09/15/2010 - 16:19
Big Al's Big Heart
by
Devon Jeffreys
In his first offseason as a member of the Utah Jazz, Al Jefferson hasn’t let his status as "new guy in town" change his commitment to the community.
Last week, Big Al made a trip to Palmer Court, a center for homeless families that offers affordable housing, and delivered backpacks filled with school supplies to dozens of children in need. It was the first of many outreach projects for the big man in Salt Lake and Jody Genessy of the Deseret News wrote about Al’s visit:
"When Al Jefferson grew up in his small Mississippi town of Prentiss, school supplies weren't easy to come by.
Now a successful adult — one with millions of dollars, at that — the newest member of the Utah Jazz is making sure a few dozen underprivileged Utah children and their parents no longer have a similar concern.
On Thursday, Jefferson met, chatted with and delivered scholastic-friendly backpacks loaded with pencils, notebooks, scissors, glue and the like to about 40 pumped-up kids and dozens of equally pumped-up parents who live at The Road Home-sponsored Palmer Court.
"I just figure," Jefferson said, "it's one less thing for them to worry about ... (so they can) focus more on school."
It was Jefferson who paid for the supplies and whose camp contacted organizers of the affordable housing facility, which provides permanent shelter for formerly homeless families in a transformed hotel on Main Street."
But Big Al didn’t just hand out the backpacks, he also took time out to spend with the kids and fielded any question they could think of. By doing so, Al provided a very special moment for all of the young kids, as Genessy writes:
Emmanuel Hale, a 14-year-old East High student, was among the many smiling kids who got a chance to meet one of their new favorite Jazz players. Along with handing out the new backpacks in a balloon-decorated gathering room, Jefferson participated in a Q and A session with the youngsters, posed for pictures with each child and autographed photos for the youths.
"This is going in a picture frame on my wall. I'm serious," Hale told his friends after receiving his signed prize.
Hale called the experience "awesome" — and didn't feel much remorse for skipping out on football practice.
"It means a lot because he actually cares about other people besides himself," Hale said. "(He's) in that rich, high-society life, (but) he also cares about the people in the ghetto."
Al asked the kids to call him "Big Al" because that's what his friends call him and they were all friends now. He also told Genessy that last week’s trip won’t be his last to Palmer Court because the kids had an impact on him too:
"I love kids. They (are) our future. It's all about them, so why not give back to help them?" the 25-year-old big man said. "I've been blessed. It's my turn to bless people — that's the way I look at it."
To read Genessy’s entire piece, click here.
On his Jazz blog for the Deseret News, Genessy also posted some of the things that he and the kids learned about Big Al during the Q & A. Among them, Al’s favorite team growing up (the Bulls), his favorite former Jazz player (Karl Malone) and his favorite NFL team (The Patriots).
To read all Al’s responses, click here.
ADJUSTMENT TIME
Though he still had a few months left in the summer, Al packed up and moved to Utah in July so he could begin preparing for one of the most important seasons of his career.
In August, Big Al threw out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game in Salt Lake and told the Deseret News that he’s trying to get himself acclimated to Utah.
"I'm in business mode," Jefferson said moments before tossing out the first pitch at a Salt Lake Bees game in August. "I want to be ready," he added, "so I'm in business mode to try (and) get here, get used to this thin air out here and be ready to play when training camp (starts)."
With the season fast approaching, Matt Moore of CBS Sports ran the numbers to see how No. 25 fits in Utah:
Using Synergy Sports, which provides us with in-depth stats of how players performed in certain sets, we can compare what Boozer did last season with the Jazz with what Jefferson did, and how the two overlap. For starters, Jefferson spent more time in isolation, just slightly. Boozer only spent 5.7% to Jefferson's 8% in ISO. Neither were very productive, scoring only .69 (Jefferson) and .67 (Boozer) respectively. Not surprising for post players, though. In the post, we see some surprising numbers. Boozer only played 21.5% of his overall scoring plays in the post (355 out of 1649). This is compared to Jefferson's 56.8% (772 out of 1358 total). Jefferson was also much more efficient, scoring .92 points per possession in the post to Boozers' not too shabby .79.
Along with his play in the post, Moore also analyzed No. 25’s offensive rebounding percentages and came out with some impressive numbers.
"Outside of what Utah did, Jefferson is able to bring some things he's a beast at. Specifically, scoring off of offensive rebounds. Jefferson and Boozer were nearly identical in their offensive rebounding performance. Jefferson had an offensive rebound rate (percentage of all available offensive rebounds snagged) of 8.0%, and Boozer finished just slightly ahead at 8.2%. But in terms of scoring off of those rebounds, Jefferson is, quite simply, elite. Boozer is no slouch, scoring 1.16 points per possession off captured caroms.
But Jefferson scored a stunning 1.41 points per possession of his 111 attempts. Once again, we see that Boozer was better at drawing fouls, though, getting to the stripe 11.3% of the time underneath versus only 5.4% for Jefferson. (In case you were wondering, neither were great at getting and-ones here, with Boozer only nailing the shot and drawing the foul three times, to Jefferson's 4). Jefferson managed to score 70.3% of the time when he grabbed an offensive rebound. That's stunning stuff. The Jazz have had troubles with being tough down low. Jefferson looks like he'll improve that area offensively immediately."
Moore concludes his piece by surmising that the Jazz have the potential to do big things with Al, bigger even, than they did with Boozer.
"All of this gives us a picture of what the Jazz will look like on the floor. If Jefferson is able to maintain his efficiency and burly nature down low on the offensive end while improving in the pick and roll, the Jazz offense will have a pair of beasts for Deron Williams to work with, and it may take a considerable amount of pressure off Mehmet Okur so he can do what he does best, shoot from the outside.
The Jazz offense might wind up with better numbers than it had with Boozer. Defensively will be the issue, and head coach Jerry Sloan will need to work with Jefferson on where he needs to be and applying pressure. In an offensively loaded Western Conference, the Jazz have to be able to slug it out or they'll wind up in the same position many teams have found themselves. Able to bring their guns to the fight but without any protection from their opponents' weapons.
Next to Deron Williams, this could be one of the biggest surprises of the season. We've said for years that Jefferson just needs a chance to show what he can do. He's got that opportunity, now. The question will be if he can step up like Boozer has, and if he can bring the toughness Utah desperately needs.
Oh, yeah, and he needs to stay healthy. That too."
But the Jazz won’t be at full strength right away. Brian Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Okur will be out until December or January as he recovers from Achilles’ surgery. That will shift Big Al back to the center position, one he’s very familiar with from his time in Minnesota, at least to start the season.
The Utah Jazz begin training camp in the last week of September and host their first preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 7.
RELATED STORIES
New big man Al Jefferson shows big heart (Deseret News, September 10, 2010)
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700064311/Utah-Jazz-New-big-man--Al-J...
Jefferson gives back at Palmer (Salt Lake Tribune, September 10, 2010)
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogs/jazznotes/50255630-62/jefferson-jazz-...
Getting to know Al Jefferson (Deseret News, September 10, 2010)
http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/18/10009995/Utah-Jazz-NBA-Getting-to-kno...
Pop Quiz: How does Jefferson fit with Jazz (CBSSports.com, September 9, 2010)
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/24443371
Utah Jazz players in pre-preseason mode (Deseret News, September 10, 2010)
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700063489/Utah-Jazz-players-in-pre-pr...
Mehmet Okur to miss start of season (NBC Sports, September 14, 2010)
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/39173437/ns/sports-player_news/
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend
