12/30/2009 - 15:47
Love Triangle
by
Matt Martino
Despite some initial doubts about how the triangle would affect his low-post game, Al Jefferson has learned to embrace his new coach’s offense.
Al’s trust in his coach, Kurt Rambis, has also blossomed. No. 25 is well-known for his versatile array of moves in the paint but that hasn’t prevented him from asking Rambis to help improve his footwork.
"[Rambis] was showing me how to throw the ball back out and re-post and how to go quick so I can move away from the double-teams," Al told Sports Illustrated. "I need it because right now a million things are going through my head on those double-teams."
Rambis, long an assistant under the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, is thrilled to be able to impart wisdom on any player, especially those that are willing and able to learn like Big Al:
"Al wants to learn, wants to be good," said Rambis. "All the great players are constantly trying to improve their game. In the past, all he had to worry about was scoring. Now, he has to worry about focusing on executing the offense I've put in, where he is supposed to be on certain sequences. Then you throw in the defense and the rebounding -- most of the time, he is the backstop of our defense, so he has to do a good job of communicating and supporting and stopping penetration.
"That's a lot of new things I'm asking him to learn. It requires new skills and a new way to play. It is mentally taxing until it becomes part of his muscle memory and he doesn't have to think about it."
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER
As Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated notes, the month of December has brought good tidings for Al and Kevin Love:
After a month's experience and the return of Love, both Jefferson and the Wolves markedly improved in December, so the harshest growing pains may be past. In the 10 games from Dec. 9 through 26, (the Wolves went 4-6), Jefferson posted 10.2 rebounds and 19.9 points per game on 51.9 percent shooting, very close to his vintage numbers of the past two years.
Al chalks up the December surge to trust. Trust by Al and his teammates in the system. Trust by Al and K-Love in each other and trust by Rambis that the two can work in tandem to make Minnesota better.
"I think the whole month of December -- not just the last seven games -- we've been trusting the offense a lot better," No. 25 told the Star-Tribune. "I think the last seven games we've been running the offense a lot better."
Robson observed that Al has been changing his style for the better in recent weeks:
After scoring a season-high 27 points in a win over New Jersey last week, Jefferson struggled in the next game against the Wizards, hitting just four of his 13 shots. He compensated, however, with a season-high five assists as the Wolves registered back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
"Al did a good job of readjusting," Rambis told SI after the 101-89 win over the Wizards. "He was catching the ball too far away from the basket early and settling for jump shots and I encouraged him. I insisted strongly that he make better decisions on where he received the basketball. And he began doing a better job."
To read Robson's entire article on Al's triangle transition, click here.
SHARING IS CARING
AJ's decision to be more unselfish is evident in the stat sheet. Al has nearly doubled his assists per game to two, versus a career average of 1.1. He has also curbed his turnovers.
"With this offense, you're going to have to move the ball," No.25 told the Star-Tribune. "If you just let the defense load up on you when you catch the ball, it's going to be hard like that but when you move that ball . . . unstoppable, man."
"Last year it was all about Al getting the ball in the low block," he noted to Sports Illustrated. "I've been 'The Man' before, but we've won 24 and 22 games the past two years. Losing has been happening for a long time and winning teams have more than one scorer. I like to see guys getting better and trusting themselves. I like to see guys trusting me, and I like trusting my teammates. We need to keep it going and trust that Kahn and Kurt didn't come here to put up with another three years of losing. Believe me, that losing is already old."
Al's sees improvements in the team daily, even if they're not coming in the win column and on the scoreboard all the time:
"We're starting to play a lot better this year earlier than we did last year. I'm not saying we're going to make the playoffs, but we've got a chance to win some games. I can't see ourselves going nowhere but up if we continue to play hard and trust the offense."
SPURS DOWN WOLVES
Even the most profitable learning experiences don't come without a few bumps in the road. Minnesota hit one on Tuesday night as the Spurs ran the Wolves out of the AT&T Center by the score of 117-99.
Al, who led the team with 20 points (8-of-16), eight rebounds, and three assists, was discouraged by his team’s transition defense.
"You can't make mistakes; you can't give up fast-break points and the three-point shot," he told the Pioneer Press. "A lot of people say the Spurs aren't a running team, but they ran a lot tonight on us."
The key, of course, for the young T-Wolves will be learning from their mistakes.
"If we take away the fast-break points and just live with their threes and take care of the ball and run our offense. ... I think we were just trying to force the ball inside to Kevin a lot because we knew we had a mismatch instead of running our offense and letting the mismatch find Kevin."
The Spurs accumulated a fast-break advantage of 29-19 while their bench outscored Minnesota’s reserves 46-23. With the loss, the Wolves are now 7-25 for the year.
NEXT UP
The Wolves host the Utah Jazz (17-13), tonight at 7 p.m. CST on FSN-Minnesota.
This is the third meeting between these two teams, with Minnesota winning the two previous matchups. Al is averaging a double-double against the Jazz with 19 points and 11.5 rebounds.
RELATED STORIES
Jefferson learns a new ball game (Sports Illustrated, December 30, 2009)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/britt_robson/12/30/al.jeff...
Minnesota Timberwolves drop 10th straight to San Antonio (Pioneer Press, December 30, 2009)
http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_14090898?source=rss
Jefferson a triangle convert (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, December 29, 2009)
http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/80241322.html?page=1&c=y
Wolves get ex-Badger from Suns (Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 29, 2009)
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/80294812.html?elr=KArks47cQiU47cQiU47cQ...
Jefferson's big play, Ginobili's all-around game doom Wolves (AP, December 29, 2009)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=291229024
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