Big Al's Paint: The Al Jefferson Thread

Radu_Hornets · Post #1621 » by **Radu_Hornets** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:07 am

Braggins wrote:Al was the worst player on our team last night. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, when he isnt able to do his thing on offense he is a downright awful player and shouldnt even be in the game. He needs to be held accountable. Im hoping he just needs to get game ready and shake off the rust so he can pullnhis weight but last night was the worst game ive ever seen from him. He was seriously better in the playoffs last year with one foot.

Even when he is not able to "do his thing" as you say, the other team will continue to double him anyway because they know that a simple bucket could get him going.

And since I'm good in math and logic, whenever a player is doubled, it means that a player will be alone on the court.

Al could be there without even taking a shoot during one game and have a greater impact on the offense than most of our players.

Braggins · Post #1622 » by **Braggins** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 10:24 am

Radu_Bobcats wrote:
Braggins wrote:Al was the worst player on our team last night. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, when he isnt able to do his thing on offense he is a downright awful player and shouldnt even be in the game. He needs to be held accountable. Im hoping he just needs to get game ready and shake off the rust so he can pullnhis weight but last night was the worst game ive ever seen from him. He was seriously better in the playoffs last year with one foot.

Even when he is not able to "do his thing" as you say, the other team will continue to double him anyway because they know that a simple bucket could get him going.

And since I'm good in math and logic, whenever a player is doubled, it means that a player will be alone on the court.

Al could be there without even taking a shoot during one game and have a greater impact on the offense than most of our players.

Except that he doesn't pass out of double teams well. I mean, he can, but he rarely does. Normally when the double comes he either forces a shot anyways or just passes back out to whoever made the entry pass and tries to re-post. I'm not denying that the attention he draws is a good thing but it doesn't have as much of an effect as it should. The attention he drew last night didn't even come close to outweighing how bad his defense was. I'm not saying we should bench him or anything based of this game. I think we are all pretty confident that unless he gets injured he'll be back to putting up around 20 a game before long. He was just really really bad last night. Most of our team was bad for the first 44 minutes of that game. Al was just the worst in my opinion. He made a couple clutch shots towards the end of regulation though.

KingCat · Post #1623 » by **KingCat** » Mon Nov 3, 2014 5:09 am

I probably only watched about 10 games in their entirety last season, and now I think I know why, Alfense is **** painful to watch. Im really starting to lean towards dropping Al next year and aggressively pursuing another allstar big man such a Gasol, Monroe or Horford. As someone stated in the Knicks gametread, the only player Alfense benefits is Al.

Post #1624 » by **JDR720** » Mon Nov 3, 2014 5:25 am

KingCat wrote:I probably only watched about 10 games in their entirety last season, and now I think I know why, Alfense is **** painful to watch. Im really starting to lean towards dropping Al next year and aggressively pursuing another allstar big man such a Gasol, Monroe or Horford. As someone stated in the Knicks gametread, the only player Alfense benefits is Al.

Everyone else on the team is better suited for a fast pace offense. Al's offense is good but its not very efficient and his defense sucks

Liver_Pooty · Post #1625 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Mon Nov 3, 2014 5:32 am

Without Al we win 30 games last season and dont make the playoffs this season. Period.

Post #1626 » by **yosemiteben** » Mon Nov 3, 2014 5:34 am

JDR720 wrote:
KingCat wrote:I probably only watched about 10 games in their entirety last season, and now I think I know why, Alfense is **** painful to watch. Im really starting to lean towards dropping Al next year and aggressively pursuing another allstar big man such a Gasol, Monroe or Horford. As someone stated in the Knicks gametread, the only player Alfense benefits is Al.

Everyone else on the team is better suited for a fast pace offense. Al's offense is good but its not very efficient and his defense sucks

It's not like you run fast breaks with all five guys, Al can be the trailer. He is by far our best and most consistent option when we get into a half court offense.

Post #1627 » by **JDR720** » Mon Nov 3, 2014 5:57 am

I like Al a lot, but if we get the chance to replace him with a more all-around starting C, I would do it

Liver_Pooty · Post #1628 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Mon Nov 3, 2014 6:01 am

JDR720 wrote:I like Al a lot, but if we get the chance to replace him with a more all-around starting C, I would do it

Good luck with that.

babyjax13 · Post #1629 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Nov 3, 2014 6:56 am

JDR720 wrote:I like Al a lot, but if we get the chance to replace him with a more all-around starting C, I would do it

That's how we felt in Utah, and then we moved him, and now we suck. It wasn't the wrong decision because it was time to move on with a younger core, but you could spend your money on a lot worse player than Al. He's an awesome guy, and a great player to have in the half court. He comes with some flaws, but he very much is one of the top 8 to 10 offensive options in the league (behind Durant, Melo, Westbrook, Curry, LeBron, Love, Harden and...the rest is debatable IMO).

Braggins · Post #1630 » by **Braggins** » Tue Nov 4, 2014 8:08 am

babyjax13 wrote:
JDR720 wrote:I like Al a lot, but if we get the chance to replace him with a more all-around starting C, I would do it

That's how we felt in Utah, and then we moved him, and now we suck. It wasn't the wrong decision because it was time to move on with a younger core, but you could spend your money on a lot worse player than Al. He's an awesome guy, and a great player to have in the half court. He comes with some flaws, but he very much is one of the top 8 to 10 offensive options in the league (behind Durant, Melo, Westbrook, Curry, LeBron, Love, Harden and...the rest is debatable IMO).

