Devin Harris on Al Jefferson: Jazz fans will be surprised if they see him

[Deleted member 848]

So i take it as you agree with me at last. Thanks

Unfortunately, no. I didn't know how else to respond to the post, so I just figured Id give up altogether, seeing as you're not getting my point, and for the time being you don't seem to understand our front court very well at all, nor do you note how much Al improved towards the end of the year; I'm sure you'll point out "haha well how many times did we WIN after the all-star break" even though it is painfully obvious that any centre that rebounds in double digits, scores more than 20 points AS WELL as increases both assist totals and block totals, while playing a bit better of of rotations and pick and rolls is a player that is that could be used on any winning team. Not to mention the fact that he seems to be dedicated to this city, dedicated to improving and dedicated to making it to the playoffs next season. The only way I can see us shipping Al off is if Kanter becomes a runaway success, averaging at the very least 17/9 in his sophomore season while playing stellar defense. Quite frankly, thats unrealistic given how stacked our frontcourt is, so I think you're gonna have to accept the fact that a) Big Al is here to stay and b) Kanter will most likely have a slow start into the league. And if its shown that his ceiling is low, it'll be Kanter who's traded, and Al will remain. Which isn't half bad, seeing as he's only 26, making us still a very young team.

 

[jope]

Unfortunately, no. I didn't know how else to respond to the post, so I just figured Id give up altogether, seeing as you're not getting my point, and for the time being you don't seem to understand our front court very well at all, nor do you note how much Al improved towards the end of the year; I'm sure you'll point out "haha well how many times did we WIN after the all-star break" even though it is painfully obvious that any centre that rebounds in double digits, scores more than 20 points AS WELL as increases both assist totals and block totals, while playing a bit better of of rotations and pick and rolls is a player that is that could be used on any winning team. Not to mention the fact that he seems to be dedicated to this city, dedicated to improving and dedicated to making it to the playoffs next season. The only way I can see us shipping Al off is if Kanter becomes a runaway success, averaging at the very least 17/9 in his sophomore season while playing stellar defense. Quite frankly, thats unrealistic given how stacked our frontcourt is, so I think you're gonna have to accept the fact that a) Big Al is here to stay and b) Kanter will most likely have a slow start into the league. And if its shown that his ceiling is low, it'll be Kanter who's traded, and Al will remain. Which isn't half bad, seeing as he's only 26, making us still a very young team.

definitely this.

 

[sepanol]

Unfortunately, no. I didn't know how else to respond to the post, so I just figured Id give up altogether, seeing as you're not getting my point, and for the time being you don't seem to understand our front court very well at all, nor do you note how much Al improved towards the end of the year; I'm sure you'll point out "haha well how many times did we WIN after the all-star break" even though it is painfully obvious that any centre that rebounds in double digits, scores more than 20 points AS WELL as increases both assist totals and block totals, while playing a bit better of of rotations and pick and rolls is a player that is that could be used on any winning team. Not to mention the fact that he seems to be dedicated to this city, dedicated to improving and dedicated to making it to the playoffs next season. The only way I can see us shipping Al off is if Kanter becomes a runaway success, averaging at the very least 17/9 in his sophomore season while playing stellar defense. Quite frankly, thats unrealistic given how stacked our frontcourt is, so I think you're gonna have to accept the fact that a) Big Al is here to stay and b) Kanter will most likely have a slow start into the league. And if its shown that his ceiling is low, it'll be Kanter who's traded, and Al will remain. Which isn't half bad, seeing as he's only 26, making us still a very young team.

The stats doesnt mean anything, when Boozer played together with Millsap, he played the center position and he avg 20 10 too. So does it make him so good or what?
After the all star we lost many games mainly because we didnt have a team chemistry and then our best player left, and thats the main reason why Jefferson seemed like he improved because he was the first option on offense. For me it doesnt mean he marginally improved just because he made more attempts and more points, maybe we can say he took more responsiblities and he wasnt bad in it. But he never proved to be the guy who deserves 14 million on this team. He couldnt even become a franchise guy in Minny so they gave him away easily when they got Love and they saw his improvement. It will be basically the same thing, Kanter will improve like Love did (it is my opinion of course) and Jefferson will be easily expandable.
It is not something about being a homer or something (i think Memo doesnt deserve more than 6-7 per year for example), but i dont think Big Al is THAT good, he is just a good player who deserves 8-9 million per year as a second option in a decent team. Thats it. No point to discuss more about him i think since we are on opposite lines, but at least it was a good topic to pass time while there is lockout, it is a pity we dont hear a lot of news of the team these days to discuss about.

