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Al Jefferson redemption

twentytwo said:
Big Al made some big shots down the stretch tonight, including a 3-point play. His push shot is the only shot like that in the league-- when Al is on, it is a very high % shot, unblockable, and devastating. Of course Deron and Sap had huge games again tonight but I gotta give props to Big Al-- this probably would have been a L without him.

Go Jazz. 2-0 and the hardest teams behind you. ESPN gushing about Deron Williams makes me happy.
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You know... I did post last night saying that he better pick it up or he might be replaced.. And he did just that... I love how he made the big rebounds and the big shots when it mattered... That's what star players do...

It was very interesting listening to a guy ask some good questions for a change (Matt Harpring). Asking Al what the big adjustment is and he said it's moving to his second and 3rd reads once the 1st is taken away... I said it before, sometimes he looks lethargic out there and it may be because he's thinking too much... He'll get it, and when he does, we'll be that much better...

I told you guys to "Hang in there"... And just think, if/when Okur comes back... We will be a force in this league and honestly NO team scares me once things start clicking... Not the Lakers, not the Magic, the Heat, Celtics... Line em up and knock them down!
 
His average defense thus far is already better than Boozer's. Notice how he doesn't just slap his man's arm if they try to go inside. Also, he blocks shots and takes charges.
 
Hanginthere said:
I told you guys to "Hang in there"... And just think, if/when Okur comes back... We will be a force in this league and honestly NO team scares me once things start clicking... Not the Lakers, not the Magic, the Heat, Celtics... Line em up and knock them down!
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Lakers are the one team that can take away everything inside. Gasol and Odom (and Bynum if healthy) can outsize our bigs. So we need good guard play to overcome them. CJ, Raja and Hayward need to pick things up. And perhaps KOC needs to bring in a wing. I wonder if Greg will let him use the Harpring exception if we're near the top of the West in February.

As for Okur, I wouldn't count on him that much. It was a devastating injury. We don't know how effective he'll be when he returns. In fact, there's no guarantee he comes back AT ALL.
 
The main thing for me with al's defense is that he actually tries. So many bad memories of Boozer not even putting his hands up on shots.
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
It didn't take Boozer this long to get used to being with the Jazz....
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I'm as big of a Boozer hater as anybody, but let me be the first to admit that I think Carlos is indeed more of thinking mans player when compared to Big Al. Hmmm, why could that be? Probably because Boozer spent 4 years in one of the most structured basketball programs in the nation while playing for Coach K at Duke. On the flip side, Big Al bullied through Mississippi High School Basketball with so much superior talent that took him straight to the Pros.

The guy has never had to think, and now that he's been asked to, people are freaking out because we're 8 games into the season and Big Al isn't 100% kosher with the offense. It blows my mind that some people acutally need this explained to them.
 
David Stern said:
Jefferson > Boozer. We actually have a shot out west with Jefferson.
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We have a shot with the fourth quarter Jefferson vs. Orlando. We do not have a shot with the first half Jefferson vs. Orlando. Given that AJ moved his feet in Q4 and did not in Q1, it's mostly about effort and focus.
 
InGameStrategy said:
We have a shot with the fourth quarter Jefferson vs. Orlando. We do not have a shot with the first half Jefferson vs. Orlando. Given that AJ moved his feet in Q4 and did not in Q1, it's mostly about effort and focus.
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Which should come with Big Al getting more comfy with what he needs to do. Hard to focus when you've got a million questions running through your head at once. IMO these two early wins are a really great sign because I think this Jazz team will be much better in the second half of the season than it is now and I think most of that centers around Jefferson finding his comfort zone.
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
It didn't take Boozer this long to get used to being with the Jazz....
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Boozer did not join a team full of players who already new how to run the system. With Boozer a lot of them learned together on the go and so he did not stick out so much for not knowing the system like Big Al is.
 
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