Jazz Spotlight, Week 3: Al Jefferson

[Xsy]

Pretty much forgot about these. Whoops. Anyway, onto week 3!

Al Jefferson-- the rebound boyfriend that Utah picked up after losing Carlos Boozer. As far as Jazzmen go, this is one of the more controversial players. Tons love the guy, tons hate the guy, some think he needs to be traded, and others want to keep him for the long run.



Where do we start with Al Jefferson? The guy was Utah's big pickup in the 2010 offseason, and honestly, I can't complain. A 20 and 10 guy, well, recovering 20 and 10 guy for Kosta Koufus and change? This was a huge acquisition for the post Boozer Jazz. But where does he fit? Instead of replacing Boozer, we had Big Al replace our injured Memo, bringing Millsap to a starting role.

Jefferson played an impressive season coming off injury, with a god-like streak that lasted a while right after the Williams trade. He even played all 82 games. He took a while to get used to the Jazz system, and frankly, still looked lost a bit near the end of the season. He slowly started to learn how to pass the ball as the season went on, and his black hole tendencies have diminished slowly over time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wit1KmUhx0Y[/youtube]

Many feel Jefferson doesn't have a permanent place on the Jazz. He still has a reputation of being the best guy on bad teams, putting up stellar numbers in abysmal games. And now with Utah's army of big men, where does Big Al fit in? Is he the first to be traded, or will he stick around a while to help mentor the young guys?

So let's talk, RealGM. What do you think Jefferson has in store for this franchise?

[red4hf]

I thought Jefferson had a good first season with the Jazz...... His hand was obviously bothering him for about half the season, there was a clear difference between his moves in November/December and March/April......

His defense needs a lot of work, not sure if he can improve all that much by this stage in his career..... But he's a very good shot-bloker, and a solid rebounder, I think playing next to Favors more next season is really going to improve his defense......

I think Jefferson is a keeper for the next 3-4 years while Kanter and Favors develop......

[jazzfan1971]

I don't think Jefferson is a guy you can build around. But, I think he's a heck of a nice center to have if you can afford him.

There just isn't too much negative about him. I've never thought he was dogging it on the floor. I've never heard about him in trouble with the law (well, maybe one problem with alcohol, was it a DUI?) or saying the wrong things to the press. Heck, I think he even took a little less money than he could have his last contract. (I guess Minny didn't appreciate that)

Jefferson and Favors seem like a good combination to me. I'm happy to have Jefferson on the team at least until his contract runs out. I see no reason to try and move him. That being said, he's not untouchable either. I just doubt we'll get an offer for him that makes sense.

My biggest problem with him last year was his hands. He dropped a LOT of rebounds out of bounds. Something you rarely saw with Boozer. Maybe that was just the injury. I hope so. He could probably have had one more board a game if he would have just retained the rebounds he got his hands on.

So, not a huge fan, but, not a hater either. I'm positive about Jefferson and his contribution to the team.

[JDubJazz]

I think Al Jefferson's spot on the team this year depends largely on the development of Derrick Favors. I think they are ideally suited to play on the floor together. If Favors can't get 30+ mins a game, though, then I think you have to consider moving Big Al. He ad Millsap really don't seem to work well together.

I really want to see how Al responds to having a whole season with the Jazz under his belt. He was a little slow to pick things up, and his hand was obviously bothering him early, but he was a changed man in March and April. If Al can keep up his offensive output and Favors can protect the rim, then this should be an big front line to be reckoned with.

[idajazz]

Big Al is going to put all the doubters doubts to rest this season. He did a great job last yr. Coming to a new team and system, coming off a serious injury, having the problem with his hand, loosing Williams and Sloan, and all the crap that went with that and he still put up 20/10
I'll take that!
I think the guy that could end up in a different uniform is Milsap if he can't handle playing a six man role.
I think we are going to be pretty dang good with all the size we have.

[StocktonShorts]

Heck, I think he even took a little less money than he could have his last contract.

Really? He signed a 5-year $65M extension.

I'm of two minds about Jefferson. On the one hand he put up good numbers.

