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Interesting Al Jefferson Statistic

YB85

YB85

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While his rebounding was huge last night, and that desperation 20 footer was fantastic, there is another stat that jumped out at me: Zero. As in the number of free throws he attempted in his 54 minutes on the court. The only other Jazz player who played but did not attempt a FT was Blake Ahern. Taking it a step further, there is another interesting stat: Zero. That's the number of free throws he has attempted in the Jazz' two multi-OT games in which he has played (105 minutes). For all his post moves, he needs to understand that drawing fouls and getting to the line is a big part of winning basketball and it's not always about getting the shot off. He should study the film of Nowitzki last night and see that many times he wasn't necessarily trying to get a basket as much as trying to draw the foul and get to the line. A big man getting that much playing time should be getting more than 3 FTA's per game.
 
YB85 said:
While his rebounding was huge last night, and that desperation 20 footer was fantastic, there is another stat that jumped out at me: Zero. As in the number of free throws he attempted in his 54 minutes on the court. The only other Jazz player who played but did not attempt a FT was Blake Ahern. Taking it a step further, there is another interesting stat: Zero. That's the number of free throws he has attempted in the Jazz' two multi-OT games in which he has played (105 minutes). For all his post moves, he needs to understand that drawing fouls and getting to the line is a big part of winning basketball and it's not always about getting the shot off. He should study the film of Nowitzki last night and see that many times he wasn't necessarily trying to get a basket as much as trying to draw the foul and get to the line. A big man getting that much playing time should be getting more than 3 FTA's per game.
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So, you're upset that he puppeteers the defense so smoothly they can't foul him?

I understand what you're saying, but I want to make sure you do too....
 
To be fair to Al, he can draw some fouls. He just isn't getting calls. It's his style or something that looks like he isn't fouled to the refs.

Al's problem is that he isn't a run around player. He doesn't create moments of collision. He doesn't force the ref to make a call. He doesn't always look like he is getting fouled.
 
I wasn't going to mention this, but come on, Al.

This has to set some kind of record for minutes played without any FTA.
 
the nba is breeding flopping.
big al doesnt flop.
good thing flopping is for *******. with all the flopping going on the refs cant see fouls if the player aint flopping
 
Idk how this is interesting because it is a pretty common occurrence. He could take a page out of Dirk's book in how to sell fouls with pump fakes.

This, to me, is his biggest weakness though. It is what prevents him from being an elite offensive force.
 
Cyrone Torbin said:
Idk how this is interesting because it is a pretty common occurrence. He could take a page out of Dirk's book in how to sell fouls with pump fakes.

This, to me, is his biggest weakness though. It is what prevents him from being an elite offensive force.
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That, and he refuses to run the floor.
 
and it might not be a statistic but he absolutly sucks on pick and rolll D only 1 player i saw was even worse than big al at pick and roll D.
and that was shaq.

millsap also sucks on pick and roll d but his overal d kinda makes up for it
 
It's the downside of him having some of the smoothest moves and some of the best footwork in the league.

Boozer was kind of like that, too. At his peak, Boozer would put up similar numbers to Amar'e, but Boozer would be getting 4-5 FTs a game and Amare would be getting 7-8. It all has to do with the way they play.

Big Al is absolutely amazing as far as his ability to get his shot off goes. A lot of that has to do with that deadly unorthodox push shot, but also the up-and-under moves, and his face-up jumper. The problem is that he's so good at evading other players and getting his shot off, that he just doesn't get fouled. Yeah, a little bit of it is that the refs don't call it, but he mostly just avoids contact. It's great in the sense that he so rarely gets stripped or blocked, but it's not great in that sense that when Al takes a shot, he's either going to make it or he's going to miss it, but he sure won't go to the line. When Al gets a player in the air, he either goes around him or under him. I know it's not fair to compare anyone to Karl, but Karl used to just go into players in those situations. He just had his insane strength, and with it, the confidence that there weren't many players in the league strong enough to prevent him from still making the bucket.

As I said, it's a trade off. Malone used to turn it over much more, and he used to miss more because he'd barrel into people and not get the call.

Here's an amazing stat about Al, and I tip my hat to him for this. He's averaging 19.6 points and 1.1 turnovers this season. And he's shooting just a shade under 50%. Only Antawn Jamison has been able to come close to the first two in the past, and he sure wasn't shooting 50%.
 
If Al is so amazing at juking people, it should be EASIER for him to get to the line. He just is not that person. He does not have that mind.
 
