It's hard to believe that most of us went into the season not knowing exactly what Al Jefferson would bring to this team. While his skill set was always abundantly clear, what we didn't know was how he would impact a team that won only 21 games the previous season. Some questioned the contract, and some questioned whether his addition would limit the franchise's ceiling and future. These criticisms weren't quelled when an injury caused Jefferson to miss nine of the first twelve games, and making a significant impact in only one of the three games he did play in.
When he returned, things started to change. In his first two weeks back from injury, Jefferson began to put up efficient scoring numbers, and his rebounds steadily increased. And while he was very good in the early months of the season, the best was yet to come. After the All-Star break, Jefferson's productivity substantially increased, becoming the monstrous Big Al that we came to know by the end of the season. Now, I don't mean to alarm you, but in the month of April, he averaged 24.5 points, 14.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, with a .532 field goal percentage, with a 29.9 usage percent, all while continuing to be one of the least turnover-prone players in the league. Unsurprisingly, he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for April. He was also named Player of the Month in March, but his play then was merely eye-popping, rather than what was clearly the work of a deity.
Jefferson had the type of season you would expect from a center that had no apparent weaknesses. Yes, there are a couple limitations, as his three-point percentage was only .200, but he's obviously better suited to playing a high-low post game that is perfectly formatted to his abilities. (Compare this to previous Bobcats center Byron Mullens, who was the exact opposite in every possible way.) Jefferson was obviously most effective close to the rim, but he had an effective mid-range jumper too, although he had a tendency to take too many shots from only a few feet inside the arc. His offensive arsenal featured a wide array of scoring methods, with a quality push shot in addition to the effective jumper, and myriad post moves that allowed him to see way more open looks than any center in today's NBA has any business getting.
I didn't mention his rebounding as much, but: it was very, very good. His defensive rebounding percentage was 6th in the league, behind five elite rebounders, and his overall percentage is only lower because Steve Clifford had the Bobcats running a system that saw them concede their missed shots in favor of getting back defensively to prevent easy points in transition. If you're a fan of advanced stats, Jefferson was twelfth in the league in PER.
