Fried Chicken and Bonghits: The Al Jefferson Thread 2.0

[yosemiteben]

The only way its better than it used to be is if Utah didn't even require him to cross half court on defense and instead just let him hang out under the offensive basket 40 minutes a night.

He's been a part of top tier defenses two years in a row. Even if he's not actually better, his agent has much better ammunition to argue that he's not going to hurt your defense.

I think there is no question that Al boosted his value last year and his production this year is probably going to be at least slightly excusable to a new team because of his injuries. The question is going to be how worried are teams going to be about him as an injury risk.

At this point I think it's 50 - 50 as to whether Al opts in.

[tondi123]

The only way its better than it used to be is if Utah didn't even require him to cross half court on defense and instead just let him hang out under the offensive basket 40 minutes a night.

He's been a part of top tier defenses two years in a row. Even if he's not actually better, his agent has much better ammunition to argue that he's not going to hurt your defense.

I think there is no question that Al boosted his value last year and his production this year is probably going to be at least slightly excusable to a new team because of his injuries. The question is going to be how worried are teams going to be about him as an injury risk.

At this point I think it's 50 - 50 as to whether Al opts in.

I don't really disagree with any of that but if i was a team considering signing Al I would be concerned about how much his unwillingness to come into a season in shape is contributing to his injury situation. The guy clearly adheres to the philosophy of "playing himself into shape" and while he might have been able to pull that off when he was younger, at his age conditioning needs to be a year round way of life.

[JDR720]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SteveReedAP/status/588743084395081728[/tweet]

That made me laugh, good luck to him

[fatlever]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SteveReedAP/status/588743084395081728[/tweet]

That made me laugh, good luck to him

This means as much to me as coaches saying "we want to play faster this season, more uptempo" only to see the team walk the ball up the court in the 1st game. Or Clifford saying "I plan on playing Vonleh 30+ minutes in the season finale" only to give Marvin more playing time in the game than Vonleh.

Meaningless BS. Prove it.

If Al Jefferson cares at all about winning and his legacy as a player, he will work his ass off this summer, lose a lot of weight, get in the best shape of his life and come back next season lighter, quicker and with a chip on his shoulder. Instead, I suspect he will spend the summer drinking melted butter out of a straw while laying around on his giant bed.

[yosemiteben]

If Al Jefferson cares at all about winning and his legacy as a player, he will work his ass off this summer, lose a lot of weight, get in the best shape of his life and come back next season lighter, quicker and with a chip on his shoulder. Instead, I suspect he will spend the summer drinking melted butter out of a straw while laying around on his giant bed.

I mean at this point it's not about that. If he can put up an All Star caliber season and stay healthy doing it (tall order), he could get a windfall on his next deal with the cap going up. If comes back and struggles with injury issues and isn't productive, that could cost him like $20M in guaranteed money over the course of the next three years.

[fatlever]

If Al Jefferson cares at all about winning and his legacy as a player, he will work his ass off this summer, lose a lot of weight, get in the best shape of his life and come back next season lighter, quicker and with a chip on his shoulder. Instead, I suspect he will spend the summer drinking melted butter out of a straw while laying around on his giant bed.

I mean at this point it's not about that. If he can put up an All Star caliber season and stay healthy doing it (tall order), he could get a windfall on his next deal with the cap going up. If comes back and struggles with injury issues and isn't productive, that could cost him like $20M in guaranteed money over the course of the next three years.

well, for Al its obviously always been about money. i realize that he is only getting in shape (so he says) in order to get paid huge bucks again. if it was about trying to win, then he wouldnt even be thinking of staying here. he will retire with 0 all-star games, 0 rings, and maybe 3-5 playoff appearances, probably never making it past the 1st round. but he will have earned 200 mil or so in his career.

