That's exactly the thing, though. Why is it being perceived solely as a weakness to know the system, know when to make cuts, know how to set screens and picks and when to move, when to flare, and when having another teammate open be able to hit them for a higher percentage shot? To me, the notion of being able to give a big the ball and then expect him to score AND be a winning team is mostly antiquated and silly (name one guy in the NBA today that plays that way and wins a lot... Tim Duncan?), but that's Jefferson's game. For better or for worse, his game has been predicated on isolations and bulling his way to the hoop and not passing the ball. Yeah, maybe he hasn't had great guard play, yeah, maybe there weren't a lot of great options to pass to, but to me that is all crap. Especially the "no one to pass to" argument. If the '03-'04 Jazz can be a .500 team with a bunch of scrubs and a couple of overachievers, then Jefferson certainly had teammates. But passing, creating folds in his teams' offense, and expanding the options for his teammates is simply not what Jefferson has done. The guy's been a loser and at some point the excuses have to stop.
I'm glad that KOC addressed that point immediately and I'm glad that Jefferson also seems aware of his shortcomings (at least the defensive one [which is massive]). Whatever context you want to put it in, Boozer's been a national champion and been on winning teams for most of his professional career. Jefferson's scored a bunch of points on bad teams for his career. Hopefully the Utah Jazz context jives with what Jefferson BECOMES, because what he's done on his other teams would cause A LOT of offensive problems for the TEAM, even if he gets his. No one on a basketball team is exempt from criticism when they don't make their teammates better. That's what set Malone apart from other bigs, his decision-making and his unquenchable desire to improve and be absolutely the best player he could be (not really comparing Malone to Jefferson, rather showing the difference in getting your stats and how doing everything possible to win matters so much more).
I'm hoping he changes. And I'll be patient. But the guy hasn't played winning basketball or basketball the way the Jazz play (not a coincidence).