Al Jefferson gonna be a top 3 big next year?

[Reality]

I wish Al Jeff was available, i'm sure he is not right jn?  Given a choice I'd rather have Al Jefferson then Bosh.
Rambis is high on him.

I think Jeffs DWI arrest is going to be good for him.  Booze problem which it sounds like he is addressing.  He did not try to do the usual pro athlete pampered weasle out of the DUI and consequences.
I look for him to go 20+/10 again in a career year.

Btw who is the top "big" now?
DHoward?  Not looking that way at all.  How much better would he be without Stan Van Gruntys outside 1st offense?
Gasol?  Hard to say as he has lots of help and a real coach.  Lets see what he does against Boston again (with real refs again hopefully)
Bynum?  His injury has him on the downside rather then up.  We may never know.  He had the one Fabs Obertolike year.
KG?  Not top but hard to keep him out of top 5.  Top 3?  Lets see what he does vs the Flamers in the Finals.
Duncan?  Can the "no bench" excuses.  He had plenty of good looks on O vs Phx and got scorched on D plenty by Stoudamire.  He wants to stay submissive to Popovichs losing strategys, so that's on him.  "You don't condemn you condone."  No longer top 3 imo and it's his own fault.
Yao?  Who knows how he comes back. 
Bosh?  Mmmmn nyaa got to see him on a deep playoff contender.  A forward, but i like how he will bang a bit with Cs.
Al Horford?  Improved for sure
Al Jefferson?  Me likey.
Novitsky i think of as strictly a forward.
Chris Kaveman?  No, but would be nice to see what he could do on an NBA team.

[Joe Vancil]

Of course you like Al Jefferson.  He puts up big numbers.

There was a story about how he addressed secretaries in the front office when he arrived in Minnesota that made me *WANT* to like him, but I just can't.  I just can't do it.  He's got too much of a limited, finesse-around-the-basket type game, while at the same time having none of the complementary skills that go with the finesse-around-the-basket game (namely, passing, deception, ambidexterity, footwork, etc.)

He just plain doesn't have the soft skills, and he doesn't have a power game.  You can excuse SOME of the soft skills if you've got a power game (e.g. Dwight Howard, Greg Oden, etc.), but if you've got a finesse game, then you need the soft skills (e.g. Pau Gasol, Mehmet Okur, Rasheed Wallace when he used to go inside, etc.), or you're simply going to be too limited.

Think of it this way - tie game, 5 seconds to go, and Magic Johnson throws the ball into the post.  Do you trust Magic's instinct, or do you say, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Magic?"  If that's Jefferson that he threw it in to, I give it the old WTF, because that flat-looking Jefferson garbage isn't the shot I want going up, and that's all Jeferson can do.  Kind of like throwing the ball in to Zach Randolph.

With Walker, a team is going to have to go with the "Advanced Astronomy Offense."  It starts out with, "In the presence of a black hole...."

[jn]

There has been some buzz about getting rid of Al or Love because they just don't mesh well.   Jefferson was coming off major surgery and did so far ahead of schedule.  For that reason I think he will be better next year than he was this year.  Nevertheless Joe makes a lot of valid points.  He's been in the league a long time and still hasn't really learned how to pass out of a double team and his defense wavers somewhere between poor and mediocre.

[Reality]

Of course you like Al Jefferson.  He puts up big numbers.

Looks like another prediction where I'll be owning you in a year or so.
Notice I said I like Al Jeff moving forward without Booze.  Not Al Jeff of the past to which your points are valid, i never asserted otherwise. 

[Joe Vancil]

Of course you like Al Jefferson.  He puts up big numbers.

Looks like another prediction where I'll be owning you in a year or so.
Notice I said I like Al Jeff moving forward without Booze.  Not Al Jeff of the past to which your points are valid, i never asserted otherwise. 

Perhaps I should start this reply the same way I ended last message.

Jefferson puts up big numbers.  I grant you that.  He'll continue to do that.  So does Zach Randolph.  But if you build a team with them as your feature big, then your team isn't going to be very good for very long.  THEY DON'T HAVE POWER GAMES, AND THEY LACK THE SOFT SKILLS.

Consider this:  Jefferson was playing with Pierce in Boston, and Boston was a nothing team.  You think adding just Ray Allen would have fixed that?  No.  It was the fact that they swapped out Jefferson for GARNETT.  And it's a great fit, because Garnett has all those soft skills, even though he no longer puts up the big numbers.

Jefferson giving up booze isn't going to fix the lack of soft skills.  And the lack of soft skills is what's holding him back.

[Joe Vancil]

And in answer to your other question, Reality, I think the top big is probably Howard.  He's not well developed offensively, but he's active on the glass on both ends of the court, a good defender and shot-blocker.

