How good is Al Jefferson?

[andyhop]

Some will get mad but I said before he is one of the worst defensive players in the league. I personally say there red flags when you have a PF/C that puts up his kind of numbers on bad teams. IMO dominate big mn effect the game so much that if there 20 and 12 there team should be atleast respectable. I've seen Jefferson put up numbers in these games and left feeling his numbers outplayed his impact. Stat wise he is better than TD and KG but his impact isn't a tenth to those players. He has a chance to be a good player but I would not call him a franchise player.

As a 4 he is an average defender,as a 5 he isn't that good defensively.To talk about him being one of the worst defensive players in the league is just ignorance or stupidity.

[richboy]

-= original quote snipped =-



As a 4 he is an average defender,as a 5 he isn't that good defensively.To talk about him being one of the worst defensive players in the league is just ignorance or stupidity.

In terms of all aspects of defense its not. I wouldn't even call him average at the 4.

[kingly222]

One thing I like about Big Al is that he gets better as the season goes on, unlike other elite bigs like Dwight, KG, Boozer. They seem to star of the saeon strong but as the seaon passes there stats drop. Come playoff time this makes a big difference.

[richboy]

One thing I like about Big Al is that he gets better as the season goes on, unlike other elite bigs like Dwight, KG, Boozer. They seem to star of the saeon strong but as the seaon passes there stats drop. Come playoff time this makes a big difference.

thats ridiculous. He gets better because he a young guy that still improving on his game on horrible teams. As the year has gone with more and more losses the more he gets involved in the offense. Jefferson not even close to making the playoffs.

[ChampionRed]

How good is he?

He's pretty damn good!

40 and 19 vs the Nets last night? He's going to be special.

[kingly222]

Obviously the twolves arent making the playoffs. But the type of playe r I described is nice to have in the playoffs as oppsed to guy that doest raise his level of play late in the year.

[bballcool34]

Obviously the twolves arent making the playoffs. But the type of playe r I described is nice to have in the playoffs as oppsed to guy that doest raise his level of play late in the year.

Seeing as Jefferson has never been heavily relied on in the post season, it's erroneous to say that he raises his play in the playoffs.

So, really who knows if Jefferson will raise his play when it counts?

[celtics543]

As a Celtics fan, who watched every game last year and since about 2000, I became very attatched to Big Al when he was drafted. He is currently my favorite player, even though he's not on my favorite team, which I would assume is pretty rare.

Al is an elite big man in this league, and I was actually pretty outspoken about keeping Al, and building around Pierce, Allen, Al, and a center or pg that could have been obtained with the other pieces they traded for KG.

The reason Al is so great is because he plays in the paint. KG is great, don't get me wrong, but I'm not a fan of jump shooting big men, and KG will take a fadeaway every time rather than go to the rim strong. Al has the greatest post moves in the league for anyone under the age of 30, and he's just turned 23. He's also a great rebounder and if he plays his natural power forward position, he is an average defender. The Zach Randolph comparison is not true at all. Al is a great character guy and he doesn't shoot the ball from further out than 15 feet. He also hasn't asked for a trade yet, as Randolph has, which shows that he's a team guy who wants to lead the T-Wolves until they are a great team.

He may not be a Superstar player, but he will be a guy that can be the best second option in the league, or a first option on a team that has a very good rotation.

[lovehoops01]

He's good, and he's hungry. We're going to have to wait to find out for sure, though. He's far from a finished product.

[Platapie]

This thread has reminded me that I don't think I have seen the Wolves play once this year. I will however dismiss his stats by saying he sucks until he is traded to the Raptors. Then he is a superstar and far better than what we gave in return.

[Whateva]

What's more impressive its the 12 rebounds per game, he is with Howard the only players with above 20 and 12

[theGreatRC]

What's more impressive its the 12 rebounds per game, he is with Howard the only players with above 20 and 12

What makes it sweeter is that they were high school rivals.

[MagicFan149]

One thing I like about Big Al is that he gets better as the season goes on, unlike other elite bigs like Dwight, KG, Boozer. They seem to star of the saeon strong but as the seaon passes there stats drop. Come playoff time this makes a big difference.

dwights stats first three years before and after the all star break:
rookie 10.5 pts 9.8rebs pre all star 14.5 pts 10.5 rebs post all star
2nd season 15.4 pts 12.6rebs pre all star 16.3pts 12.2 rebs post all star
3rd season 17.6 pts 11.9 rebs pre all star 17.6pts 13reb post all star

it doesnt seem too go along with youre statement. seems that dwight actually plays better as the season goes on..... dont get me wrong al jefferson is awesome but dont make false blanket statements.

[Doctor MJ]

Honestly I have a tough time evaluating Jefferson. First off it's tough with anyone on a horrible team. Second the team is so much worse than last year after swapping Jefferson and a slew of guys for Garnett. It's starting to be pointed out that the combination Boston improvement + Minny fall is the greatest in history to praise KG. Hard not to also use it to say: Jefferson is much, much, much worse than KG, which means nothing close to an elite player.

[theGreatRC]

Honestly I have a tough time evaluating Jefferson. First off it's tough with anyone on a horrible team. Second the team is so much worse than last year after swapping Jefferson and a slew of guys for Garnett. It's starting to be pointed out that the combination Boston improvement + Minny fall is the greatest in history to praise KG. Hard not to also use it to say: Jefferson is much, much, much worse than KG, which means nothing close to an elite player.

Every post I see on Al from you, he is "much worse" at something than X player. First it's being a "much worse" offensive player than Dwight(Which I think is wrong) and now he is a much, much, much worse player than KG. With that logic, Dwyane Wade is much, much, much worse than Posey because of the difference between the Celtic success and Miami success.


Yeah...

[MagicFan149]

dang posey is a baller

[kingly222]

Magicfan. Funny how you left out the fact that howard played an average of three more minutes the the second half of last season, yet his ppg remained the same.


You would think if he was getting better and he was playing more minutes then his stats would increase significantly which didnt happen.

My point is that after the first month D12 was aver like 25 and 16, people wwere calling him mvp etc... Since then his numbers have dropped and while his rebounds may stay around the same, I expect his points to drop even more by the end of the year. Same thing with Boozer and his hot start.

On the other hand Al started of the year around 19 and 11. Expect by years yeand he will be averaging more points than D12 but still less rebounds. If you compare the two last year you will see something similiar happened.

[MagicFan149]

d12 has other players suronding him ... two infact that are scoring almost 20 a game... what the defense does dictates how much d12 scores if the d sags the perimiter guys get it if the d plays him straight up he dominates... thus defenses are changing how they play the magic right now so d12's numbers are in a slight decline.. not becuase he isnt performing the same he takes what the defense gives him.

mean while al (which is a bada$$) plays on a horrible team putting up great numbers.... im just saying

[D1SGRUNTL3D]

theyre not "horrible" , just freaking young.

[MagicFan149]

the team is bad ... youth is one of the things that makes them bad. dont get me wrong i like alot of the wolves players but that doesnt make the team better.