yet to be proven.

Xsy · Post #7 » by **Xsy** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:34 pm

Al is bad at defense, but so was Memo. I doubt Kanter will be any worse than either of them, especially three years into his career.

eLo · Post #8 » by **eLo** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:42 pm

Al is not bad at def, i mean you wont loose games cuz his def presence, last season in Jazz uniform he was exactly a mediocre defender, Boozer that is synonymous of bad defense and most of all bad attitude at def end.

ut_jazz wrote:how do you know Kanter can't play center, he is big enough to play center

he is more of a center than Jefferson is

Im not saying he cant, but if some one is assuming that right away, or any time soon he will be better center than Jefferson is right now, for me is deluding. Big Al was last season top 5 center in that whole league, saying that Kanter will be any time soon better player than he is, is really underestimate Jefferson. Plus Big Al got better reach and wingspan so saying that Kanter is more of a center is also not exactly true.

All ya have to remember that Kanter is unproven rookie, and he suppose to be treated as so, he is no legit center he is 19 good prospect, no one can guaranty that he will ever be better than Big Al is already.

Reckless · Post #9 » by **Reckless** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:08 am

Big Al will forever be the guy who puts up big #'s while his team LOSES!

Can't imagine Kanter will be worse than Big Al.

Luigi · Post #10 » by **Luigi** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:34 pm

Regarding Kanter's defense . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E5aCEH6HSys

HSOB SIRHC · Post #11 » by **HSOB SIRHC** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:07 pm

Just curious, but did you guys ever consider drafting Jonas Valanciunas? I know most people here were debating between Kanter and Knight.

babyjax13 · Post #12 » by **babyjax13** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:26 pm

Some people thought he looked like a decent prospect, but videos raised a lot of concerns about his athleticism, so most of us had Knight and Kanter pegged.

JMillott · Post #13 » by **JMillott** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:06 pm

Longtime Al Jefferson fan here as I'm a Celtics fan who has become a Wolves and Jazz fan due to big Al. Just would like to put my two cents in on Al Jefferson and his defensive rep especially.

Al Jefferson is or at least was ideally suited to playing PF and he actually did a fantastic job on them in his last year in Boston playing next to a legitimate NBA center in Kendrick Perkins. He did a fine job against centers as well that season to be honest.

When he was traded to Sota they wanted him to play center and had him bulk up to play the position fulltime. Now this allowed him to handle the banging and bumping a little better perhaps but it hurt his quickness and stamina which hurt his ability to play his natural PF spot and actually hurt his weakside rotation and his pick and roll defense.

Now post knee injury he has lost most of that weight and with two and a half years he has healed as much as he is going to from the knee injury. If he loses that last 10-15 lbs and plays at the 240-245 he was at in 06/07 I'm of the opinion he will be fine defensively and perhaps even above average again against PF's.

Now that covers part of it, the other part is that Jefferson has been killed over the years to an unreasonable extent for failings to be Dwight Howard basically.

He spent much of his time in Boston at center with Ryan Gomes at PF, he spent much of his time in Sota again with Gomes at PF or Love who is worse defensively then Jefferson and then last year he spent most of his time with Millsap at PF.

Now Millsap isn't a bad defender, or at least hasn't been up to this year. That being said its tough to as a 6'9 PF to play C next to a 6'7 PF and be real successful defensively just as its tough to ask the 6'7 PF to have real success defensively next to the 6'9 PF who is playing C. Not to forget that it was also a lot to ask Millsap to remain as effective playing 35+ minutes as an undersized big for a whole season as he was doing it for 25/30 minutes in past years.

Now going forward the Jazz have done something that both Boston and Sota failed to do in my opinion. In getting Favors and now Kanter the Jazz have brought in a player who should be able to compliment Jefferson regardless of which position Jefferson should be fine next to either of them and in smaller chunks of time I think Big Al and Millsap are fine to.

I even think should Okur play and stay they can play together if Jefferson gets down to 245 lbs. I think its likely actually as Kanter is too young and missed too much basketball to be expected to jump right into the NBA.

I just hope the Jazz drafted Kanter and traded for Favors with the idea of actually giving Big Al the best chance to be successful and not with the intention of replacing him.

They've got so many of the right pieces in place that just need time to develop and learn to play together that it'd be a shame for Jefferson to get moved again, well unless he was coming home to the Celtics as the new center.

PG Harris Watson
SG Burks Miles
SF Hayward Miles Millsap
PF Favors Millsap Jefferson
C Jefferson Okur Kanter

I think that can be a successful team with time and perhaps one more piece, that they should be able to get in next years draft with a little luck. They might not even need an extra piece if Burks or Hayward break out.

gojazzmjsucks · Post #14 » by **gojazzmjsucks** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 11:50 pm

I got to see Al play in Boston and he was my favorite player. I agree with the point you made about the Jazz bringing in Kanter and Favors. It allows us to find where Al fits better now because we have pieces that can go it at the one he is not. Alone Al and Sap may not be too bad, but for some reason they were horrible together. I think it was on the rotoworld website where they said Sap and Al were an offensive dream and a defensive nightmare. There are lots of teams that would love to have Sap. I'm a big fan of keeping Al for a long time. I've said it before, anyone who can play 82 games and put up numbers like that is a keeper. They don't grow on trees in the Nba that has become a wing league.

Kaner · Post #15 » by **Kaner** » Tue Aug 9, 2011 2:59 pm

I think those picks gave u guys extreme versatility. you could go big: Burks/Hayward/AK-Milsap /Favors/Kanter or conventional Harris/Burks/Hayward/Favors/Jefferson or small ball Harris/Burks/Hayward/Milsap/Favors.... u have one of the deepest front courts in the league with a nice mixture of youth, veterans, defense and offense.... you guys should give your rookies the drivers seat and try for another lotto pick next year, and grab a pg like Teague...than you have a young starting 5 that could develop some serious chemistry. Teague/Burks/Hayward/Favors/Kanter... very nice...and it's crazy how quickly your team seemed to rebuild. The NY pick, getting Favors, and than the NJ pick...3 mid to high lotto picks in 2 years that weren't even yours and also avoided allowing Deron to hold your franchise and fanbase hostage like Melo, LeBron, Bosh, etc...your GM deserves a pat on the back and a beer...too bad Sloan had to resign, wish they woulda just traded Deron first.