Duncan's on the down-side of his career, but he deserves mention.  And you can say the same about Garnett.

Gasol is still Gasol - 20-10 potential, along with all the soft skills to go into that finesse game.

Bosh is an X-factor guy.  Team him with someone like Wade in Miami, and he'll turn into an active, defensive-oriented power-version of Gasol.  Think Alonzo Mourning, although not as good of a shot-blocker.  But put him on his own team, and you get great numbers, but little impact.

(By the way, I'm calling this now:  Bosh to Miami with Wade.  The two best defenders from the 2008 Olympic Team, together again.  Perfect fit, especially with Riley hiding down there.)

Yao Ming?  Somewhat of a disappointment, in some ways.  A "wait and see" guy who we've been waiting too long to see on.

Horford?  Love this guy.  I (wrongly) thought he'd end up being better than Durant.  Too bad he's stuck in Atlanta.  He'd make a great fit alongside LeBron James in Cleveland or Durant in OKC.  Bit of a black hole guy, but a POWER guy.  And still young.

Nowitzki?  Obviously among the top, but equally obviously not the top one.  It's good for a big-man to have a jumper.  But it's not good for a big man to have ONLY a jumper.  When you think about it, NOWITZKI is missing a lot of big-man skills.  He's a poor shot-blocker.  He's got no power move AT ALL.  His finesse move is a fade-jumper.  No jump-hook.  Not a good passer out of double-teams.  Doesn't throw many turnovers, but that's because he doesn't pass - he just shoots (ala Nick Van Exel).  But he's without a doubt the best SHOOTER of all the bigs.

Bynum?  Why even mention him?  He's a big nobody.  Take away a bit of height and bulk and he's Jeff Foster.  Were he not a Laker, he wouldn't even get mentioned.  Incredibly overrated.  LA's version of Kendrick Perkins, except, of course, that Perkins is a solid defender.  Someday, somebody is going to pay this guy big bucks.  My take?  Eddy Curry II.

No mention of David Lee.  Not a real candidate, but needs to at least be mentioned.

No mention of Carlos Boozer.  Undersized, yes, but he's more than solid, and has more soft skills than most realize.  Better defense this year, but that's not saying much.  Does merit a mention.

Kaman is okay, but nothing special. 

No mention of Amare Stoudemire.  He certainly belongs in the discussion.  If he had half a brain, he might figure in prominently.  Actually, that's an unfair comment.  Should have said he needs a brain in proportion to the size of his ego.  Just don't know how he'd manage to fit that into a single head.  Don't know what he did with the part of the one in his head that he's not using, although, that could explain why Nash blossomed when he went to Phoenix.  Nash is a brain-leech!

Probably ought to mention Lopez up in New Jersey.  Solid young kid, but we still need to wait and see.

And there's the Big Boatanchor in Cleveland, who is now too much entertainment and not enough game.  Still a piece of a championship puzzle, provided he decides he wants to work at it, but too far gone beyond caring.  Another casualty of bad work ethic.

My call:
1.  Howard
2.  Gasol
3.  Duncan
4.  Garnett
5.  Nowitzki

[Reality]

Yao Ming?  Somewhat of a disappointment, in some ways.  A "wait and see" guy who we've been waiting too long to see on.

Horford?  Love this guy.  I (wrongly) thought he'd end up being better than Durant.  Too bad he's stuck in Atlanta.  He'd make a great fit alongside LeBron James in Cleveland or Durant in OKC.  Bit of a black hole guy, but a POWER guy.  And still young.


Bynum?  Why even mention him?  He's a big nobody.  Take away a bit of height and bulk and he's Jeff Foster.  Were he not a Laker, he wouldn't even get mentioned.  Incredibly overrated.  LA's version of Kendrick Perkins, except, of course, that Perkins is a solid defender.  Someday, somebody is going to pay this guy big bucks.  My take?  Eddy Curry II.

No mention of Carlos Boozer.  Undersized, yes, but he's more than solid, and has more soft skills than most realize.  Better defense this year, but that's not saying much.  Does merit a mention.

Kaman is okay, but nothing special. 

No mention of Amare Stoudemire.  He certainly belongs in the discussion.  If he had half a brain, he might figure in prominently.  Actually, that's an unfair comment.  Should have said he needs a brain in proportion to the size of his ego.  Just don't know how he'd manage to fit that into a single head.  Don't know what he did with the part of the one in his head that he's not using, although, that could explain why Nash blossomed when he went to Phoenix.  Nash is a brain-leech!

Probably ought to mention Lopez up in New Jersey.  Solid young kid, but we still need to wait and see.