NUMBERICA said:
If Al is so amazing at juking people, it should be EASIER for him to get to the line. He just is not that person. He does not have that mind.
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It's because when Al fakes his guy, he is trying to get around him all the time. When other players get guys off balance, they throw their body into them and flail. It just Al's habit. It's probably too late for him to really change it.
 
Trying to avoid contact? He should be looking for it, getting the other team's big men in foul trouble, getting the team into penalty situations early, etc. That's one of the reasons the Spurs have always been so good is the ability to draw fouls (whether they're real or not is another discussion) and slow the game down. The same goes with the Malone-Jazz and Shaq-Lakers. Instead, Jefferson avoids contact. He should get some free throws just for fighting for position on the block, but how often does he do that? He averages fewer than 3 FTA per game when he should be closer to 7 FTA.
 
Cyrone Torbin said:
It's because when Al fakes his guy, he is trying to get around him all the time. When other players get guys off balance, they throw their body into them and flail. It just Al's habit. It's probably too late for him to really change it.
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Probably. And that's a shame if so. I don't disagree that Al causes shot-blockers fits in the post, but he really needs to find better/more efficient/more impacting ways to capitalize. Even if his mentality is "if I get this guy out of the way, I'm going to make this shot 100% of the time", he's not taking into consideration the power of getting the opposing team's most (or one of the most) important defensive players in foul trouble. He also doesn't take these 'open' opportunities to get closer to the rim, which is frankly inexcusable.

For a guy that likes to "get nasty" he does less of that than just about anyone I've ever seen.
 
YB85 said:
Trying to avoid contact? He should be looking for it, getting the other team's big men in foul trouble, getting the team into penalty situations early, etc. That's one of the reasons the Spurs have always been so good is the ability to draw fouls (whether they're real or not is another discussion) and slow the game down. The same goes with the Malone-Jazz and Shaq-Lakers. Instead, Jefferson avoids contact. He should get some free throws just for fighting for position on the block, but how often does he do that? He averages fewer than 3 FTA per game when he should be closer to 7 FTA.
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That's a great point on slowing the game down. If you're going to slow it down, get something extra out of it. Since slowing down the game is basically Al's game, it's especially troubling that he doesn't go for it.
 
Championship-caliber basketball teams need a go-to scorer who can get to the FT line in a must-score situation. Go back and look at NBA champions in the past 20 years, and (other than the '04 Pistons which was an anomally in many respects) they all had a go-to scorer who shot a minimum of 7 FT's per game.

By getting to the FT line, you're not only putting pressure on the refs (example: in OT Devin Harris didn't get the foul call when he was hacked on his 3pt but he got the call when he drove to the rim and was hacked by Dirk) but you're putting pressure on the defense.

Even if you're not an elite player, good things often happen when you attack the rim in must-score situations because it forces the defense to collapse, rotate, and worst-case frees a teammate up on the offensive glass. That's not part of Al's game, and it's the primary reason I don't envision him being the best player on a highly successful basketball team.
 
Big Al is also about to go down as having one of the top 10 lowest turnover ratio in league history
 
What I don't like is when AL has one step to go to the rim and he does his little 5 foot push shot instead of taking that one step and going up for a dunk. It's a better % shot and you have a chance to get an and one if you go dunk. No chance at all with that push shot.

That's it. ONe change is all I ask. When you have a lane, a one step lane, to the hoop go dunk it. He did this last game, I think off an offensive rebound. Got the ball 5 feet away with nobody directly in his path and put up his little push shot. It went in, but, I'd much rather him go in and dunk it, maybe a guy tries to stop it and you get a foul. Maybe you get 3 points.

That's all I ask. But as was said, it's probably a decade too late to get him to change his approach to the game.
 
DutchJazzer said:
ratio?
compared to what?
you know what a ratio is right?
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My bad, I meant rate.

Zach Lowe ‏ @ZachLowe_SI Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Al Jefferson is on pace for the 10th-lowest turnover rate in NBA history (min: 1000 minutes): https://tinyurl.com/78hszok

And the rate is turnovers/(100 plays)
https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=&year_max=&franch_id=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&is_active=&is_hof=&is_as=&as_comp=gt&as_val=0&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=mp&c1comp=gt&c1val=1000&c2stat=tov_pct&c2comp=lt&c2val=6.5&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws
 
DutchJazzer said:
ratio?
compared to what?
you know what a ratio is right?
Click to expand...

Jefferson has a 2:1 assist ratio, higher than Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and every other center in the league not named TONY BATTIE (who only has played in 25 games, at 10 mpg).

Also is above all PF's not named Matt Bonner and a couple of other guys who barely play.

If you limit it to only big men with 30+ mpg, he is far ahead with the best ratio.
 
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