What's new
By:

Real GM Grade Fail

If the Mavericks almost landed Jefferson without giving up picks while ALSO unloading their own bad contracts onto Minnesota, then I see no good reason the Jazz couldn't have landed Jefferson just for the TPE. RealGM was being generous with a B- if Jefferson remains the same player (complete garbage on D, even worse passer, doesn't feature any kind of prominence in pick-and-____ schemes).

If Jefferson was merely a victim of circumstance and he learns to fit in and expand what Utah does, then the grade changes.
 
.....Jazz grade should be A+! We unloaded a malcontent, replaced him with a quicker, smarter, younger player for less the cost......we brought in a defensive vet and saved even more money....and we signed the smartest college player out of the whole draft who also happens to have talent and skills.
 
NUMBERICA said:
If the Mavericks almost landed Jefferson without giving up picks while ALSO unloading their own bad contracts onto Minnesota, then I see no good reason the Jazz couldn't have landed Jefferson just for the TPE. RealGM was being generous with a B- if Jefferson remains the same player (complete garbage on D, even worse passer, doesn't feature any kind of prominence in pick-and-____ schemes).

If Jefferson was merely a victim of circumstance and he learns to fit in and expand what Utah does, then the grade changes.
Click to expand...

NUMBERICA said:
If the Mavericks almost landed Jefferson without giving up picks while ALSO unloading their own bad contracts onto Minnesota, then I see no good reason the Jazz couldn't have landed Jefferson just for the TPE. RealGM was being generous with a B- if Jefferson remains the same player (complete garbage on D, even worse passer, doesn't feature any kind of prominence in pick-and-____ schemes).

If Jefferson was merely a victim of circumstance and he learns to fit in and expand what Utah does, then the grade changes.
Click to expand...

The grade itself makes no sense to me. You should be the first to admit that getting a proven 20-10 PF while giving up two mid teen picks and KK, taking on less salary and years than the Boozer deal, and essentially getting the guy for nothing, is a huge win. Yes, whether he pans out does matter. But we're not grading Big Al's performance with the Jazz, he hasn;t even played with them yet. We're grading the deal.

You and I have discussed this and we've agreed, Boozer was valuable and his 20-10 status was a huge factor. You have to give Big Al the same respect. He even produced without the support Boozer had in Utah. He was the 1 focal point on his team and he dominated the competition offensively. Fighting through double and triple teams down low and putting up better numbers than Boozer before his ACL tear. Even though the grade doesn't account for any of this, a B- is still low when you think about it logically.

As for your assessment of his skill set, we disagree on a few things. For one I don't think we can properly assess his passing skills yet. He didn't pass much in Minni because his teammates sucked and most of the time he was able to create his own offense in the low block. As far as pick & ____ situations, the jury is again still out. But I have great confidence in him here. He's more of a roller than a pop guy, and I think the Jazz need that. Granted, Boozers pop game was great, but he never challenged opponents length. Big Al has and will dive inside and take it to the chests of Gasol's, Bynum's, Noah's, and Howard's. FINALLY!!!! Making this huge dudes work on both ends, Boozer always settled for the jumper instead of challenging length. This will be huge, trust me. We've both seen what Big Al can do offensively against the Jazz, he ripped us to pieces inside, which doesn't say much. But he also has taken it to the Lakers with great success. I'm telling you, we'll be more effective offensively at the PF/C against LA with Big Al.

Defense is where we agree and I think we've seen the same things. Against the Jazz he was almost worse than Boozer on defense. This is why I wasn't a big supporter of his acquisition this offseason. He was ****ing terrible on D. If you thought Boozer was a matador, oh man, Big Al wasn't even in the arena most the time. I remember really enjoying Big Al's offensive game with he played the Jazz, but thought his D was the worst, and it was. There is room for hope here. He's now on a team where his teammate will be playing defense, that at least gives him a little incentive to D up. He a shot blocker and has more length than Boozer, at least have this to work with where Boozer had nothing in this department. I'm not saying he'll become a defensive juggernaut, but he's young and motivated, and has a chance to improve. He at least publicly acknowledges his lack of defensive ability and his desire to improve. We heard Boozer chat all day about how defense was important, but not once did he admit his short comings or take any responsibility. Ultimately, Big Al will need a defensive center behind him, that hole still needs to be filled. But I think he'll alter shots better than Boozer.

Again, we've discussed this before, 20-10 means something. It's rare enough to earn Big Al some leeway and respect.
 
Some respect. I'm just saying the selfishness of his game is as bad or worse than Boozer's even if he's a more sincere interview. Maybe something changes in Utah, but I'm going off of what he's been, not what I'm hoping he'll be.

My point, though, is that everything is relative. If Jefferson could've been unloaded for no picks and picking up significant crap salary, then his market-value wasn't very high. What it looks like to me is that the Jazz paid a premium (two 1st-rounders and KK) to get Jefferson into training camp as oppose to getting him mid-season just with the TPE. Which makes some sense, obviously, but I'm not sure it's worth the price.

And if the Jazz really did use one of their 1st-rounders to dump $1.7 million in salary, Jazz fans have a lot of similar moves to look forward to this season (which if it hasn't been figured out, is a completely awful, awful move).
 
I think Jefferson's play in Minnesota was a bit selfish, but I'm one of the many who seem to be willing to give him a pass on that. I think it's clear that Jefferson works his *** off and is sincere about winning. I think he allowed that to snowball on him in Minny and he was reluctant to let anybody else help because he didn't think anybody else could. It's funny how players like that get to Utah and all of a sudden start to realize that when you give the ball up, good things tend to happen.

I also don't critisize Utah for giving up more than what Dallas was going to give up to land Jefferson. Dallas was at the table before Utah, the Jazz came in and made a better offer to secure the player they wanted. They were able to accomplish this while still manageing not to over pay for the player IMO. I don't see how you classify that as anything less than great business by Utah.

Numberica Wrote
RealGM was being generous with a B- if Jefferson remains the same player (complete garbage on D, even worse passer, doesn't feature any kind of prominence in pick-and-____ schemes).
Click to expand...

I can't help but laugh when people use flat out lies to try and make their point. In regards to Jefferson's "prominence" on the pick and roll, when he was asked to do it in Minnesota, he did just fine. He just wasn't asked to do it often. Jefferson will not be a pick and pop player. Last year in Minnesota, he ran the pick and roll 75 times. Each and every time he rolled directly to the basket and had a better than average conversion percentage. Not only that, anybody who still believes that the pick and roll is still Utah's bread and butter is wrong. Utah was in the middle of the NBA for 2010 in regards to the amount of pick and rolls ran.

So let's make sure we have an understanding on this: When asked to run the pick and roll, Al Jefferson has already proven to be very effective and.....Even if it was a weak spot in his game, Utah doesn't run it as much as they used to so it's not as if Al's success in Utah is tied to the pick and roll in any way, shape, or form. With that being said, I think Utah will actually run more pick and rolls in 2011 because of Big Al's willingness to attack the hoop off of the roll. Boozer wanted no part of rolling to the middle. He would rather pick and pop all day long and shoot the J.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top