Hi there TWolvesbloggers. I'm a Celtics fan and have a favor to ask.

A lot of us on Celticsblog are wondering how Big Al is doing so far, but it's not easy to get good information in one place. We can all see his numbers, but we already knew he was a 20/10 machine.

Can you post your impressions of him so far? Is he what you expected? More? Less? Anything from overall impressions of his game to detailed analyses of his post defense would be welcome. I'll come back in a bit, and link this thread on celticsblog.com so we can all catch up. We are all still rooting for him and the news would be welcome.

I do have one request, though. No discussion of the trade, or KG, or other things that might derail the thread. Just stick to your impressions of Al.

Thanks in advance from Boris, Celticblogger.

Boris -

First off, thanks for stopping on by and taking the time. It's always good to see some new people around here.

Big Al. Let me start off by saying that I wasn't surprised by how good he is. I have followed the Celtics for the past three seasons and check out Celticsblog almost every day. So, I already knew what Al was capable of.

Anyhow, as you can see by his numbers, he started off the early season on a absolute tear. He was just demolishing everyone. His numbers have started to slow up a bit however. I think it's a combination of being on such a bad team with little to no help, as well as teams are probably more closely scouting him after looking at his numbers and realizing that he's averaging 20 points and 10 boards a game. Also, believe it or not, but it really hurts that Theo Ratliff is injured because he's the best starting Center we've had in a long time. All our other options are complete garbage (Madsen, Doleac, Richard.) Playing Big AL at center is NOT the way to go, even though the team has been doing it this season. If you look at 82games.com, our team is struggling mightily when Al is playing Center. He needs to stay at PF.

He has been slowed the past few games by a knee contusion (is what I believe they offically called it) which is not serious, but has been slightly hampering him. Hopefully that heals soon, but who knows with our busy December schedule.

Let's see... what else... players aren't going for his pump fakes as much as they were last season or even earlier this season. Al's jumper is improving, which will help. He's a monster on the offensive glass and probably an average defensive rebounder I'd say. His overall defense could still use some work, but he's had some awesome blocks which really surprised me.

I'd say his most glaring weakness is his passing... specifically out of double teams. He's slow to recognize the open man and he really needs to work on it. Other than that, I'm awe of the post moves he has as a 22 year old. Amazing. I'm super excited to watch him for the next 10+ years.

Hope that helps.

Lastly, I wish you guys and the Celtics best of luck. I hope KG can help bring the C's a title.

First off, regarding that knee contusion - I am a little worried about it. Last night I was right next to the players as they walked off the floor and he was hobbling on it pretty badly.

Secondly, his post moves. Wow, I love them. He already has the best post moves in Timberwolves history, and I am very confident in saying that. It is amazing how many times that jump hook of his hits nothing but net. There is no way to block that shot, and he shoots it at a high accuracy, so if he can get to his spot and avoid a double team, it is pretty much unstoppable. He also likes to do a pumpfake-drive baseline move a lot, which has had varied success. He has gotten a few great slams out of it, but has often gotten rejected some or simply had the defender not bite on the fake often. Overall, though, his post-moves are wonderful - top 10 in the NBA, and like I said, best in Wolves history. Very impressive for such a young man.

He doesn't have much range on his jumper, but he has hit the 12-16 footer with more consistency than I expected I guess. But he is basically a low block player, something we in Minnesota are not accustomed to, so it is kind of a treat for us the way he stays down low almost constantly.

I agree with CW, his passing needs work. I have been very suprised by the amount of double teams he has commanded this year, which is a LOT of them. He really struggles to pass out of the double team both quickly and effectively. However, just the fact that he is getting double-teamed on a regular basis speaks to how good he is in the post and how much more valuble he is to this team than any of our other jokers. There is no question that he is clearly the best player on this team.

To be honest, even though he is putting up good rebounding numbers, I have been a little bit disappointed in his rebounding. I had heard how great of a rebounder he was and all of that, so maybe my expectations were too high. He is less athletic than I figured he would be, and his ups are not that great. He does seem to have a good nose for the ball, and tends to get more offensive boards than I am accustomed to seeing from most TWolves. Other than Al, our team is a horrendous rebounding team, so that probably helps his numbers too.

He has had more blocks than I expected, but I would not be confident in saying that his overall defense is above-average. I think right now it is probably a tad below average. As stated above, he lacks a little bit in the athleticism and explosion department, IMO. He does seem like a fairly smart defender, though.

Finally, his attitude seems to be great. Just the fact that he ignored his agent's pleas and signed a lengthy extension at the last hour with us speaks volumes. He seems to be a pretty quiet guy, but the fams seem to like him and really appreciate his post moves especially. I wish he had a bit more of a dynamic personality, but he seems to be a very genuine, grounded, humble, and respectable person.

I have been pleased with Al Jefferson overall at this point.

I knew he had 20/10 potential, but I am surprised at how mature his offensive post skills are for a 22 year old, especially the footwork. He has the kind of footwork that will keep him in this league a long time.

I respect that he admitted a lack of work ethic his rookie season and has clearly taken it upon himself to correct that, starting in Boston and continuing here.

I agree with Bonk and CW above that his passing skills need work; however, the Wolves have an absolutely broken jump-shooting game. I wouldn't rely on a single player on this team to hit a wide open jumper 50% of the time, so I don't think his double-team passing can be judged on assist numbers at this point.

He's clearly deferring any leadership role, so that's up to management to draft or bring in an alpha dog for him to play with, because he's not firing up anyone.

I am actually presently surprised at his defense. He's not the fastest, but like Bonk said above, he seems like a smart defender. I saw him shut down Charlie Villanueva, who has a really nice inside and outside game, and Jefferson can keep himself between the ball and basket.

With his frame, he needs to become a better defensive rebounder. Sometimes he seems unaware of people going around him on the defensive glass. His offensive rebounding awareness and abilities are very mature.

He has a high ceiling that he hasn't gotten to yet.

Everything has been summed up pretty well.

Bottom line. We are all confident that in 3-5 years he will have no problem battling the Howards, Amares, Boshs, etc. down low and will be a great cornerstone piece. My only fear is that like KG, his career may be wasted in this wretchedly run franchise.

BTW, thanks for Green, he's been awesome.

daddyfatsax wrote:

I can't wait until five years from now when Jefferson's contract is up for extension, and we trade him back to the Celtics for a handful of more raw prospects. Woohoo!