[BobsBuddy]

Well Al,Opting in is smart at 13.5 million. We all love you here at the Hornet Hive. Unfortunately, as you know the NBA is a business and the Hornets need to cash in on you now and get something back in return. Cho should have at least 4 west coast destinations for you this next season...We need to get younger and run more.

[Eoghan]

Nothing like pinning your hopes on a guy named "Big" Al to lose significant weight and get in great shape.

[catch20two]

Fat Albus cannot consistently defend the 4 spot but situationally against matchups that would allow it like Greg Monroe or Nene at PF I think Clifford could try him there in a dual big role with Biz or another C on the floor.

[Liver_Pooty]

Fat Albus cannot consistently defend the 4 spot but situationally against matchups that would allow it like Greg Monroe or Nene at PF I think Clifford could try him there in a dual big role with Biz or another C on the floor.

out of all 30 teams in the league, maybe.

[catch20two]

Fat Albus cannot consistently defend the 4 spot but situationally against matchups that would allow it like Greg Monroe or Nene at PF I think Clifford could try him there in a dual big role with Biz or another C on the floor.

out of all 30 teams in the league, maybe.

There's other teams that situationally throw out 2 players they play at C at PF/C simultaneously alongside each other but Clifford would never have the opportunity to take advantage of that since he preset his rotations before the game happen.

[Liver_Pooty]

Fat Albus cannot consistently defend the 4 spot but situationally against matchups that would allow it like Greg Monroe or Nene at PF I think Clifford could try him there in a dual big role with Biz or another C on the floor.

out of all 30 teams in the league, maybe.

There's other teams that situationally throw out 2 players they play at C at PF/C simultaneously alongside each other but Clifford would never have the opportunity to take advantage of that since he preset his rotations before the game happen.

I'll just agree to disagree at this point.

[LamarMatic7]

Fat Albus cannot consistently defend the 4 spot but situationally against matchups that would allow it like Greg Monroe or Nene at PF I think Clifford could try him there in a dual big role with Biz or another C on the floor.

out of all 30 teams in the league, maybe.

There's other teams that situationally throw out 2 players they play at C at PF/C simultaneously alongside each other but Clifford would never have the opportunity to take advantage of that since he preset his rotations before the game happen.

of the top of my head, don't they all have at least one very good passer? Marc Gasol, both Splitter and Duncan, both Noah and Gasol, etc. those who don't have exactly a passer then at least have skillful bigs (who are also quick enough on their feet) to make it work, like Aldridge or Nene.

my point is that it can be come a real mess down there and they couldn't do it without their specific skillsets.

this, by the way, is an interesting read on the hard time Favors/Gobert have playing together and quite the creative quirk Snyder inserted in their offense to make it work:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/11 ... ure-is-now

[catch20two]

out of all 30 teams in the league, maybe.

There's other teams that situationally throw out 2 players they play at C at PF/C simultaneously alongside each other but Clifford would never have the opportunity to take advantage of that since he preset his rotations before the game happen.

of the top of my head, don't they all have at least one very good passer? Marc Gasol, both Splitter and Duncan, both Noah and Gasol, etc. those who don't have exactly a passer then at least have skillful bigs (who are also quick enough on their feet) to make it work, like Aldridge or Nene.

my point is that it can be come a real mess down there and they couldn't do it without their specific skillsets.

this, by the way, is an interesting read on the hard time Favors/Gobert have playing together and quite the creative quirk Snyder inserted in their offense to make it work:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/11 ... ure-is-now

Good point and I enjoyed the read on Favors/Gobert but my interest to experiment a Biz/Al frontcourt for brief 3-5 minutes spurts occasionally is purely about the defensive end. Our offense already suck but I wonder how much Biz could make defenses pay on the offensive glass if they attempt to triple team Al like they do and he force the shot like he always do.

