Big Al's Paint: The Al Jefferson Thread

[SpearNMgicHelmt]

Lately Al seems to miss like 5 of his first six shots, then he does great for the rest of the game. Maybe he needs to change how he warms up or something!

[Liver_Pooty]

Coaches pick reserves, coaches like players that defend, Al Jefferson is a bad defender = slim chance Al is an All-Star.

Because so much defense in played in the actual ASG

[Elden Payton]

I hope Al makes All-Star but I don't think he will presently.

That said he's got a month to get his percentages north.

[lmcguir5]

It makes no difference to me. If he makes the game, then great for him. If he doesn't, oh well, I'm sure he could use the rest anyway, keeps him fresh for the second half of the season

[Elden Payton]

Yeah it's no biggie but it is definitely a step in the right direction of franchise relevence.

[LamarMatic7]

Coaches pick reserves, coaches like players that defend, Al Jefferson is a bad defender = slim chance Al is an All-Star.

If you have the stats, you can make it. Just take David Lee as an example.

That being said, Al's stats have dipped.

[Liver_Pooty]

Coaches pick reserves, coaches like players that defend, Al Jefferson is a bad defender = slim chance Al is an All-Star.

If you have the stats, you can make it. Just take David Lee as an example.

That being said, Al's stats have dipped.

The past six he has averaged 23 and 13. Keeps that up and he deserves to go. The horrid start to the season is what is keeping him back, statistically.

[Eoghan]

Coaches pick reserves, coaches like players that defend, Al Jefferson is a bad defender = slim chance Al is an All-Star.

They might take into consideration that Al Jefferson is anchoring the middle of a top-5 ranked defensive unit though, no?

The only thing Al Jefferson is anchoring is the line at Golden Corral.

[mrknowitall215]

Coaches pick reserves, coaches like players that defend, Al Jefferson is a bad defender = slim chance Al is an All-Star.

They might take into consideration that Al Jefferson is anchoring the middle of a top-5 ranked defensive unit though, no?

The only thing Al Jefferson is anchoring is the line at Golden Corral.

I'll defer to you in this preceding. Jefferson's rim protection, or lack thereof, has been maddening. It's been like a hall pass to roam the paint & take uncontested layups in the last several games with him down there

[mrknowitall215]

HOOPSWORLD: Bobcats’ Jefferson Brushes Off All-Star Talk

Returning to form and finally regaining his rhythm, Jefferson is averaging 22.2 points and 13.2 rebounds over the Bobcats’ last six games. For the season, Jefferson is putting up 17 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his first campaign with Charlotte.

With Jefferson’s recent emergence and long-term injuries to Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez and Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford, a legitimate question has developed – is Jefferson All-Star worthy?

Jefferson, in his tenth season, has never been invited to the All-Star game and the veteran says numerous disappointment from years past has numbed him to the thought of ever making an appearance.

“I don’t even think about it no more, man,” Jefferson told HOOPSWORLD on finally receiving an All-Star selection. “I’ve been disappointed so many years prior, you know, so I don’t even think about All-Star games. I just have to go out and do my job and if it happens, it happens.”

For now, Jefferson says his thoughts are solely focused on leading the Bobcats back to the postseason and helping develop Charlotte’s young big men Bismack Biyombo and Cody Zeller.

“That’s what we’re doing it for, our goal is to get to the playoffs,” Jefferson said. “We just have to take one game at a time and try to get better. I’m just trying to set a leading example for [the young guys] on and off the floor. Show them they need to work hard on the floor and off the floor.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/bobcats-jeffe ... -star-talk

[Elden Payton]

HOOPSWORLD: Bobcats’ Jefferson Brushes Off All-Star Talk

Returning to form and finally regaining his rhythm, Jefferson is averaging 22.2 points and 13.2 rebounds over the Bobcats’ last six games. For the season, Jefferson is putting up 17 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his first campaign with Charlotte.

With Jefferson’s recent emergence and long-term injuries to Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez and Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford, a legitimate question has developed – is Jefferson All-Star worthy?

Jefferson, in his tenth season, has never been invited to the All-Star game and the veteran says numerous disappointment from years past has numbed him to the thought of ever making an appearance.

“I don’t even think about it no more, man,” Jefferson told HOOPSWORLD on finally receiving an All-Star selection. “I’ve been disappointed so many years prior, you know, so I don’t even think about All-Star games. I just have to go out and do my job and if it happens, it happens.”

For now, Jefferson says his thoughts are solely focused on leading the Bobcats back to the postseason and helping develop Charlotte’s young big men Bismack Biyombo and Cody Zeller.

“That’s what we’re doing it for, our goal is to get to the playoffs,” Jefferson said. “We just have to take one game at a time and try to get better. I’m just trying to set a leading example for [the young guys] on and off the floor. Show them they need to work hard on the floor and off the floor.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/bobcats-jeffe ... -star-talk

As much as I'm open to trading Al and as much as his 'defense' gives me nightmares, he really is a good guy and is saying the right things and doing them for the most part.