 

[Deleted member 848]

The stats doesnt mean anything, when Boozer played together with Millsap, he played the center position and he avg 20 10 too. So does it make him so good or what?
After the all star we lost many games mainly because we didnt have a team chemistry and then our best player left, and thats the main reason why Jefferson seemed like he improved because he was the first option on offense. For me it doesnt mean he marginally improved just because he made more attempts and more points, maybe we can say he took more responsiblities and he wasnt bad in it. But he never proved to be the guy who deserves 14 million on this team. He couldnt even become a franchise guy in Minny so they gave him away easily when they got Love and they saw his improvement. It will be basically the same thing, Kanter will improve like Love did (it is my opinion of course) and Jefferson will be easily expandable.
It is not something about being a homer or something (i think Memo doesnt deserve more than 6-7 per year for example), but i dont think Big Al is THAT good, he is just a good player who deserves 8-9 million per year as a second option in a decent team. Thats it. No point to discuss more about him i think since we are on opposite lines, but at least it was a good topic to pass time while there is lockout, it is a pity we dont hear a lot of news of the team these days to discuss about.

a) Boozer averages 20ppg and 10rpg for every minute he plays as a 5 in the NBA?? Lets see some proof here, because i sincerely doubt that
b) He made more points off of more attempts? Wrong again. Al Jefferson's FG% actually increased after the All-Star break. 0/2 Sepanol.
c) I can agree that if the 2010-2011 season was Al Jefferson's ceiling as a player for the rest of his career, his salary would be ****ing awful. However, what I think, and what many others also think, is that Al Jefferson has quite the high ceiling, and has yet to acclaim it. After seeing his improvement over the last half of the season, and stories of commitment to develop better as a player, coupled with his apparent loyalty to this city, people think that hes gonna get better. And quite frankly speanol it would be stupid of everyone to say that he DOESNT have the tools to be a 24/11 player, because he totally does. If he simply draws a couple more fouls, and adds strength to box out more effectively, we could have one of the top PF/Cs in the NBA on our team. So though you seem to be quick to dismiss him, let us wait to see how good he becomes. Quite frankly, this two year wait of Al Jeffersons skill-development coincides very nicely with Kanter becoming accustomed to the NBA, and it puts us ina great situation 2-3 years down the road when we need to chose between the two. We must all be patient with the development of our players before we automatically deduce what should be done with the roster of this team. Lets keep our core intact for a bit; we can become scary good in 5 years.

 

[sepanol]

a) Boozer averages 20ppg and 10rpg for every minute he plays as a 5 in the NBA?? Lets see some proof here, because i sincerely doubt that
b) He made more points off of more attempts? Wrong again. Al Jefferson's FG% actually increased after the All-Star break. 0/2 Sepanol.
c) I can agree that if the 2010-2011 season was Al Jefferson's ceiling as a player for the rest of his career, his salary would be ****ing awful. However, what I think, and what many others also think, is that Al Jefferson has quite the high ceiling, and has yet to acclaim it. After seeing his improvement over the last half of the season, and stories of commitment to develop better as a player, coupled with his apparent loyalty to this city, people think that hes gonna get better. And quite frankly speanol it would be stupid of everyone to say that he DOESNT have the tools to be a 24/11 player, because he totally does. If he simply draws a couple more fouls, and adds strength to box out more effectively, we could have one of the top PF/Cs in the NBA on our team. So though you seem to be quick to dismiss him, let us wait to see how good he becomes. Quite frankly, this two year wait of Al Jeffersons skill-development coincides very nicely with Kanter becoming accustomed to the NBA, and it puts us ina great situation 2-3 years down the road when we need to chose between the two. We must all be patient with the development of our players before we automatically deduce what should be done with the roster of this team. Lets keep our core intact for a bit; we can become scary good in 5 years.

How many players improved by margin after their 6-7th year in nba?
Lets not dismiss him, but i dont have any hope that he will improve too much. He may have high ceiling but unfortunately he wont reach that high because he lacks basketball iq, otherwise i dont argue his skills.

 

[Brown Notes]

...After seeing his improvement over the last half of the season, and stories of commitment to develop better as a player, coupled with his apparent loyalty to this city, people think that hes gonna get better. And quite frankly speanol it would be stupid of everyone to say that he DOESNT have the tools to be a 24/11 player, because he totally does. If he simply draws a couple more fouls, and adds strength to box out more effectively, we could have one of the top PF/Cs in the NBA on our team. So though you seem to be quick to dismiss him, let us wait to see how good he becomes. Quite frankly, this two year wait of Al Jeffersons skill-development coincides very nicely with Kanter becoming accustomed to the NBA, and it puts us ina great situation 2-3 years down the road when we need to chose between the two. We must all be patient with the development of our players before we automatically deduce what should be done with the roster of this team. Lets keep our core intact for a bit; we can become scary good in 5 years.