[LamarMatic7]

There's other teams that situationally throw out 2 players they play at C at PF/C simultaneously alongside each other but Clifford would never have the opportunity to take advantage of that since he preset his rotations before the game happen.

of the top of my head, don't they all have at least one very good passer? Marc Gasol, both Splitter and Duncan, both Noah and Gasol, etc. those who don't have exactly a passer then at least have skillful bigs (who are also quick enough on their feet) to make it work, like Aldridge or Nene.

my point is that it can be come a real mess down there and they couldn't do it without their specific skillsets.

this, by the way, is an interesting read on the hard time Favors/Gobert have playing together and quite the creative quirk Snyder inserted in their offense to make it work:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/11 ... ure-is-now

Good point and I enjoyed the read on Favors/Gobert but my interest to experiment a Biz/Al frontcourt for brief 3-5 minutes spurts occasionally is purely about the defensive end. Our offense already suck but I wonder how much Biz could make defenses pay on the offensive glass if they attempt to triple team Al like they do and he force the shot like he always do.

I think that defenses more often double by using one of the outside players though rather than the other big man.

[catch20two]

of the top of my head, don't they all have at least one very good passer? Marc Gasol, both Splitter and Duncan, both Noah and Gasol, etc. those who don't have exactly a passer then at least have skillful bigs (who are also quick enough on their feet) to make it work, like Aldridge or Nene.

my point is that it can be come a real mess down there and they couldn't do it without their specific skillsets.

this, by the way, is an interesting read on the hard time Favors/Gobert have playing together and quite the creative quirk Snyder inserted in their offense to make it work:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/11 ... ure-is-now

Good point and I enjoyed the read on Favors/Gobert but my interest to experiment a Biz/Al frontcourt for brief 3-5 minutes spurts occasionally is purely about the defensive end. Our offense already suck but I wonder how much Biz could make defenses pay on the offensive glass if they attempt to triple team Al like they do and he force the shot like he always do.

I think that defenses more often double by using one of the outside players though rather than the other big man.

I agree that most defenses do but Al be shooting thru what seem like any and everything. Lol. Do you have a vid made about Al shooting thru multiple defenders so I can review this?

[LamarMatic7]

Good point and I enjoyed the read on Favors/Gobert but my interest to experiment a Biz/Al frontcourt for brief 3-5 minutes spurts occasionally is purely about the defensive end. Our offense already suck but I wonder how much Biz could make defenses pay on the offensive glass if they attempt to triple team Al like they do and he force the shot like he always do.

I think that defenses more often double by using one of the outside players though rather than the other big man.

I agree that most defenses do but Al be shooting thru what seem like any and everything. Lol. Do you have a vid made about Al shooting thru multiple defenders so I can review this?

I have that 2013-14 post move mix but it's probably too highlighty and not representative of anything.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNtUrVjwu-w[/youtube]

[fatlever]

http://www.atthehive.com/2015/4/25/8490 ... te-Hornets

good stuff about what the coaching staff needs to do to get the offense working again with Al as the main weapon.

[fatlever]

I agree 100% with this article. an Al-centric offense, as the article describes, can work, if the coaching staff and Al are willing to change. We have a player who commands double and triple teams, yet we still have not found a way (or a willingness) to make that work to our advantage. Clifford has all summer and preseason to work out a more diverse offense than what we have seen the past two years. If he comes back in November with the same Alfense crap he tried to jam down our throats this year, then it will prove that he really doesn't belong as a coach.

As far as Jefferson is concerned, dropping weight and getting into shape is certainly a good start, but if he is unable or unwilling to change his flaws, then we are screwed. If he refuses to set solid screens or refuses to pass out of double teams or refuses to move the ball quickly, we are doomed, even with a better offensive scheme.

One thing that has never been answered that I think we would all love to know - Is Jefferson instructed to slip every screen or is that something he does on his own that the coaching staff allows him to get away with?

[Dancingpanda]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SteveReedAP/status/588743084395081728[/tweet]

That made me laugh, good luck to him

The real question is, will he loose 20lvs of fat or 20lbs of muscle Lmao