Big Al's Paint: The Al Jefferson Thread

[TheKingofSting]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Pflanns/status/351825329804939264[/tweet]

What.

Who is he? Never heard of him???

[Liver_Pooty]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Pflanns/status/351825329804939264[/tweet]

What.

I don't understand that tweet.

[TheKingofSting]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Pflanns/status/351825329804939264[/tweet]

What.

I don't understand that tweet.

It sounds like he is saying "I have no idea what I am talking about so I will just bash the Bobcats."

[mrknowitall215]

I don't think it's fair to use 'On Court/Off Court Net' stats to downplay Al Jefferson's impact to the Jazz last year, and then at the same time ignore the fact that he lead the team in PER & WS, not to mention he was tied for 2nd on the team in DRtg, only finishing behind Derrick Favors whom reputation is his defensive prowess. I'm not saying that Jefferson is a great defender, or even a good defender, but it's easy to find stats that skew opinions on his aptitute in that area

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/UTA/2013.html

[-Ian-]

Who is he? Never heard of him???

That guy is a Celtics beat writer.

I don't understand that tweet.

I don't understand it, too.

[JMAC3]

+/- is a stat that can be used to make a player look great or look horrible.

A lot of times it depends who is on the floor with those players. So yes Favors probably does have a much better +/- because the bench was the strength for the Jazz. He was playing against other teams second units.

Either way Jefferson is going to be better than anybody else we have on our roster, and I think it is the managements job to improve the team.

[Liver_Pooty]

People view Washington as a nice upcoming team with Wall, Neal and Porter, but they have Okafor and Nene on the books as well. We will still be a young upcoming team with Jefferson.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

Team can only have so many young guys. I would rather have good veterans rather than washed up bench sitters.

[Bassman]

I would love to see what adding Jefferson could do for this team. I have screamed for a true low-post scorer for YEARS! Al would give us that for sure. His age is still good, and his productivity has remained among the top 4's in the league. We would still likely stay in the lottery next year, while poised to make noise the following season.

With Al we would just need to find our "Kobe"!

[TheKingofSting]

If we give him a max deal I may lose it!

[Nanogeek]

forget about 2014 for a minute....

what would be a reasonable contract for jefferson?

i assume he will want a 4 year deal (3 years would be ideal, imo).

if i am the cats, i would offer 4/40. surely jefferson and his agent will ask for 4/60. would you meet in the middle?

No. I'd offer 4/40 and he can take it or leave it. The guy plays no defense.

[DY_nasty]

Net +/- doesn't define much at all. Its hardly the measuring stick you're implying.

http://www.82games.com/1213/12UTA13.HTM

Lots of things on there imply, to me, that when he's in the game, his positional opponent scores more against him than he does against them.

It also tells me that when he's on the floor, the Jazz were -159 versus +152 when he was on the bench, which means they're A LOT better without him.

It also implies that he was by far the most detrimental player to the team (not counting some guy named Kevin Murphy, who only got 52 minutes all year).

To narrow the field to guys who played 25+ minutes:

Hayward: 5.3
Millsap: 0.5
Mo: -3.3
Foye: -3.9
Jefferson: -8.2

He's at least as good as Boozer or better on the defensive end. Which is right around "average".

Hardly a benchmark to be aiming for.

I'm not even sure how people can say he's a bad defender anymore.

By watching the games. #superfan

A LOT of net +/- completely disregards lineups, matchups, and roles.

For example, guys who are meant to carry the offense end up doing so with the 2nd string for stretches while others rest - yeah, the team +/- is going to be way down then. Guys get put out of position routinely, etc.

I still don't see how he is NOT average.

There simply is no perfect player in the league other than LBJ. Saying that Al's most unforgivable problem is his defense, which is by all definitions average (especially when you take into account that Utah was messing with their lineups all year long), is like saying that Andre Miller shouldn't be allowed to start because he can't hit 3s. When there are legit BAD defenders everywhere it doesn't make sense to lump Al in with the Farieds and the Loves and the Amares.

Ask Jazzboard - since they watch games too. He's not by any means awful - which means he'd probably be one of the best defenders on the Bobcats

[Liver_Pooty]

Biyombo wasn't exactly a great defender either.

[thruthefire]

In addition to Jefferson's defense, it's worrisome that he gets to the free throw line so little, which really takes a hit on his scoring efficiency.

[KembaWalker]

andray blatche just got 1.4 million and wasnt much worse than jefferson last year

[DY_nasty]

andray blatche just got 1.4 million and wasnt much worse than jefferson last year

lol @ worse

but blatche has been intentionally taking borderline minimum contracts since being amnestied to screw over the wizards. im sure there are a couple of articles on the bad blood left between the two parties.

they still pay his contract as long as he keeps taking chump change deals.

[thruthefire]

we need to be one of the 10 worst teams next year to get that 2014 pick as others pointed out. if we pick 11th it goes to the bulls. chance we could add jefferson and still be bottom 10. jefferson has never had the ability to translate what he does to wins.

He's exactly the type of guy who can be very helpful to a bad or average team, but usually not of much use to a great one because of his poor defense and since he needs a lot of shots to get his points.

[TheKingofSting]

He should just go to Houston or Dallas, whoever loses out on Dwight.

[SWedd523]

He should just go to Houston or Dallas, whoever loses out on Dwight.

We can only hope

[vorbis]

i would absolutely love what jefferson could bring to the bobcats--tank be damned--but this fit is all about price/term for me. 4 year deal or less? yes. i think the $/yr will probably be contingent on the length.