On the other hand, the team lost a lot of games despite those big numbers. Despite his size he's not an elite rebounder. Despite his blocked shots he's not a good defender. Despite his array of excellent pump fakes he rarely gets to the free throw line. Then on top of that he's a massive black hole on offense. When he gets the ball in the post the offense grinds to a halt.

I like Jefferson; I'd like to see him succeed. But to me he seems like the classic case of a guy who will always put up good numbers on losing teams. Maybe I'm unfairly pigeonholing him, but I'm waiting for him to prove me wrong.

If given the choice I'd much rather keep Millsap than Jefferson.

[3960HOOD]

Al's defense has been below average since he's been in the league. I thought he played his best ball when Millsap was injured, I think that when he was scoring like crazy. For a guy with all his offensive moves and talents he shoots a low FG % for a Center, I think its due to his shot selection. I think some of these things can be corrected if he improves his stamina and quickness, he moves around slow on defense and always looks tired on the court.

[babyjax13]

I think everyone already knows I am a huge fan of Al Jefferson. In the first half of the year it was very apparent that he was struggling because of injuries - but while Deron was out Al almost got us a spot in the playoffs himself. The guy is one of the best post players in the game, he can score in bunches, and as the year progressed the team got much better at playing off of his strengths (while he also got rid of his black-hole tendencies). He's still 26 years old and one of the most productive centers in the game. Next to Favors he is twice as scary. I really want to see if moving Millsap to small forward works as well....but if it doesn't I would hope that Jefferson stays.

I still find it hard to believe that people dislike Jefferson this much. He's not a fatally flawed player, and to a team that needs scoring he is a very viable option. After the all-star break he was a top 5 player in the league and he put a terrible Jazz team on his back and almost earned them a playoff berth.

Post Dwill
Wins: 8
Within 5 (losses): 6
Losses not within 5: 10

For a large portion of that time Devin Harris was injured, Andrei Kirilenko was injured, Raja Bell was injured and CJ Miles was injured. With those guys back I could easily see the Jazz having one 4 out of those 6 five point games, which still would have left them out of the playoffs, but with a winning record and a .500 record post Deron. Let's not forget that prior to trading Williams the Jazz had just finished a 4-14 stretch. With a healthy Harris and Andrei along with Favors the Jazz would have done much better than that. As soon as Al became "the man" and the turmoil on this team was gone we improved.

[ColdBlue]

If Al could work the inside out game a little better and draw and consistently draw a double team he could be a big piece. He has a great shot for a big guy and rarely gets blocked. That is something Booze couldn't do.

Defensively he is better than Booze, but I think his rebounding is his biggest weakness.

I'm quite optimistic about him being a part of the rise of the Jazz in the next few years.

[d-will8]

Al definitely did put up some nice raw numbers for a month or so after Deron was traded, but, in the games we played in February and March after the trade (basically when Al was playing his best ball), we went 5-13 and continued our historic freefall not only out of a playoff spot, but completely out of playoff contention, so I'm not really sure where you're getting the idea that he almost got us to the playoffs by himself.

After Z-Bo's career resurrection last season, I'm not quite ready to say that Al simply can't be on a good team as a main option, but I'm almost there. He's just too limited and inefficient. He needs too much time and too many shots to get his points, he doesn't get to the line, he doesn't have much of a sense of how to play within a team framework or how to do his thing without making the rest of the offense stagnate and his team defense is atrocious. He did show signs as a passer late in the season, but I'm just not sold on him as anything other than a stopgap until his contract runs out and/or Kanter's ready to start.

[StocktonShorts]

He has a great shot for a big guy...

He shot 49.6% from the field. That's not very good for a big guy, especially one who is taking most of his shots within 10 ft. of the hoop. His TS% isn't great either, and at 52.8% was 10th on the Jazz last year (among players with at least 10 games).

Maybe by "great shot" you mean that he has a decent-looking jump shot -- which is true. But I don't think his jumpshot is the problem; I think his problem is that he settles for his relatively-low percentage "push shot" when he should be using his size and quickness to get a much higher-percentage shot, or get fouled trying.

If he drew just two more fouls per game -- basically just let a guy he just pump-faked into the air come crashing down on him -- he'd immediately become a MUCH more efficient offensive player.

