Al Jefferson is the problem

[revprodeji]

I agree he has room to improve buti have seen improvements. al is at least the defender that boozer is. his reaction is better this year. he is taking charges too.

the passing is a concern but I wonder how much is on him and how much is system/coaching.

he is far from perfect but he is a positive piece that can be build around. but he would be best served as the 1b option behind a leader pg.

[deeney0]

I don't think his defense has improved from last year, I think it's regressed from where it was last year. Man might be where it was, but his help is sucking. Right now, there's nothing keeping a guy like Tony Parker from getting to the hoop at will. We need that. Al was blocking more balls at the end of last year - he wasn't to the point where he was making guys like Parker think twice about taking it to the hole, but he looked like he might be that guy one day. Now? Nah.

[TrentTuckerForever]

I like Al alot, but he'll never be the best player on a championship level team.

We used to say that about KG, too.

As much as I like the way Smith is playing right now, I think it would help Al and Love if they had a third big to rotate with them that was an athletic defensive shotblocking type.

Agree 100%. Coaching and talent are more pressing issues than Al's play so far.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Jefferson has made big strides against GS and PDX in blocks though. I agree though that his man defense is better than his help defense.

Shaq was never much of a defensive force either, but his tactic was that instead of the intimidation of being blocked, there was the intimidation of being fouled. A block might cost you the game, but a foul might cost you your career.

[Village Idiot]

Al Jefferson reminds me of Zach Randolph - good stats but team keep losing games

As a Portland fan I used to blame our badness on Zach. When he went to the Knicks nothing happened to change my mind.

This year though the Knicks are 6-3 and Zach Randolph is putting up All-Star numbers out of position at center.

Perhaps its the culture of losing and bad coaching that's to blame for Minnesota's losing? Me thinks that if you trade rosters with the Knicks that they would be just as good a team as they are now.

[casey]

Coaching and talent are more pressing issues than Al's play so far.

Yeah, I don't think he's anywhere near the top of the list of our problems. But I'm also questioning whether he really is going to be an elite player you can build a great team around. Or if he's just gonna be a guy who can score a lot of points and lose a lot of games with.

[Worm Guts]

I am game for this one. Blaming Al makes no sense unless you expect Al to be a Michael Jordan. He has been a positive piece thus far and needs more responsibility, not less.

My come on dude was in reference to you seemingly missing the sarcasm in the original post, not anything you said about Al Jefferson.

[Worm Guts]

I like Al alot, but he'll never be the best player on a championship level team.

We used to say that about KG, too.

We did?

[horaceworthy]

I don't think his defense has improved from last year, I think it's regressed from where it was last year. Man might be where it was, but his help is sucking. Right now, there's nothing keeping a guy like Tony Parker from getting to the hoop at will. We need that. Al was blocking more balls at the end of last year - he wasn't to the point where he was making guys like Parker think twice about taking it to the hole, but he looked like he might be that guy one day. Now? Nah.

Al didn't look any more like "that guy" last year than this year. Parker's made mincemeat of us for years, even when KG and EG were here to protect the rim. No matter who he's up against, Parker is nearly automatic once he gets in the paint, no matter who's there waiting for him. The problem for us with Parker was that both he and Duncan had their outside shots going, so it was impossible to defend the pick and roll, and defenders couldn't sag off of Parker without getting burned. Al's made nice strides as an on the ball shotblocker this year, and is blocking shots at a higher clip this year than he did at any point last year, other than a 7 game stretch in March. Al certainly needs to improve as a defender, but if you think he's regressed, you're probably overrating his defense towards the end of last year.

I think the Love/Jefferson frontcourt will work out on the defensive end, but we're going to have to be patient. It's going to take more than Love and Jefferson improving as help defenders for the frontcourt to appear solid defensively. The perimeter players also have to hold up their end of the bargain and keep their guys out of the lane now and then. Until that happens, we're going to have a below average defensive frontcourt.