You also lost Milsap and weren't really good before you lost Al. That being said Al probably is in the top 10-15 offensive options. He is also in the bottom 10-15 defensive options among bigs that play regular minutes. It is hard to tell how worth it he is at times.

MPM · Post #1631 » by **MPM** » Tue Nov 4, 2014 1:06 pm

I don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but doesn't Al seem even fatter this season? May be contributing to his slowish/sluggish start.

LamarMatic7 · Post #1632 » by **LamarMatic7** » Tue Nov 4, 2014 1:10 pm

MPM wrote:I don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but doesn't Al seem even fatter this season? May be contributing to his slowish/sluggish start.

He definitely isn't slimmer, I can say that much.

Even though he does have an out by choosing the player option and going at it again next year, way to prepare for getting your last big contract, Al!

Radu_Hornets · Post #1633 » by **Radu_Hornets** » Tue Nov 4, 2014 2:08 pm

LamarMatic7 wrote:
MPM wrote:I don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but doesn't Al seem even fatter this season? May be contributing to his slowish/sluggish start.

He definitely isn't slimmer, I can say that much.

Even though he does have an out by choosing the player option and going at it again next year, way to prepare for getting your last big contract, Al!

He got 2 big dunks against Memphis though if I recall correctly

LamarMatic7 · Post #1634 » by **LamarMatic7** » Tue Nov 4, 2014 2:18 pm

Radu_Bobcats wrote:
LamarMatic7 wrote:
MPM wrote:I don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but doesn't Al seem even fatter this season? May be contributing to his slowish/sluggish start.

He definitely isn't slimmer, I can say that much.

Even though he does have an out by choosing the player option and going at it again next year, way to prepare for getting your last big contract, Al!

He got 2 big dunks against Memphis though if I recall correctly

Fair point. We hadn't seen him throw it down as powerfully as he did on that second one.

HornetJail · Post #1635 » by **HornetJail** » Tue Nov 4, 2014 3:04 pm

There is no need to be concerned about Al's slow start. I posted something about how this happens every season and then he heats up by January. It appears that he just relaxes too much during the offseason and spends the first 2 months of the season rounding himself back into shape. Hey, if that's what it takes to have a perennial 20/10 guy, I'll take it. Between Kemba and Lance figuring it out between them, with Clifford still toying around with rotations, and Hendo trying to figure out his new role, it's not a huge deal that Al isn't playing at peak form right now. We're probably going .500 or less for the first few weeks of the season anyway.

Couldn't find my post, so I'll just show you guys his monthly stats for his career- keep in mind these are his career averages, that include his rookie season, and a couple down years from his ACL injury a few years back:
He is craptastic in October games (14.4/8.9 on 39%)
Shows some improvement in November (15.1/8.1 on 49.8%)
A little improvement in December (16.1/9.3 on 48.5%)
Rounding into form in January (17.3/9.9 on 49%)
Hits peak form in February (19.1/9.4 on 51.6%)
March stays great (17.8/8.9 on 51.8%)
April is more of the same (17.3/9.2 on 51.6%)
His offensive ratings from Nov-Jan are 106-107, and he puts up a 110 ORtg in Feb-April. Defensive rating stays even throughout the season.

The mid-season jump happens nearly every season. He's started just about every season slower than he ended it. It's almost like clockwork.

HornetJail · Post #1636 » by **HornetJail** » Tue Nov 4, 2014 3:07 pm

LamarMatic7 wrote:
Radu_Bobcats wrote:
LamarMatic7 wrote:He definitely isn't slimmer, I can say that much.

Even though he does have an out by choosing the player option and going at it again next year, way to prepare for getting your last big contract, Al!

He got 2 big dunks against Memphis though if I recall correctly

Fair point. We hadn't seen him throw it down as powerfully as he did on that second one.

That dunk was fantastic. It was like a post-prime Shaq spike. That was probably the first poster dunk he's had here.

Braggins · Post #1637 » by **Braggins** » Thu Nov 6, 2014 6:07 am

Al looked a lot more focused on defense against Miami. I was startin to worry a little bit that injuries had made him even slower and less capable of contesting around the rim. He is never going to be good but it was nice to at least see him in the right place most of the time making some attempt at affecting the play.

Post #1638 » by **yosemiteben** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 2:55 pm

Al currently has a PER of 22.4. Averaging 23 ppg on his trusty 49-50% FG%. Bumped up his blocks to almost 2 per game. Currently has the lowest DRTG on the team.

It's early, but glad to see Al play with some urgency at the beginning of the season.

James Gatz · Post #1639 » by **James Gatz** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:18 pm

We lose whenever he isn't knocking down the majority of his shots. DRTG is a flawed stat as obviously Al has been awful on defense this season, really every season.

Post #1640 » by **yosemiteben** » Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:25 pm

James Gatz wrote:We lose whenever he isn't knocking down the majority of his shots.

He is definitely pretty much the only one keeping us afloat on offense. I don't really see this as a knock on him though.