Can anyone say it better than this?!?Originally Posted by LiemD
Can anyone say it better than this?!?
(first update) Offseason to-do list:
(no order)
1. Let Mo, Foyeeee3, Al (s&t?), Watson, and Tinsley go.
2. Re-sign Carroll
3. Draft McCollum, Schroeder, and Giannis (leave the latter two in Europe for a year [maybe two years for Giannis]).
4. Sign Tony Allen
5. Try to keep Millsap. If that doesn't work, explore s&t options.
6. Remove Corbin. Hire Brad Stevens or SVG.
7. Sign Calderon to a one-year (2 max) deal, or see if the cash-strapped Lakers will let us absorb Nash's last year.
The thing people don't understand is that....
No, I'm too tired for this.
Take a break, walk around for a few minutes then get a cup of coffee. When you come back there will be this same discussion going on in three or four threads you can pick up again there today or anytime until June.
May 21- Draft Lottery; June 27- NBA Draft; July 11- FA signing period begins; Oct 11- Preseaon game in Boise
It is not him as a player I have a problem with, although I do get frustrated with his lack of defense at times. It is the playing time that Favors and Kanter are missing out on. I don't believe anyone on Jazzfanz truely thinks Al is a terrible player, It is more frustration with the log jam in the front court.
The guy averages 1.12 points per shot. That is terrible for a 1st option big man
Even Paul, who is having the worst shooting season of his career is at 1.29 pps
Kanter -1.2 pps
Favors - 1.26 pps
(none of these are that great, but for a 15 mill 1St option Al's efficiency is awful)
Is this due to the lack of FT's?
That is part of it. Also taking lower percentage jumpers instead of fighting to the rim for layups.
1. Al as a person = great, great guy and wants to be here
2. As a leader = ok
3. As a competitor = much to be desired and this is who he is, was a loser for too long
4. Someone who puts up numbers and has nice moves = pretty damn good
5. Defensive presence anywhere but in the post = pins and needles every time you watch him
In short, he is a great guy who is maddeningly flawed, but could be very valuable in the right situation.
Last edited by JJAS; 12-06-2012 at 04:11 PM.
Al is what he is, and he's still improving as a player. He's come a long way even since getting to Utah. I don't think the problem is Al directly. The first problem is that the Jazz are playing him at center when he really plays more like a PF. He doesn't play the pivot and likes to stay just outside the lane on both ends. The other problem is that Al should be a 2nd option on offense, but the Jazz don't have an elite scorer, so he becomes the first option, and the game slows down to let him operate. If Al were playing in LA with Kobe or playing in Miami with Lebron, he'd be a solid 2nd option to score in single coverage. He'd play a bit of pick and roll, he'd score from 8 - 10 feet, and everything would be fine. He'd basically be like Zach Randolph in Memphis. He wouldn't have to go down to the block and be option 1 on every other possession. However, the Jazz have no true first-option on offense and have to rely on Al. This is probably also why Al takes plays off on defense.
On defense, he's not an elite defender, or even a good defender. He's okay in post coverage. But again, he's not really a center. If Favors is on the court, then Favors anchors the defense and we don't get torched. Now that Favors' offense is finally starting to come around, we can play Favors and Jefferson together and not really lose much if anything offensively by taking Millsap off the floor.
Overall, I think people are just expecting too much from Al. You want a 20-10 guy who works hard on defense, plays in the flow of the game, scores efficiently, gets to the line, and doesn't really have any flaws. There just aren't many, or any, of those players in the league. If we had Blake Griffin, people would be complaining about his lack of offensive moves and lazy defense. Chris Bosh is still soft and doesn't defend or rebound all that well. Etc.
Short list at #14: CJ McCollum, Dennis Schroeder, Archie Goodwin, Kelly Olynyk
Short list at #21: Steven Adams, Giannis Adetokunbo, Sergey Karasev, Nate Wolters
2nd round: Carmichael, Hardaway Jr., Adonis Thomas, James Southerland
To me Al would make the ultimate 6th man. A guy you can bring in, surrounded him by a few (cheap) defensive minded bench players, dump the ball into and have a very effective second unit.
Good post....This is why the Jazz might consider re-signing him.
Short list at #14: CJ McCollum, Dennis Schroeder, Archie Goodwin, Kelly Olynyk
Short list at #21: Steven Adams, Giannis Adetokunbo, Sergey Karasev, Nate Wolters
2nd round: Carmichael, Hardaway Jr., Adonis Thomas, James Southerland
I have no dog (is that the right animal?) in this fight but from the handful of games I've watched this year, Jefferson looks much more in shape. More explosive geenrally speaking. Not as soft in the body and face. IF we are to decide to re-sign him, I REALLY hope he works his ass off just as much or even more next summer. That coupled with a new coach who actually knows how to teach defense could make him quite respectable.
I'd rather not take that risk of resigning him because we all know that corbin will still be around unfortunately
We all know Paul loves Jefferson.
Last edited by Pouyan; 12-07-2012 at 07:24 AM.
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