Al averaged 16.1 FGA and 8.0 FGM per game last year, with 3.5 FTA and 2.7 FTM. Let's say he turns two of those FGA into free throws instead. Now we're looking at:

14 FGA and 7.0 FGM, 7.5 FTA and 5.7 FTM, for a TS% of 56.9%.

That would improve his efficiency a lot but would still put him behind Millsap and Hayward.

[Xsy]

Yeah, I really want to say "Jefferson needs to take less shots", but with less shots, what is big Al good for?

Jefferson had the 4th most 2PA's in the NBA, practically all under the rim, at .496 percent. He shot more than any other Center in the NBA, and was the 19th C in FG%. In comparison, Dwight Howard, the main scoring option in Orland, and the best C in the NBA, shot 300 less shots than Big Al.

Jefferson also needs to take higher percentage shots when the hoop is open. I can't count how many times Deron or Devin would feed the ball to a wide open Jefferson, and instead of dunking or laying the ball in, he goes for a Wheezy and it just bounces off. I tried to make a drinking game out of this, but I was afraid of puking by the third quarter.

[Jazzfan12]

Al probably has the best hands, footwork, and post moves in the league and is pretty explosive and strong, but I just don't think he gets basketball at all. He makes dumb plays over and over and over again. And his quickness is unbelievably bad.

[Jefff]

seems his game doesn't fit well the nba's 2k style... needs to attack more the rim and improve on the boards.

[Jazz_Man_86]

what are you talking about guys?

20 + 10 + 2 this is enough to say. Many team would take AL.
Who do you want to start Kanter? This bust will be historical. Maybe he will turn in something really good. But it will happen in 4-5-6 years from now.
Big Al is our center. Better to trade Millsap.

Al loves Utah, spend time to workout this summer. Wanna win. Don't talk to much. Don't argue with the coach and with teammates.
It will be foolish to trade him.

[Xsy]

20, 10, and 2 is great, don't get me wrong, but stats don't tell the whole story. I'm down for keeping him for the end of his contract, but I don't want him around much longer than that. I want him starting alongside Favors next season, with Millsap and Kanter coming off the bench. By the time Al's gone, Kanter should be hitting his three-year stride, so really, the timing seems perfect.

[StocktonShorts]

I'm concerned that Al may impede the progress of guys that are part of the franchise's long-term plans.

He had the fourth highest usage rate (roughly the number of possessions he "uses") on the team last year (behind Deron, Devin and C.J.) but had one of the worst assist percentages (the number of buckets made while he's on the floor that he assists) on the team. Al's assist percentage was 9.2.

(For reference, notorious chucker C.J. had an assist percentage of 11.7. Devin's was at 28.3 and Deron's was 43.6)

Translation: he's a black hole, and an inefficient one at that.

If the Jazz are trying to develop the young guys then they really need to get rid of him now, because he won't help them develop, he'll just steal opportunities from them.

[DelaneyRudd]

I think Al will be a great part of the team for the remainder of his contract, and possible a good trade chip next off season. The team won't hinder Favors or Kanter in favor of Al if he isn't as good. They will play a player who knows the plays better, but that's part of being better!

[Luigi]

I'm interested in Al's black-hole reputation. From my observation, he's getting his shot off in the post, something the defense doesn't want to happen. Would we rather have him throw it out to CJ Miles for a leap-n-leaner 3?

Post threats are rare, and they are extremely important to winning at elite levels. I vote we keep him in the middle of our plans for the long term and try to complement his strengths instead of look elsewhere for less important priorities.

[Matt007b]

Just thinking out loud..

I think what would help Al is if we had some sort of outside threat as far as 3 point shooting (ala Korver..not that I'm saying we bring him back.. ) but Raja Bell could not hit anything last year. Also, every time someone cut to the basket they were not open or Al just could not get the pass done. This is also why Milsap was left out in no mans land on the other side of the key.

Basically the system sucked.. focus was too much on Al and not the rest of the team. Gordon to the rescue and hopefully some more penetration from the SG position.

Al's a good player, played all 82 games, he doesn't rebound well but he makes up for it in blocking - did a lot of 5-10ft little shots that clanked off the rim but hopefully someone else can take the pressure off of him from outside.