That's the key right there. AJ is up in 2 years. By then we will all know what Kanter and Favors are all about. All 3 of these guys are not going to be championship caliber players, but the odds are pretty good that at least one of them is a cornerstone talent. You absolutely do not want to be rolling the dice on this.

 

[Zerol]

How many players improved by margin after their 6-7th year in nba?
Lets not dismiss him, but i dont have any hope that he will improve too much. He may have high ceiling but unfortunately he wont reach that high because he lacks basketball iq, otherwise i dont argue his skills.

If that is all you are arguing about, Al's basketball IQ, then I think you are forming your judgment way too early. As many of the posters have mentioned, this was only his first stinct with a decent team since he came to the league, and the term "team basketball" was just introduced to him this season. That is the reason why you could tell that he was very good scoring the ball on isolation plays and a strong 1-on-1 defender but was bad passing out of double teams and a lousy help defender or pick and roll defender. The thing is though, he actually improved in those areas as the season progressed, so I am not sure we can come to the conclusion that he has no basketball IQ just yet.

 

[sepanol]

If that is all you are arguing about, Al's basketball IQ, then I think you are forming your judgment way too early. As many of the posters have mentioned, this was only his first stinct with a decent team since he came to the league, and the term "team basketball" was just introduced to him this season. That is the reason why you could tell that he was very good scoring the ball on isolation plays and a strong 1-on-1 defender but was bad passing out of double teams and a lousy help defender or pick and roll defender. The thing is though, he actually improved in those areas as the season progressed, so I am not sure we can come to the conclusion that he has no basketball IQ just yet.

I came to a judgment after seeing him whole year. If he was in nba for 2-3 years i would say you are right, but after 6-7 years i dont expect him to improve marginally. Anyway he must perform better than Kanter in his year for sure, but i am not sure if it is enough reason to be so high on him. We will just see how things will turn out to be

 

[jope]

And quite frankly speanol it would be stupid of everyone to say that he DOESNT have the tools to be a 24/11 player, because he totally does. If he simply draws a couple more fouls, and adds strength to box out more effectively, we could have one of the top PF/Cs in the NBA on our team.

How many players improved by margin after their 6-7th year in nba?
Lets not dismiss him, but i dont have any hope that he will improve too much. He may have high ceiling but unfortunately he wont reach that high because he lacks basketball iq, otherwise i dont argue his skills.

I came to a judgment after seeing him whole year. If he was in nba for 2-3 years i would say you are right, but after 6-7 years i dont expect him to improve marginally. Anyway he must perform better than Kanter in his year for sure, but i am not sure if it is enough reason to be so high on him. We will just see how things will turn out to be

Al Jefferson post all star game averages (basketball-reference.com)

pts per game - 23.39 (53.5% shooting)
Rebs - 11.5
blk - 1.88

If he plays as he did post all star game... he wont really need to improve at all to reach 24 and 11. definitely not out the question.

 

[sepanol]

Al Jefferson post all star game averages (basketball-reference.com)

pts per game - 23.39 (53.5% shooting)
Rebs - 11.5
blk - 1.88

If he plays as he did post all star game... he wont really need to improve at all to reach 24 and 11. definitely not out the question.

You are always talking about the numbers, stats has lots of holes, they dont mean anything alone. And 53.5% shooting for a big man (who doesnt attempt too many shots far from the rim) isn't that exclusive.
For rebounds and blocking i can give him credit, but certainly, he didnt turn into a better player just because he put better numbers with post all star game avgs.

This year Randolph got so much attention because he fit into a game plan at last, and he took lots of initiatives in the playoffs. He put great performance especially in the game ends. Jefferson must do something like that in order to be a player we can rely on for future. But as i said, he doesn't have a reliable jump shot, so he is more easily guardable than Randolph, especially in playoffs. We will see how everything on theory will translate to the practicality.

 

[sepanol]

Btw Millsap has the same percentage of fg for whole season, even though he use much more jump shots and even 3s time to time.

 

[sepanol]

GP MPG FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% RPG APG BLKPG STLPG PFPG TOPG PPG
Millsap
2010-11 Regular Season 76 34.3 6.9-13.0 .531 0.1-0.3 .391 3.4-4.4 .757 7.6 2.5 0.9 1.4 3.6 1.9 17.3
Jefferson
2010-11 Regular Season 82 35.9 8.0-16.1 .496 0.0-0.0 .000 2.7-3.5 .761 9.7 1.8 1.9 0.6 2.9 1.3 18.6


So does anyone see a 6 million dollar difference between ?