My call:
1.  Howard
2.  Gasol
3.  Duncan
4.  Garnett
5.  Nowitzki

Yaoswer Ming has been good.  I give him a pass while having Jeff Van Gundy as coach.  Disappointed the playoffs with Adleman have only resulted in 2nd Round appearance but I don't put that on Yao.

I love Horfords play also, love to see the Spurs....nevermind, Matt Bonner.

Bynum signed an extension in Oct 2008, $58 million over four years.

Boozer seems like he's always gonna hover around top 10, 9876 but never but near top 3 category.

Lopez?  Oh yes.  Shoot I'll add his brother Skreech Lopez of the Suns if he keeps up his playoff play.   Fantastic vs the Lakers, just the play and attitude the Suns needed.  Lopez i love you for calling out that fraud Derek Fisher.

Stoudamire oh yes, the way he's been playing the last two.  If he can keep that consistent he easily bumps over Gasol.  He's flat owning him the last two.

Duncan top 3, nope.  Even with the handicap of Popovich, (and again he condones Popovich) so towards the bottom of the top 10 you have begun to go Duncan.

Garnett really deserves to be resting now and proving himself top 3 or not.  I worry Bostons choke job in Gm 4 and the rigging in Gm 5 is gonna wear him out.

DHoward hard to disagree Joe.  For any of his downside he is super consistent on D and rebounding.

[Reality]

Well Stoudamire certainly failed to jump based on the his final two games.  He was looking great for a couple playoff games.

Garnett that meltdown vs DHoward in Gm 6 was ghastly.  Swatting at DHowards arm not once but twice right in front of the ref.  Top 3 big men don't pull that crap.  Still, lets see what KG does this Finals.  He's been consistent.

Gasol.  Did not impress me vs Phoenix.

But all three stay in or near the top 3 because of the Centerless NBA?

[Reality]

There has been some buzz about getting rid of Al or Love because they just don't mesh well.   

jn  Heck, if I even heard a rumour he was interested I'd rush over to Target Center and throw David Kahn out onto the street and I doubt I'd be the only one.

Now the word is Kahn will explore trading Al Jeff because Darko Milicic is available?
Could the Spurs really pawn off Richard Jeffersons expiring for Al Jeff? 
Even Kahn would probably be smart enough to want Tony Parker for Al Jeff. 

[Reality]

Ok Vancil we will see how happy you are when it's announced Utah has Al Jefferson.
May have already been done by the time you are reading this.

Via his Twitter account Monday night, Utah CEO Greg Miller wrote: "I just approved a Jazz roster move that I'm very excited about. Planning to share details tomorrow."

[Joe Vancil]

Ok Vancil we will see how happy you are when it's announced Utah has Al Jefferson.
May have already been done by the time you are reading this.

Via his Twitter account Monday night, Utah CEO Greg Miller wrote: "I just approved a Jazz roster move that I'm very excited about. Planning to share details tomorrow."

Please, dear God, NO. 

Jefferson is a horrible fit for what we do in Utah.  He has no ability to pass the ball.  He's a black hole on offense, and a bad defender.  If we were going to do this, I'd have rather kept Boozer.

[westkoast]

Jefferson is a horrible fit for what we do in Utah.  He has no ability to pass the ball.  He's a black hole on offense, and a bad defender.  If we were going to do this, I'd have rather kept Boozer.

Don't mind him.  He only pays attention to box scores so when he sees 20 / 10 he assumes this guy works in every situation.

There is a reason the Wolves don't want him and it is because of his inability to pass the ball well.  In the triangle offense if the post player cannot make decent passes than the offense doesn't quite run how it should.  Kurt Rambis knows that and so does management.  There is no reason to pay him that 42 million just because he can get 20 and 10 if it hurts the rest of the team.  I think the same applies in Utah, like you said.

[Reality]

Yip yip yip.

[Reality]

Ok Vancil we will see how happy you are when it's announced Utah has Al Jefferson.
May have already been done by the time you are reading this.

Via his Twitter account Monday night, Utah CEO Greg Miller wrote: "I just approved a Jazz roster move that I'm very excited about. Planning to share details tomorrow."

Please, dear God, NO. 

Jefferson is a horrible fit for what we do in Utah.  He has no ability to pass the ball.  He's a black hole on offense, and a bad defender.  If we were going to do this, I'd have rather kept Boozer.

So Sloan doesn't know what he's doing?
Al won't work in the Utah system but they got him anyways just because they lost Boozer and were desperate for a Center?

[Joe Vancil]

*SLOAN* knows what he's doing.

Al Jefferson, when it comes to passing out of a single-team, much less a double-team, doesn't know what *HE'S* doing.

What's the over/under on Jefferson's assists and turnovers next year, Reality?