Francisco Elson vs. Al Jefferson

[jazzfan1971]

Who you got?

I'm not sure teh difference is nearly as big as you'd hope.

[red4hf]

C'mon, really?

One is an NBA star the other is a bit player.......

[jazzfan1971]

I know. I was just royally pissed when I wrote that.

[The59Sound]

Al had a good game tonight (though still giving up too much position on rebounds). But during the game against San Antonio, I definitely wished Francisco was in there, because he was at least playing competently.

Obviously Al is much, much more skilled and we should and will ride with him, but sometimes I just wish Elson was down low to grab a rebound or catch a pass...

[red4hf]

I know. I was just royally pissed when I wrote that.

Yeah, I know the feeling......... It's taking Jefferson a little while to adjust to the Jazz system.......

But he's getting there....... And the thing is, once he does fully understand the system, he's going to dominate........

Last night was a good example....... He was dominant in the 4th quarter........

[Jazzfan Bayamon]

Someone should look up Al's number on the road vs at home (I'm feeling lazy) 'cause IMO he is playing better on the road than at home right now and that is IMO because he feels huge pressure to live up to our fans etc.

[gojazzmjsucks]

I agree Al is nervous at home! Elson is a great fir for that line up with Price and watson. They are all fighters and energy guys. Al does seem to play great on the road. Al needs to get nasty cuz right now hes a nice goofy guy like fat albert! Get nasty....dunk on someones face please!

[HammerDunk]

I'm not going to say that Elson is the better player, but his impact can't be ignored. For the 10 or so minutes he is seeing on the court, things are happening. He is making a couple shots a game, that always seem to come at critical junctures of the games. He is a lot better than any of us thought he would be, which is perfect for what we wanted, a good big off the bench that does what we need.

Al is getting better. His shot is starting to fall. If he keeps this up, he will be just what we wanted as well. I hope he keeps up the rebounding more than anything else though. It's ridiculous when the other team gets 3 or 4 rebounds on one trip. Al has GOT to learn to throw his weight around better under the rim.

[GP]

Al is the better player, but I feel that Elson has more of an impact sometimes. Never got to see a lot of Al play before this year, so I think some of his deficiencies are a little surprising. He's a better shot blocker than I thought and his defense is better too (although, I had heard his defense was horrible). However, his rebounding, boxing out, his ability to catch passes and his abilities in the paint, have all been disappointing so far. I know its going to take Al a while to get up to speed, but you watch a role player like Elson make an impact in his 10min of play and you wonder why Al can't be more effective.

[HolyToledo]

Its Al or bust! Elson has been a productive off the bench but thats is his limit. Fess needs time too so I wish we would trade Memo bc there is a glut of Bigs on this team

[Xsy]

Memo needs to come back so we can put Jefferson on the bench.

Guy looks so confused half the time he's playing-- glad he at least stepped up for the Portland game.

[blackham9258]

Jefferson will be fine by Christmas. Memo will kick Elson to the bench and we will start to dominate if Okur is healthy. I think by next year it will be Okur that we shop for a legit SG/SF once Okur has proved himself healthy.

[carrottop12]

People are sleeping on Al a bit because of his disappointing rebounding numbers, but I feel like he's been pretty strong in the fourth quarter of most games. He rebounds better in the fourth, and he's hit a lot of big baskets. He hit quite a few last night that put the game out of reach.

I also love his free-throw shooting, I wish he would go to the line more, but 84% from the line is SWEET.

[Millsap24]

Al has had a pretty good week if I'd say myself. Hopefully, it gets better as the season progresses.

[erudite23]

Al's performance has been perfectly understandable given the circumstances. He's been a high usage guy on a bad team who...let's just say no one is expecting him to win the Nobel prize or anything. Now he's going to a structured system that involves a myriad of checks and adjustments, and he's got to find way to contribute to winning instead of just going out and getting his 20 and 10 every night. For a guy that has played 7 years in the league, that's a lot of bad habits to break. I don't think he'll be the 25 and 12 guy that some of us secretly hoped he would be ( >.> ) but its plain to see now that we don't NEED him to be that guy. We need his rebounding and his finishing abilities, both of which have been well below what he is capable of. If he can get his RR up to 17+ again and start getting to spots and finishing the way he is clearly capable of, he can be a 18-20 ppg and 11rpg center with great FG% and FT%. Combined with what else we have, I think that might be enough to contend. The ONLY thing I can see holding us back from being contenders with the group we have right now is rebounding. Elsewise, we seem to have a good thing going.

[DumbyTheWizard]

Al was pretty awesome against LA yesterday.

(Every LA lose is a reason to be happy so good job )

[The59Sound]

Al played well at a crucial time, but I was also struck by how awful a finisher he can be. There were some maddening misses on gimmies.