Peak Al Jefferson vs. Peak DeMarcus Cousins?

[Im Still Ballin]

Who would you rather have?

Little blurb on Al Jefferson's best season:


Led his team to a 28-16 record over the last 44 games of the season. That's a 52-win-pace. He did it as a high-volume low-post scorer. One of the more skilled pivot players of the 21st century. Was around a 1.0 PPP on post-ups. He had a tendency to avoid contact so his free-throw rate was low.

- 25.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.0 bpg, 2.1 topg
- 53.8% FG, 70.3% FT, 56.13% TS
- +2.1
- 28-16 record


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GogqSm6828U

[Kblaze8855]

Cousins was More well-rounded, but there may be personality issues.

[Xiao Yao You]

Black hole or the pos?

[Im Still Ballin]

Jefferson had his flaws and limitations but man, his game was sick. Seriously impressive feet for a 290-300 pounder. Jokic is the only other big guy in recent memory that could pivot and spin like that.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNtUrVjwu-w&ab_channel=LamarMatic

Not to mention he could palm the ball like Wilt/Jordan. Very strong grip on the ball. Exceptional ball security.

Most post-up scorers rack up a lot of turnovers, both individually and for their team when they're on the court. This is due to the nature of post-up play - the entry pass, then the difficulty of dealing with help d and doubles with your back to the basket.

Al was a super-low turnover guy which is remarkable for a high-volume post-up big.

[Xiao Yao You]

Jefferson had his flaws and limitations but man, his game was sick. Seriously impressive feet for a 290-300 pounder. Jokic is the only other big guy in recent memory that could pivot and spin like that.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNtUrVjwu-w&ab_channel=LamarMatic

Not to mention he could palm the ball like Wilt/Jordan. Very strong grip on the ball. Exceptional ball security.

Most post-up scorers rack up a lot of turnovers, both individually and for their team when they're on the court. This is due to the nature of post-up play - the entry pass, then the difficulty of dealing with help d and doubles with your back to the basket.

Al was a super-low turnover guy which is remarkable for a high-volume post-up big.

Didnt pass the ball so less chance of turnovers. One of least favorite jazz players

[Im Still Ballin]

Didnt pass the ball so less chance of turnovers. One of least favorite jazz players

Who do you like less? Carlos Boozer or Al Jefferson?

[RRR3]

Who do you like less? Carlos Boozer or Al Jefferson?
He dislikes pretty much every Jazz player ever besides Toody, Stockton, Millsap, Dantley and Kirilenko.

[Im Still Ballin]

Al Jefferson's 2011-12 season was pretty good. He was the clear number-one offensive option on the 6th ranked offense. 19.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 0.8 spg, 1.7 bpg, 1.0 topg. Crazy-low turnover rate (5.2 TOV%) and a positive assist-to-turnover ratio and 12.1 AST%.

John Hollinger on Al's 2011-12 season:


Scouting report
+ Left-block post scorer with huge hands. Much improved passer. Good rebounder.
+ Arsenal includes jump hook to 12 feet, great shot fake, and lethal drop step.
+ Poor defender with slow reactions. Too slow for 4, but short for a 5.

Analysis
Jefferson discovered the joys of passing out of double-teams and had a career season as a result, unfathomably leading all centers in pure point rating (yes, this really happened) with the help of a historically low turnover ratio.

His ability to create shots without turning the ball over is truly phenomenal. Jefferson had miscues on only 4.7 percent of his possessions last season. Nobody in the history of the NBA has had a usage rate this high and turnover ratio this low. Nobody.

Yes, there were some drawbacks to this approach. Jefferson took a lot of midrange jumpers and half-hooks and rarely attacked the rim, so he had one of the lowest free throw rates at his position. As a result, his true shooting percentage was ordinary. But creating league-average shooting with virtually no turnover risk is a great bargain, and despite his penchant for ball-stopping it gave Jefferson genuine offensive value.

As for defensive value, we’ll get back to you on that. Jefferson blocks shots and is a good rebounder, but primarily he seems concerned with avoiding fouls that might take him off the court. Only seven centers fouled less, and it wasn’t because Jefferson was in such exquisite defensive position that he didn’t need to gamble. The Jazz gave up 1.9 points per 100 possessions more with him on the court last season, and that was his best mark in the past three years; Synergy also rated him below the league average.

[Xiao Yao You]

Who do you like less? Carlos Boozer or Al Jefferson?