[catch20two]

I don't want to trade him but his interior defense do make me twitch.

[mrknowitall215]

It's give or take with this guy. It's nice that Jefferson can provide a vicinity for the Bobcats to dump the ball down to offensively, but I've never seen a big play such lethargic defense in space like him. I now see why coaches have never voted him into the All-Star game...because they knowingly exploit him on a nightly basis

*NOTE (before anybody jump the gun or read too far into what I'm saying): Jefferson shall not be traded

[HornetJail]

Biz needs to play next to Al for at least a short amount of time. Forget McBob, forget Tolliver, forget Zody for a little while. Just play those two. Disregard the floor spacing for a little bit, we play 4 on 5 whenever Biz is on offense any way. Al is all offense, no defense. Biz is all defense, no offense. It doesn't take a **** rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to figure out that they can coexist on the court.

[Eoghan]

When Al took that three pointer, I literally busted out laughing. That guy's IQ is nearly as bad as Mullens. We need to trade this guy asap.

[HornetJail]

When Al took that three pointer, I literally busted out laughing. That guy's IQ is nearly as bad as Mullens. We need to trade this guy asap.

I would normally know if you were being sarcastic or not, but this board gets insane when we lose games like this. When has Al EVER looked as (Please Use More Appropriate Word) as Mullens until that minute of play?

[Eoghan]

When Al took that three pointer, I literally busted out laughing. That guy's IQ is nearly as bad as Mullens. We need to trade this guy asap.

I would normally know if you were being sarcastic or not, but this board gets insane when we lose games like this. When has Al EVER looked as (Please Use More Appropriate Word) as Mullens until that minute of play?

Every game. It's maddening how a guy his size and skill barely gets to the ft line. He gets away with picking up his pivot foot like crazy too, he must pay off the refs or something. And his only attempt at playing defense in the lane are catty swipes at the ball with his paw instead of actually attempting to block, no matter how small the driving player is.

We can't seriously rationalize paying a guy 13.5 million a year to put up empty stats and make us mediocre just because he's a "good guy" and "mentor." He makes Driftwood look mobile.

[HornetJail]

When Al took that three pointer, I literally busted out laughing. That guy's IQ is nearly as bad as Mullens. We need to trade this guy asap.

I would normally know if you were being sarcastic or not, but this board gets insane when we lose games like this. When has Al EVER looked as (Please Use More Appropriate Word) as Mullens until that minute of play?

Every game. It's maddening how a guy his size and skill barely gets to the ft line. He gets away with picking up his pivot foot like crazy too, he must pay off the refs or something. And his only attempt at playing defense in the lane are catty swipes at the ball with his paw instead of actually attempting to block, no matter how small the driving player is.

We can't seriously rationalize paying a guy 13.5 million a year to put up empty stats and make us mediocre just because he's a "good guy" and "mentor." He makes Driftwood look mobile.

Your defensive criticism is the only thing I can agree with here. Having a big man you can throw the ball to at any given time and he'll get a good look is something most teams would kill to have, and you saw how **** this team was without it. He is the only addition worth anything right now to this team other than the coaching change. We're far more competitive than we've been since we traded Crash three years ago. This team isn't worth a damn without Al's offense and rebounding and we'd be getting blown out in all these games we're now only narrowly losing. The defense is unacceptable, particularly what we saw tonight at the end. If only we had a defensive big man who could play next to Al assisting him with rim protection that needs very few touches on offense and would get putbacks off of Al's misses, preferably with long ass arms and an awesome name. Anyone know of such a guy? Clifford apparently doesn't.

[mrknowitall215]

If only we had a defensive big man who could play next to Al assisting him with rim protection that needs very few touches on offense and would get putbacks off of Al's misses, preferably with long ass arms and an awesome name. Anyone know of such a guy? Clifford apparently doesn't.

[mrknowitall215]

Remember, last year, Zach Lowe said this about Al:

“We have almost a decade of evidence now that Jefferson’s failings on defense outweigh his very real value on offense. His teams have generally been worse with him on the floor than with him on the bench, and that’s been true on the defensive end in almost every season in which he’s played meaningful minutes, per NBA.com and 82games.com.”

Then, today I asked Bobcats coach Steve Clifford about Al’s defense before the game:

“His pick and roll defense has been good, but you know what, he has good lateral quickness and he has good instincts. He moves well that way. His help defense has been very good. His coverages and stuff like that have been very good.”

He’s saying things like this about Al Jefferson! And they’re true! This is the result that’s really forcing me to reconsider everything I know about evaluating NBA defense, especially individually. I’m lost.

http://saltcityhoops.com/the-triple-tea ... -12302013/

Clifford has to be trolling or sarcastically speaking, sarcastically speaking