Sloan is a great motivator.

[Gyp Rosetti]

Would you think R-Jeff played atricious during the whole 09-10 season as a member of Spurs? I guess you would not, just like the big majority of NBA fans and experts. It's not better motivation by Pop which turned Jefferson into a completely different player this year. The change was all about commitment, dedication and offseason work of Jefferson.

If Al similarly comes back next season after a summer of "commitment, dedication and offseason" work, I'll be impressed. But I'm not holding my breath.

Much of that motivation comes from coaching and I don't see Sloan planting seeds in his players minds like Pops or Jackson.

 

[NUMBERICA]

I don't think San Antonio would've went after Jefferson. He's been a garbage player (disruptive to every set that isn't him posting up, and his post game is extremely inconsistent and overrated, this hasn't changed), for every year of his career, including large parts of this season.

Sometimes he looks really good, but I've never seen him play a strong 4 quarters this season. He's been a good shot-blocker, though, but I'm not sure that makes up for his ability to gum up the offense, especially considering I'm not sold on his defensive fundamentals, either. And he's soft. God, is he soft.

 

[LogGrad98]

I don't think San Antonio would've went after Jefferson. He's been a garbage player (disruptive to every set that isn't him posting up, and his post game is extremely inconsistent and overrated, this hasn't changed), for every year of his career, including large parts of this season.

Sometimes he looks really good, but I've never seen him play a strong 4 quarters this season. He's been a good shot-blocker, though, but I'm not sure that makes up for his ability to gum up the offense, especially considering I'm not sold on his defensive fundamentals, either. And he's soft. God, is he soft.

So do you mean like fluffy/fuzzy soft or Charmin soft, or baby's bottom soft?

I haven't rubbed or squeezed him lately but I will take your word for it.

 

[vslice02]

Would you think R-Jeff played atricious during the whole 09-10 season as a member of Spurs? I guess you would not, just like the big majority of NBA fans and experts. It's not better motivation by Pop which turned Jefferson into a completely different player this year. The change was all about commitment, dedication and offseason work of Jefferson.

+1.
Richard Jefferson's also adjusted to his role this season - in San Antonio he isn't constantly getting the ball in iso situations like he was with the Nets where he could just duck his head and drive (he was pretty good at getting to the FT line) and he's improved his shooting in catch-and-shoot situations. Don't write-off Al until we see how he works on his game this summer after a season of learning what areas he needs to improve upon.

 

[Scorpjazz]

If Al similarly comes back next season after a summer of "commitment, dedication and offseason" work, I'll be impressed. But I'm not holding my breath.

Much of that motivation comes from coaching and I don't see Sloan planting seeds in his players minds like Pops or Jackson.

OF course Sloan had NOTHING to do with the mindset planted in Stockton and Malone at all.
You provided ONE coach who might motivate ONE player better. So we should fire Sloan now and hire Pop. Do it!!!!!

 

[VINYLONE]

OF course Sloan had NOTHING to do with the mindset planted in Stockton and Malone at all.
You provided ONE coach who might motivate ONE player better. So we should fire Sloan now and hire Pop. Do it!!!!!

You're inability to get the point is your buggest problem here.

 

[zman1527]

So do you mean like fluffy/fuzzy soft or Charmin soft, or baby's bottom soft?

I haven't rubbed or squeezed him lately but I will take your word for it.

Next time he is shooting free throws, check out his arms and shoulders and tell me how much time it looks like he spends in the weight room. My guess is none.

 

[SGJazz]

I don't think San Antonio would've went after Jefferson. He's been a garbage player (disruptive to every set that isn't him posting up, and his post game is extremely inconsistent and overrated, this hasn't changed), for every year of his career, including large parts of this season.

Sometimes he looks really good, but I've never seen him play a strong 4 quarters this season. He's been a good shot-blocker, though, but I'm not sure that makes up for his ability to gum up the offense, especially considering I'm not sold on his defensive fundamentals, either. And he's soft. God, is he soft.

+1

So do you think the Jazz management sort of overlooked all this potential shortcomings and how much of a disruption he would be to the Jazz offense? Perhaps they just looked at his stats and found that they were similar to Boozer's. Haha.

But there's something very different about this year's Jazz team and I don't know where to point the finger. These two things stand out:

I mean look at the difference in play home and away this year as compared to last. Last year (in fact all of the last few years) we lost virtually every road game and at home, you could be sure of picking up a W. But this year, road is where we play better and we just got blown out by the Hawks at home.

The other thing is rest time. Last year, you wouldn't even bother watching back to back games cause you just don't wanna see the Jazz get walloped. But then now, all of a sudden the Jazz are a better back to back team and don't play well after a long (2 or more days rest).

So, this change doesn't really come out of nowhere. SOMETHING must have sparked it. I'm not saying its good or bad.

PPG
0 Days Rest 17.7
1 Days Rest 17.0
2 Days Rest 16.0
3+ Days Rest 10.5


And guess whose those stats are? They don't really show why we play better away. But is a sign of the rest day issue. Also, I'm not saying he is the cause of it. Just looking for clues.

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

Your mom is a great poster.

 

[VINYLONE]

PPG
0 Days Rest 17.7
1 Days Rest 17.0
2 Days Rest 16.0
3+ Days Rest 10.5

What were the numbers last year?

 

[SGJazz]

What were the numbers last year?

Those are actually Big Al's numbers. And I was trying to show how he plays better the less rest he gets and that could be a factor of why the Jazz actually win back to backs this season and suck so bad when they have more than 1 rest day. The drop off was actually greater at the start of the season when it was 18+ for 0 days rest and 16+ for 1 day rest.

Hopefully this theory holds true and Big Al goes up for a monster game against the Rockets. Against the Grizzlies he was more aggressive in rebounding. And I think that was the first time I saw him dunk a ball!