Prefer no defense and always injured to black hole. Boozer you at least played team ball with while jefferson was basically the bum with pump fakes instead of pounding the ball

[Xiao Yao You]

Cant quit me!

[Airupthere]

I would pick Zbo than those two

[ILLsmak]

cuz way better. Dudes sleep on cuz. I remember when I was on here like BIGCUZ when he went in.

His issue is just that he never got in the right situation when he could still play. Pretty sad, really. Jefferson is like all star level where as cuz is all nba. I know people are gonna say I'm trippin, but for real. Cousins could do just about everything (except defense? haha) and he was a bigger body. Big Al had some crazy moves, tho.

Sucks for these dudes who were good and got mad at losing and never had a mentor, tho.

-Smak

[Xiao Yao You]

cuz way better. Dudes sleep on cuz. I remember when I was on here like BIGCUZ when he went in.

His issue is just that he never got in the right situation when he could still play. Pretty sad, really. Jefferson is like all star level where as cuz is all nba. I know people are gonna say I'm trippin, but for real. Cousins could do just about everything (except defense? haha) and he was a bigger body. Big Al had some crazy moves, tho.

Sucks for these dudes who were good and got mad at losing and never had a mentor, tho.

-Smak
Cousins would have never been in the right situation because he would have always been there. Highly skilled dumbass. Jazz made the playoffs with jefferson. Something the great demarcus could ever do despite how great he supposedly was

[Im Still Ballin]

Cousins had solid support with guys like Isaiah Thomas, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo, and Darren Collison. His personality and character issues, poor leadership, and unclutch play hurt Sacramento greatly. Jefferson would've got more out of what DeMarcus had to work with.

[Xiao Yao You]

You forgot his inefficiency, bad d, whining and pouting

[Im Still Ballin]

Al's positional issue was that he had great measurables (7'2.5" wingspan; 9'2" standing reach) for a PF but not a center. He had the bulk/frame, being 265 drafted straight out of high school and 280-300 in his prime. But athletically, he wasn't mobile enough for the PF position and was only broadly average for a center.

Average general size for a center. Average general athleticism for a center. Above average to elite in a narrow set of qualities, like footwork, post-up play, and short-space quickness. Not skilled/high IQ enough in a broad sense like Jokic to make up for it.

Give Al DeMarcus' 7'6" wingspan and 9'5" standing reach and he'd have probably been an All-NBA guy every healthy year. Assuming all his qualities stay the same but you just make him functionally bigger. Would've made him a more effective finisher and post-up scorer in the paint, little better on the boards, and more competent as a rim protector.

[ILLsmak]

Cousins had solid support with guys like Isaiah Thomas, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo, and Darren Collison. His personality and character issues, poor leadership, and unclutch play hurt Sacramento greatly. Jefferson would've got more out of what DeMarcus had to work with.

He didn’t get to the playoffs in his peak. Ever. That shit kills people. I think pouting is v feminine, and I hold it against him, but if he was on a mid level playoff team, people might look at him differently.

Big al was never gonna be that.

-Smak

[Im Still Ballin]

He didn’t get to the playoffs in his peak. Ever. That shit kills people. I think pouting is v feminine, and I hold it against him, but if he was on a mid level playoff team, people might look at him differently.

Big al was never gonna be that.

-Smak

DMC was like a modern Derrick Coleman. Extremely talented but missing it between the ears. Swap his brain out for Tim Duncan's and he's a first-ballot HOFer.

[Im Still Ballin]

DeMarcus career high: 56 points


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKMY-eHanvM&pp=ygUcZGVtYXJjdXMgY291c2lucyBjYXJlZXIgaGlnaA%3D%3 D

[Im Still Ballin]

Al career high: 40 points


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwUcRzdGOys&pp=ygUYYWwgamVmZmVyc29uIGNhcmVlciBoaWdo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXB93Ak4xEM&pp=ygUYYWwgamVmZmVyc29uIGNhcmVlciBoaWdo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtxpPfCVMAE&pp=ygUdYWwgamVmZmVyc29uIGNhcmVlciBoaWdoIDIwMDg%3D

[Im Still Ballin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29oVlz85N2w&pp=ygUdYWwgamVmZmVyc29uIGNhcmVlciBoaWdoIDIwMDg%3D

[highwhey]

when i hear cousins i envision this photo with KAT saying "ay papiiiiii"


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D23hj3mWkAArlbo?format=jpg&name=900x900