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Deron Teasing AJ

franklin said:
I'm not buying into this whole give him time to learn the offense/retrain/become a Jerry's Jedi argument anymore. He's missing plenty of good looks, and putting them in the bucket will easily push him up 5%. He misses at least one gimme a night. He also misses a lot where he's going soft and gets fouled. And 1's will push his scoring and fg% higher. This is where I'd like to see improvement rather than a 25+ games into the season excuse that he just needs time to learn the offense. It's been 26 and this isn't his first rodeo. He knows the offense by now. He's been doing nothing but learning the offense for what 90 straight days now? Put in one easy shot a night and get one more and 1 and he's 55-58% and 20+ easily.
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Al finished at 62% last season around the basket (NBA Hotspots.) I'm not remotely worried about his ability to finish. But what you see if you look closely is a guy who SUDDENLY gets the ball near the basket sometimes. That's because he's not all the way in sync. The Jazz O has so many moving parts. And when a guy's timing is thrown just a little off, he's going to miss more shots. Now when he's getting the ball fully EXPECTING it, watch out. There really is a learning curve. It's subtle, and these guys are professionals, but it's there.
 
billyshelby said:
Al finished at 62% last season around the basket (NBA Hotspots.) I'm not remotely worried about his ability to finish.
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That's not that good, especially considering how poor his shooting was just outside of 3 feet. For comparison, Both Boozer and Brewer shot 64% at the same range, Deron shot 58%. Marcin Gortat is 62%. It doesn't help that in the next range (I'm estimating 3 to 10 feet) Al was less than 40% at all spots.

Al is a good player. But that's kind of my point; he's not great. If we're depending on him to be our elite around-the-basket, power post player, he has to be a lot better than what he has been. 62% for a player of his reputation is a little disappointing. If he can bring his rebounding up and block 2+ shots per game, then I'm less concerned.

I would like to see a breakdown for this year, though. Anyone have that info?
 
billyshelby said:
Al finished at 62% last season around the basket (NBA Hotspots.) I'm not remotely worried about his ability to finish. But what you see if you look closely is a guy who SUDDENLY gets the ball near the basket sometimes. That's because he's not all the way in sync. The Jazz O has so many moving parts. And when a guy's timing is thrown just a little off, he's going to miss more shots. Now when he's getting the ball fully EXPECTING it, watch out. There really is a learning curve. It's subtle, and these guys are professionals, but it's there.
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Some guys are talented enough to adjust in motion. Others learn through repetition and incredible muscle memory. I'd like to see a versatile AJ who can catch and adjust enough to score rather than an AJ who requires the exact replicata of a practiced play. I understand he's probably a little out of sync and that's causing some misses. What I'm seeing, however, are blown layups that a 7 footer should put down rather regularly. He's also soft where aggression will put him on the line after a dunk.
 
NUMBERICA said:
That's not that good, especially considering how poor his shooting was just outside of 3 feet. For comparison, Both Boozer and Brewer shot 64% at the same range, Deron shot 58%. Marcin Gortat is 62%. It doesn't help that in the next range (I'm estimating 3 to 10 feet) Al was less than 40% at all spots.

Al is a good player. But that's kind of my point; he's not great. If we're depending on him to be our elite around-the-basket, power post player, he has to be a lot better than what he has been. 62% for a player of his reputation is a little disappointing. If he can bring his rebounding up and block 2+ shots per game, then I'm less concerned.

I would like to see a breakdown for this year, though. Anyone have that info?
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Tim Duncan was 62, Stoudemire 63, Gasol 59, Bosh 60, Howard 65, Lopez 59. 62 is a really solid number. Boozer's is just awesome. No doubt Al isn't the shooter that Boozer is and will never be. But I think he'll start looking a lot more elite around the hoop as this season wears on.
 
franklin said:
Some guys are talented enough to adjust in motion. Others learn through repetition and incredible muscle memory. I'd like to see a versatile AJ who can catch and adjust enough to score rather than an AJ who requires the exact replicata of a practiced play. I understand he's probably a little out of sync and that's causing some misses. What I'm seeing, however, are blown layups that a 7 footer should put down rather regularly. He's also soft where aggression will put him on the line after a dunk.
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This is what I think you should do: Next couple games, rewatch Sap's offensive possessions and Al's. Watch how Sap and Deron are already in perfect rhythm. Whether Sap is rolling to the hoop or just moving without the ball, he's ready for every single pass. So when he catches it, he's either stepping right into a jumper or advancing to the basket with continuity on most plays. Then watch Al. 1) Al is still thinking a little bit about where he needs to move at all. 2) He frequently catches it a little out of rhythm on the move, ESPECIALLY if the ball DOESN'T come from Deron. It might seem like nothing, but that little start and stop is a hiccup that throws off timing.

I could list other things I see: Sap knows AK, for example, is always looking to fling passes in to him. Sap knows where guys are moving even if he can't see them and thus he can play more instinctual. Jefferson clearly doesn't know exactly where guys are when possessions get screwy as the clock advances. And the idea he could cut to the basket and get a pass from a wing player is practically alien to him. So is the idea he could get the ball on the block and dart a quick pass to a cutting wing. You can see him learning, but he's nowhere near as fluid as Sap at this point which is what I'm getting at.
 
DutchJazzer said:
how many blocks does bozzer have this season? 3. how many did al have last night?
6. so the whole season bozzer has had 3 blocks jefefrson last night 6
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I was trying to keep the discussion confined to FG% and its effect on DWill's assist numbers. If Charles Barkley was the one getting a bunch of DWill passes last season rather than Bozzer I would have mentioned him instead. Like I said, I don't miss Bozzer. I prefer Jefferson, and I am glad he's getting some good blocks, etc. I just think, based on his proximity to the basket on his shots, that he ought to bring the percentage up a bit. Look at Jefferson's "HotSpots" for last season:

JeffersonHotSpots2009-10-1.jpg


*Image updated
 
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LifeOnaPlate said:
I was trying to keep the discussion confined to FG%. Like I said, I don't miss Bozzer. I prefer Jefferson, and I am glad he's getting some good blocks, etc. I just think, based on his proximity to the basket on his shots, that he ought to bring the percentage up a bit. Look at Jefferson's "HotSpots" for last season:

JeffersonHotSpots2009-10.jpg
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Dude, I know I'm interpreting this graph wrong. What do all the numbers mean? Surely it can't be FGA-FGM for each section?
 
I get what you're saying Billy. I clearly give AJ some slack for being out of sync. Where I disagree is on talent. I think you're undercutting Millsap's abilities by giving all the credit to understanding the system. Yes, Millsap knows what to do and what to look for much better than AJ. I don't think the greater fools would argue that. But Millsap also has added some impressive footwork and offensive moves to his repertoire. It's not as simple as catching in rhythm and "doing your job". You have to adjust to the defense and outmaneuver your opponent(s). Jefferson is not doing this well, IMO. Sure being unsure, out of step, and overly analytical on the court are causing some problems. He'd be much more confident if he felt natural or didn't have to pause to think. That's not the problem I'm seeing. It's missed layups, plain and simple. He's not playing tall or aggressive when necessary. Becoming more comfortable within the offense will most likely do a lot to cure these problems. However, I do not believe that if an iso post was called for him, and he was told not to worry about anything but doing his thing, then he would be less effective this year than he has been in the past.
 
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