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Big Al Working Hard

Also, like I mentioned, his offensive game is diverse it is still not elite. He is a black hole. He reminds me of this kid that I play basketball twice a week and every time he gets the bal he tries to take it to the hoop even if he is double or triple teamed. His lack of court vision/passing really hurts his offensive game.
 
orangello said:
Jefferson can score in the low post. He has a very diverse offensive game. He plays horrible, absolutely horrid pick-n-roll defense and his ability to move side to side leaves something to be desired. You can call those who wants Jefferson gone dumb but the writing is on the wall. It has been pointed out several times that Jefferson was traded to the Jazz for Kufos and a future first round pick. Boston gladly shipped him to the Timberwolves. If you cannot see the pattern here then I and no one else can help you.

Basketball is played on two ends of the floor. Offensive and defensive. He has a very capable offensive game but his defense is near the bottom of the league. Jest because he blocked a couple of shots does not mean that he plays great defense.
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You try and make it sound like Boston couldn't wait to get him out of town and traded him for next to nothing. The truth is, Boston had a unique opportunity to add a proven superstar in Kevin Garnett via trade and make a run at a championship. At the time, Al was a pretty big price to pay but it was worth it to Boston.

Minnesota knew that Kevin Love, Beasly and Al Jefferson weren't going to all work together. Add that to the fact that Jefferson still wasn't that far removed from an ACL injury and that Minnesota GM David Kahn is an idiot and you have the reasons that Jefferson landed in Utah. In regards to his pick and roll defense, I'm not in here saying that his game is 100% complete. There's certainly areas of his game that Al can make huge improvements in. The important thing to me is that Al is very eager to work on those things.

I think most Jazz fans point to the pick and roll defense as why Jefferson must go and in the process they severely undervalue all of the other things that Al does better than most. Not to mention that during his first year in Utah, Al set career marks in assists and blocks. He started slow and trended up, up and up as the season went on. I don't think he's done in that regard and I'd like to at least have the chance to see if he can build on that before Utah ships him out of town. We'll just have to agree to disagree, but I think being hell bent on trading Jefferson after 82 games is borderline moronic.
 
I'm not a Jefferson fan or a hater but I do have a question.


How many winning teams has the one of most dominant inside post presence in the game (I believe quoted in this thread) has he been on?
 
Cope said:
I'm not a Jefferson fan or a hater but I do have a question.


How many winning teams has the one of most dominant inside post presence in the game (I believe quoted in this thread) has he been on?
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I see where you going with that, but I still believe that there's not many guys in the NBA who are better down on the low block. In fact, I don't think it's really all that outlandish of a comment. If your going to judge him by his past team's overall records, be sure you include all of the factors. In Boston, he spent his first few seasons as a raw player right out of High School on Celtic teams that didn't have a ton of talent. Trading Al for KG and signing Ray Allen is what vaulted Boston to contender status. It's not as Al had the luxury of playing with all of those pieces while he was a Celtic.

Then he was traded to the abyss that is Minnesota. If you wonder why Big Al didn't single handedly carry Minny on his back to a .500 season or two, go back and look at the rosters he played with.

If Al were a 30 year old vet who was supposed to be a finished product, I'd have a much more different opinion of him. However, I believe he was still only 25 when the Jazz traded for him and in my opinion had yet to play his best basketball.
 
jazzman12 said:
You try and make it sound like Boston couldn't wait to get him out of town and traded him for next to nothing. The truth is, Boston had a unique opportunity to add a proven superstar in Kevin Garnett via trade and make a run at a championship. At the time, Al was a pretty big price to pay but it was worth it to Boston.

Minnesota knew that Kevin Love, Beasly and Al Jefferson weren't going to all work together. Add that to the fact that Jefferson still wasn't that far removed from an ACL injury and that Minnesota GM David Kahn is an idiot and you have the reasons that Jefferson landed in Utah. In regards to his pick and roll defense, I'm not in here saying that his game is 100% complete. There's certainly areas of his game that Al can make huge improvements in. The important thing to me is that Al is very eager to work on those things.

I think most Jazz fans point to the pick and roll defense as why Jefferson must go and in the process they severely undervalue all of the other things that Al does better than most. Not to mention that during his first year in Utah, Al set career marks in assists and blocks. He started slow and trended up, up and up as the season went on. I don't think he's done in that regard and I'd like to at least have the chance to see if he can build on that before Utah ships him out of town. We'll just have to agree to disagree, but I think being hell bent on trading Jefferson after 82 games is borderline moronic.
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I certainly respect what you are saying and I am ok if we agree to disagree. I actually do not want Jefferson traded right away. I am intrigued by what he could do in a line up next to Kanter or Favors. jefferson and Milsap just don't seem to be a good fit together. If I was being honest I would tell you that I feel very very strongly that Milsap come off the bench the rest of his career. It is not a knock on Milsap at all, in fact it is a compliment in my mind. As far as coming off the bench goes I beleive that there is no PF in the league better than Milsap.

Back to what I was saying earlier. I want ot see Jefferson and one of the two new guys work together on the floor. It could make for a great rotation. My BIGGEST fear is that the Jazz will try to get to the playoffs so bad that they neglect to give quality and a quantity of minutes to the young guys. I want to see Favors, Kanter and Burks at a minimum of 20 minutes a game. Hayward has proved to me that he can play for 30+ minutes and play great.

I hope that this clarifies my stance on the subject.
 
From the reports I've been hearing he's been working on his three point shot, hoping to become somewhat of a mix between Sam Perkins and Wang Zhi Zhi.
 
Al is still young, and shows a willingness, even an eagerness, to LEARN and diversify his game, which helps the team get better too. He's always done what was asked of him. He IS our best offensive weapon; now the Jazz need to generate other scoring OPTIONS for the team when he gets double teamed. Al is NOT selfish; he just wants to win. If there are other scoring options in our offense, Al is a very willing passer.
 
I always felt Al's conditioning was holding him back. Coming in at 280 lbs to play center was not the best idea, he lost a lot of explosiveness.
 
Al being a workout warrior is great. Al improving his passing, defense, and becoming a real leader would be wonderful. All I care about is Al setting up low on the block. If Al consistently gets position 8 feet and in, he'll flat out dominate. His moves at that distance are lethal. He gets in trouble when he catches 10 feet and out. The right push shot and the up and under just aren't as effective. I think Al knows this, and he's going break out big.
 
Al is awesome. I look forward to watching him prove that the haters are nothing but a bunch of dorks. Criticizing him for being traded for Kevin Garnett is beyond stupid. The Jazz pulled a major coup to get this guy. KOC has been on fire with his personnel management moves for the last year and a half,
 
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