vslice02
Well-Known Member
I agree we haven't seen Al's best days in Jazz basketball, but I disagree about the Jazz totally making Boozer the player his was. 2nd-rnd pick yes, but if Curtis Borchardt hadn't fallen to the Jazz, Utah was prepared to select Boozer 18th overall. Not only was Booze one of the better bigs in college basketball, Boozer came to Utah at 23 after 2 seasons in the league in which he got better and better with the Cavs - to the point he did show he could be a 20&10 player when LeBron was out w/an ankle injury (remember that 32 point effort in SLC?). Boozer would've been a bigtime PF anywhere he went, but I will agree Utah was probably one of the better fits for him. Up until 2007, Boozer substantially improved his game each year - but he was pretty good when he got here too. He couldn't stay healthy his first 2 years and he didn't have a solid PG until his 3rd year in SLC.He wasn't much when he entered the league. He wasn't much when Utah picked him up. I remember the controversy and flack that LHM received for picking Booz up for the price he did, but Larry insisted that Booz would be a 20/10 guy based on Larry's "batting average". Booz basically grew up here in Utah and turned into the player he is today.
In regard to Jefferson, he'll be fine here. He's a very talented big with amazing post moves. I suspect it will take him until next season to really get acclimated.
My point is, Booz was NOT amazing right from the start. He took time to develop too.
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One other difference between Al/Booze is, Boozer was a high-percentage shooter (52%+) everywhere he played (Duke, Cavs, Uta). Al was a 48-51%. Jefferson isn't the amazingly proficient scorer Boozer is, but if he keeps working he can provide the low-post scoring that Boozer wasn't able to against taller frontlines.